Your Worship, Mayor Cousens, Councillors, honoured Guest,. This is the fourth time that we are celebrating this special event, the German Pioneers Day. We honour and think people of German heritage who came to this Area, to this Province, to this Country to make it their home. Over the past 250 years they came from many areas of the world. From Switzerland, Austria, Eastern Europe, the Balkans and of course from Germany.

They came here to find freedom, to practice their religion built a new life for their families.. They made great contributions to the building of their new homeland. There was a time, around 1822, when about 70% of the people living in Upper Canada were of German descent. This part of Canadian history is often forgotten, or was even suppressed because of events, which took place in the first half of the last century. However things do change, and now we are looking at history in a more objective way. What we are celebrating today, is of course part of Canadian History.

Bill 28, which proclaims that the day after Thanksgiving shall be celebrated as German Pioneers Day was passed by the Government of Ontario in 1999. I am so glad that the Bill received all party support at Queens Park and I thank the members of all three parties for their support.

I also want to say thank you, to the members of the German Pioneers Day Committee, for their hard work. Without your contributions this celebration would not have been possible. You will find the names of the committee members on the inside front cover of your brochure.

Today we think about all those Canadians of German Heritage who came to Canada. They did not bring along many material possessions, but they brought along their work-ethic, their skills, their faith, their culture and heritage. An effort was made to illustrate this on the front cover of the brochure. These German immigrants came to contribute, to help in building this great nation and that is what we are celebrating today.

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving, a day that was very important to those first German Pioneers who settled in Canada. On this special day they where thankful for the blessings received, for the harvest, for family and friends. They did not have insurance or hospitals to depended on, they depended on each other and above all they trusted and thanked God.

We too have much to be thankful for, including for the pioneers who came here years ago. Today we recognise all the hard work and contributions these pioneers have made and are still making. They laid the foundation for the good things we are able to enjoy today. Today will honour four societies that have made it their goal to remember and preserve history and the contributions made by early settlers.

But, not only do we look back to recognize the contributions German Pioneers have made, but we also look forward. As these Pioneers have done in the past, so we will do in the future; to participate in building a better society for the benefit of all Canadians, a society where people have respect for each other, a society where peace, understanding and harmony prevail. I thank you for coming to celebrate this special day with us. Let all of us do it with a thankful, and joyful heart.

Ernst Friedel