Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean
Speech on the Occasion of a Celebration Marking the Completion of the Conservation Project for Rideau Hall’s Front Façade
Rideau Hall, Thursday, November 8, 2007
For months, every time my husband and I looked up to catch a glimpse of the sky, you were there, on the scaffolding and on the roof, no matter the temperature, no matter the weather.
We have watched your tireless work for over a year now; workers, masons, sculptors, architects and artisans, all busy like bees in a hive.
And I have to tell you, you have my greatest admiration, if only for your courage and ability to work so high up and not get dizzy! As passionate as he is about this type of work, Jean-Daniel has even joined you on the roof on several occasions.
Restoring the main façade of a building whose historic and cultural value is one of the greatest in Canada is certainly no small feat.
You must combine knowledge and know-how, past and present. And you must be inventive too. Because you never what you’ll find once the stone, copper, wood and metal have been removed; you never know what challenges await you.
And we have certainly had our share of surprises along the way! These are the things we don’t talk about, things like the leak in the roof that for years has forced us to put out buckets in the Long Gallery every time it rained and pray that the storm passed as quickly as possible.
That particular problem aside—a problem you would never imagine in the official residence of the Governor General—I believe it takes real art to find a balance between respecting the historic character of a building and making modifications that meet modern requirements.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Lord Weir, whose ancestor, Thomas MacKay—a stonemason by trade—built the first incarnation of this house.
He told me how proud he was to see the efforts being made to conserve this historic building.
Each and every one of us should take great pride in this jewel of our heritage.
Why?
Because our architectural heritage, our buildings, our monuments, and our historic houses give the full measure of who and what we are.
Because they are silent but eloquent witnesses of the time we have spent in this place.
Because culture—that collection of symbols that allow us to recognize that we all belong to the same society—is a treasure.
A treasure that survives the ages and ends up being ageless. And you cannot put a price on that.
Rideau Hall is one of Canada’s oldest public institutions. Including myself, twenty-seven governors general have lived and worked here since Confederation in 1867. We should also recognize the important contributions made here by their spouses and, at times, their children.
Political figures have stayed here, people who greatly influenced the world they lived in.
Countless exceptional Canadians have been honoured here, recognized for their genius, their spirit of innovation, their bravery and their generosity.
Rideau Hall is a place where the past and the present intertwine.
If these walls could speak, they would tell us who we are, what values we share, and where we are going.
Let us rejoice in the work that was done to restore this historic building, a symbol of the journey we have taken and a place where solidarities meet.
Let us celebrate this precious legacy and ensure it is preserved for generations to come.
Thank you.
