First, let me welcome you to Government House and extend to the Association my congratulations on 75 years of distinguished service to Canada. Let me begin with a quotation from Canadian historian and author George M. Wrong, who had this to say about your field of interest. The preliminary to making a democracy, if the word is to mean anything, is that your people shall be educated. George Wrong had it right.
Education is an essential part of the ongoing work of making and maintaining a democratic society.
Education is nation building at its most basic level. And there are elements of that task that require the continuing attention of a body of national scope endowed with wide vision. Another is to keep Canadians constantly updated and informed about these issues. A third is to support the collaboration of provincial governments in education. And, lastly, there is the need to advise Parliament on aspects of national policy which have an indirect but powerful influence on education.