1999 Fredericton Encaenia - Ceremony B
LeBlanc, Roméo
Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
Orator: Patterson, Stephen E.
Citation:
ENCAENIA, MAY, 1999
ROMEO LEBLANC
to be Doctor of Laws
It is our privilege today to honour Canada's Governor General. He stands at the apex of a long and illustrious career in public service spanning four decades. He has been a teacher, journalist, press secretary to two prime ministers, Member of Parliament, Minister of Fisheries, and Senator, before becoming the first Maritime, and first Acadian, Governor General.
Romeo LeBlanc might long ago have retired from public life to rest on his laurels rather than take on the arduous role of the Queen's representative in Canada. Indeed, some might have wondered why a man used to the cut and thrust of politics would accept a position that to many is largely symbolic, restrained from taking political positions, condemned, even, to uttering governor generalities. On the other hand, anyone who knows him, knows that this is not the way he saw it. He saw rather the powerful reality of a Canada not fully reconciled to itself, still grappling with unresolved tensions of language and ethnicity, and he knew that he could speak to those issues, not in the passive language of casual observer, but as one who had personally experienced the ascent and acceptance of the Acadian fact in his province, and who had played his own role in advancing linguistic and cultural equality in Canada. Romeo LeBlanc may fill a largely symbolic office, but it is now an office with an even richer symbolism, epitomizing as it does the aspirations and achievements within Canada of Acadians, of francophones outside Quebec, or even more broadly, of little people from the rural Maritimes or anywhere else outside of the mainstream.
Romeo LeBlanc comes from humble roots in Memramcook, New Brunswick. He is the product of a tightly knit community where family and religion played a major role in shaping values of caring for others and sharing with one's neighbours. Such values were reinforced at St. Joseph's College, where the importance of education and the power of ideas shaped him for his future life in public service. These are values that have guided him to the present day. Everyone knows that Governor Generals hand out prestigious awards in the literary and other arts. What they may not know, is that this is a governor general who reads books. He is genuinely excited by ideas. He promotes literacy, artistic expression, the study of Canadian history, and investment in education, because he learned to value them at a young age.
Equally, he has used his various public podiums to champion the rights of minorities, and to take the side of the little guy. True to what he learned in the Memramcook of his childhood, he has urged generosity and consideration to those left behind by the modern sweep of materialism. When he was Minister of Fisheries, he often had to choose between policies that would promote the big factory trawlers on the one hand or the small inshore fishermen on the other. He invariably sided with the inshore fishermen. It was he who helped to establish Canada's 200-mile fishing limit and to win approval of the International Law of the Sea. Today, as Governor General, he continues to speak out for minorities and the powerless. More than any other public person in this country, he has championed the rights and aspirations of Canada's aboriginal people. He promotes the rights of women, opportunities for youth, and pride in our diversity.
We at this provincial university may have selfish reasons for honouring our Governor General. He is one of ours, a fellow New Brunswicker who represents the best of what this province has produced, a learned man who values education as we do, and who embraces the essence of what New Brunswick can contribute to Canada. He is a mentor, a guide, a prophet who teaches us that Canada's future grows out of its past, its genius is distilled from its people however humble, and its purpose is both as large as the world itself, where forbearance and respect and generosity are so badly needed, and as small as the village of Memramcook, where caring and sharing have pointed an unfailing direction.
Your Excellency, we salute you.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
ROMEO LEBLANC
to be Doctor of Laws
It is our privilege today to honour Canada's Governor General. He stands at the apex of a long and illustrious career in public service spanning four decades. He has been a teacher, journalist, press secretary to two prime ministers, Member of Parliament, Minister of Fisheries, and Senator, before becoming the first Maritime, and first Acadian, Governor General.
Romeo LeBlanc might long ago have retired from public life to rest on his laurels rather than take on the arduous role of the Queen's representative in Canada. Indeed, some might have wondered why a man used to the cut and thrust of politics would accept a position that to many is largely symbolic, restrained from taking political positions, condemned, even, to uttering governor generalities. On the other hand, anyone who knows him, knows that this is not the way he saw it. He saw rather the powerful reality of a Canada not fully reconciled to itself, still grappling with unresolved tensions of language and ethnicity, and he knew that he could speak to those issues, not in the passive language of casual observer, but as one who had personally experienced the ascent and acceptance of the Acadian fact in his province, and who had played his own role in advancing linguistic and cultural equality in Canada. Romeo LeBlanc may fill a largely symbolic office, but it is now an office with an even richer symbolism, epitomizing as it does the aspirations and achievements within Canada of Acadians, of francophones outside Quebec, or even more broadly, of little people from the rural Maritimes or anywhere else outside of the mainstream.
Romeo LeBlanc comes from humble roots in Memramcook, New Brunswick. He is the product of a tightly knit community where family and religion played a major role in shaping values of caring for others and sharing with one's neighbours. Such values were reinforced at St. Joseph's College, where the importance of education and the power of ideas shaped him for his future life in public service. These are values that have guided him to the present day. Everyone knows that Governor Generals hand out prestigious awards in the literary and other arts. What they may not know, is that this is a governor general who reads books. He is genuinely excited by ideas. He promotes literacy, artistic expression, the study of Canadian history, and investment in education, because he learned to value them at a young age.
Equally, he has used his various public podiums to champion the rights of minorities, and to take the side of the little guy. True to what he learned in the Memramcook of his childhood, he has urged generosity and consideration to those left behind by the modern sweep of materialism. When he was Minister of Fisheries, he often had to choose between policies that would promote the big factory trawlers on the one hand or the small inshore fishermen on the other. He invariably sided with the inshore fishermen. It was he who helped to establish Canada's 200-mile fishing limit and to win approval of the International Law of the Sea. Today, as Governor General, he continues to speak out for minorities and the powerless. More than any other public person in this country, he has championed the rights and aspirations of Canada's aboriginal people. He promotes the rights of women, opportunities for youth, and pride in our diversity.
We at this provincial university may have selfish reasons for honouring our Governor General. He is one of ours, a fellow New Brunswicker who represents the best of what this province has produced, a learned man who values education as we do, and who embraces the essence of what New Brunswick can contribute to Canada. He is a mentor, a guide, a prophet who teaches us that Canada's future grows out of its past, its genius is distilled from its people however humble, and its purpose is both as large as the world itself, where forbearance and respect and generosity are so badly needed, and as small as the village of Memramcook, where caring and sharing have pointed an unfailing direction.
Your Excellency, we salute you.
From: Honoris Causa - UA Case 70, Box 3
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