Speech by His Majesty the King at the State Banquet on the occasion of the State Visit to Canada, Ottawa
Your Excellency,
My wife and I are grateful for your kind words and your warm hospitality. You and Mrs Johnston have made us feel very welcome. Thank you.
You are a man of many talents.
A varsity hockey captain, who took his team to sporting glory.
A scholar, whose legal expertise has enriched several universities.
A statesman, who serves as Governor General of 'the True North, strong and
free'.
And not least a father, who has raised five daughters - together with your wife,
of course. I have three girls myself, so I know what an achievement that is!
There are few countries in the world where the bonds of friendship with the Netherlands are as pronounced as here. Our closeness comes not from official treaties or proclamations. It comes from the heart. And from a shared, living history. More than a million Canadians have Dutch roots. Almost every Dutch family has relatives in Canada. The bond between us is felt not only here, at Rideau Hall, but in millions of households on both sides of the Atlantic.
For my family, this bond has a special significance. My grandmother and my mother found refuge here during the Second World War. My aunt Margriet - 'Canada's Princess' - was born here in 1943. On the day she was born, the Dutch flag was flown from Ottawa's parliament building. At a time when our national flag was banned in our own country, it was hoisted high here, in the democratic heart of Canada, a nation that has always been a beacon of freedom in the world.
And for me personally, it is a bond I feel deeply. In April 2009 I was visiting Dutch troops in Afghanistan. At the airbase in Kandahar I was present - by chance - at the ramp ceremony for Karine Blais, a young trooper in the Douzième Régiment Blindé du Canada, from the town of Les Mechins in Quebec. Karine was killed when her patrol vehicle drove over an IED.
I will never forget that ceremony. It was night time, and the sky was lit up with stars. The base - normally so noisy with the constant roar of jets and helicopters - was silent. The only sound was the bagpipe that played when more than two thousand allied troops gave Karine a final salute. Her comrades in arms carried her casket aboard the Hercules aircraft that was waiting to take her home.
Karine Blais was 21 years old when she served in Afghanistan. To her, it was
an unfamiliar and distant country.
Just as distant as the Netherlands must have been to the young men of the First
Canadian Army 70 years ago. In 1944 and 45 they succeeded, together with our
other allies, in liberating the Netherlands from Nazi occupation. One muddy
metre at a time. With stubborn resolve they fought their way through ditches,
barricades and intense enemy fire. Canada paid a high price for our liberation.
Some seven thousand six hundred Canadian soldiers died fighting for our freedom.
Today we had the honour to shake the hands of several of their comrades.
As long as the Kingdom of the Netherlands endures, so too will the memory of
those Canadian men - still boys, really - who 70 years ago enabled our country
to rise again.
What does freedom mean to people? A vivid description by Sydney Frost of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry gives us a good idea.
In May 1945 he saw it with his own eyes: 'The Dutch people went absolutely berserk,' he wrote. 'They climbed all over our cars and trucks and kissed and embraced us. We had some great parties, I'll tell you… Many times, I'm asked, "What was the most important part of your service?" That was it, right there. It all seemed worthwhile, all the wounds and suffering. Suddenly it seemed very much worthwhile.'
In a world of great geopolitical change, where sometimes everything seems to be shifting around us, the friendship between our countries is a rock we can cling to. We are allies, driven by the conviction that freedom, peace and justice are worth every effort.
Sometimes the threat is very near. Like last October, when the Canadian Parliament and the National War Memorial were the scene of a ruthless attack.
In the wake of the tragedy Canada showed again that it will not bend in the face of terror. That it will hold firm to the ideals it has always defended. Ideals laid down in your national anthem. The French lyric expresses that beautifully:
Ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Your Excellency, we look forward to a programme in the days ahead that features every aspect of our countries' working relationship. Not only in the area of peace and security, but also in science and research, agriculture, innovation, urban development, trade and culture.
And of course we also go in for a bit of healthy competition on the side! Especially in the world of sport.
Did you know that ice hockey was a Dutch invention? The earliest images of that great sport can be found in Dutch paintings from the seventeenth century.
We shouldn't forget football, either. It's a shame we won't be here to watch the Holland-Canada match in Montreal at the Women's World Cup on 15 June. But I can assure you that we'll be watching in the Netherlands!
I'd like to close by raising a glass with you all.
To your good health, Your Excellency, and to yours, Mrs Johnston.
To freedom.
And to the close bonds of friendship that will forever unite Canada and the
Netherlands.