Dear Mr Speaker of the Legislative Assembly,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,

It is for me a great pleasure and great honour to be received in such a friendly way in Regina, the Queen City. Many thanks.

I have come a little early to celebrate the Centennial of the Province of Saskatchewan. Exciting days lie ahead of you all. You will mark this anniversary next year by honouring past successes and by celebrating the promise of a wide-open future. I congratulate you on this event and wish you every success for the next hundred years.

I read a speech by the Premier Lorne Calvert who said: “In Saskatchewan, we dream big and work hard and we share with others what we have, what we know and what we create – the world need a little more Saskatchewan”. How right he was.

In Switzerland we dream perhaps not so big as our country is fifteen times smaller than your Province. But we also work hard and there we have something in common.

My dream has always been to visit you in the wheat province, the breadbasket of Canada. I have a friend who lives here near Saskatoon. Visiting him will probably show me that Saskatchewan has gone from a farm economy to one that manufactures farm implements and exports them around the world and has also developed beyond agriculture in many other sectors.

Two years ago, we became members of the United Nations and I hear that our positions are very close in many fields. I was interested to learn that Saskatchewan created the first comprehensive Human Rights Code in Canada one year before the United Nations. Saskatchewan has shown the way to Canada in many fields including social security. I also wondered what the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation stood for. Now having met you, I understand better what this party has achieved in your province.

The motto of Switzerland is: “One for all, all for one”. The motto of Saskatchewan is "From Many Peoples Strength". I think they fit wonderfully together and show that our countries are close.

Once again, many thanks for your hospitality.

I raise my glass to the prosperity of the Lieutenant Governor, the Honourable Lynda Haverstock and of the Honourable Myron Kowalsky, as well as to the future of your great province and to the friendly relations between Saskatchewan and Switzerland.

Thank you Mr. Speaker.