Frank Klees, M.P.P.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario is the first province to officially recognize the historic and ongoing contributions to our society of Canadians of German ancestry by proclaiming the day following Thanksgiving Day in each year as "German Pioneers’ Day."

At noon today, I was privileged to attend a flag-raising ceremony in front of the Ontario legislature. Among the honoured guests in attendance were:

Dr. Klaus Rupprecht, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Toronto, Michael Triller, the Head of Administration for the Consulate, Karl Ruppert, the President of the German World Congress, Gerry Meinzer, the founding President of the German Canadian Congress, Gabriele Lenger of the Austrian National Tourist Office and Helmut Gschoesser, the producer of the German cultural program for AM 530 and others.

The emigration of settlers of German origin to Canada began with the coming of the first Loyalists at the end of the 18^th century. In the 1820’s, people of German origin in Ontario made up a full 70 per cent of the entire population here.

Many settled in the Niagara area, in Tavistock, Woodstock as well as Lake Huron and Kitchener-Waterloo. On July 24, 1788, by royal proclamation, King George III divided Upper Canada into the districts of: Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nassau and Hesse.

Famous German Canadians included the Fathers of Confederation William Steeves, Sir Charles Tupper, Canada’s sixth Prime Minister, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Governor General Ed Schreyer.

Mr. Speaker, as a proud German Canadian, and on behalf of the Ontario PC Caucus, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our entire German Canadian community for ongoing pivotal role in the historic and continuing development of Ontario, socially, culturally, economically and politically, on German Pioneers day, 2006!