Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
Speech on the Occasion of the Order of Military Merit Investiture
Rideau Hall, Friday, November 9, 2007
Most of you were very young when you answered the call and donned the uniform; you were 18, maybe 20 years old.
The choice you made was a difficult one; it required you to make a full commitment and to accept, deep down, that you were making the ultimate sacrifice: to put your lives at risk.
It takes a very special person to choose a life in the Forces, and most of you make that choice at a very young age.
The hours are long, the training is tough, and the self-discipline is mandatory. You are expected to move to different bases regularly and you often find yourselves saying goodbye.
The choice you made was even more difficult because you knew it would weigh on the hearts of those you love. Your parents. Your sisters and brothers. Your wife. Your husband. Your children.
They have to support you, no matter what. And learn to adapt. And live with the knowledge that you could leave at any moment and may never come back.
As commander-in-chief, I have seen how much it costs you and your families for you to be members of the Forces.
I have seen you at work—in Haiti, on the HMCS Iroquois in Casablanca, in Camp Mirage and in Kandahar—and I have listened to you describe your lives over there.
I have been touched by your unfailing determination and your courage in the face of danger.
I have seen how important it is to you that your presence overseas means something to Canadians.
I have visited resource centres and met your families. They told me about the challenges they face every day. And they told me how very proud they are of you.
I always try to be there, on the tarmac beside the grieving families, when soldiers killed in Afghanistan are repatriated. And every time, I thank those families for allowing me to be with them and to grieve with them.
I have witnessed them and heard about them, so I know that each of your actions, each of your decisions is based on deep values, values that will never change.
It is those values that push you to go above and beyond the task at hand. It is for those values that you are being honoured today, for your merit.
You work in service of your country, in service of your fellow Canadians, and you never hesitate to lend a helping hand to people in danger.
You are ready to make any sacrifice in Canada’s name, in the name of freedom and justice, in the name of democracy; you are ready to overcome any difficulty and meet any challenge, including the challenge of going to difficult parts of the world, places where it is imperative that we build and maintain peace.
All of you present today know what it means to have devotion to duty.
I would say you have an enormous devotion to duty, a duty that comes with the power to decide and command.
Perhaps better than anyone else, you know that leading people is a privilege and is not without its responsibilities. It is a task that should not be taken lightly and requires you to act as role models.
A standard in the Canadian military requires that you lead your troops from the front. You—the women and men we are honouring today—have done just that. You have led by example, through your accomplishments.
You are true leaders.
You put the needs of others before your own. And, sometimes, the lives of others before your own.
The lives of your military colleagues and fellow soldiers, whom you would never leave behind, no matter what dangers you faced.
The lives too of civilians—women, children and men—who are deprived of their most fundamental rights and who you help during your missions.
The Canadian Forces and the entire country are fortunate to be able to count on women and men of your calibre.
It is with great pride that I invest you today into the prestigious Order of Military Merit as Commanders, Officers and Members.
Thanks to your tireless efforts, your commitment, your dedication and your courage, you have earned the respect of your colleagues and the entire population.
On behalf of all Canadians, I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
You should all be very proud of yourselves. I know I am. Congratulations!
