Media

Speech on the Occasion of the Opening of Canadian Universities Centre

Berlin, Thursday, October 25, 2001

What a joy it is for me to be here today for the opening of the Canadian Universities Centre in Berlin and to unveil a plaque marking the site of our new academic relationship between Canada and Germany.

It is so important for us to have these kinds of exchanges between our universities – especially great universities. But why is this important? Why do we need these kinds of exchanges? Why do we need this kind of a centre.

I think Dr. Pia Kleber would be this person of whom to ask this. She has devoted the better half of thirty years to the deepening of the relationship between Germany and Canada. And by that I mean not a bureaucratic relationship, not one based on "we should have so many exchanges a year or we should do this or that with budgets". Rather, one which has been absolutely vital, especially because it is focussed on the theatre.

In Germany, the theatre is extremely rich and varied, with a tradition going back several hundred years. Our theatre in Canada has benefited richly from Germany's cultural influence. So, too, have the young students at the University of Toronto benefited from people like Herbert Gottschalk, for example.

Germany is a country of culture. That is the way you think of yourselves as Germans, and that is the way we think of you. We do think of you as the country of Beethoven, of Lessing and Schiller. We do think of you as a country of Botho Strauss. We think of you as people who know what culture means in its deepest sense. And we want to be related to that.

Where does one begin? At the universities, with young, fresh minds that want to know new things. For us in Canada, it is at the universities where the excitement and dynamism of our large, diverse country can flourish. For the universities, just like the country itself, reflect the fact that our best and our brightest come from so many different places. And it's at the universities that they come in contact with the best and the brightest of other cultures and cultural traditions.

The Canadian University Studies Centre will have a lasting impact on the students who will benefit from the exchanges conducted through the Centre. When I think of what this will mean for future students, I cannot help but get excited over it. My own student life was very influenced by the fact that, as soon as I had graduated from university in Canada, I went to the Sorbonne in Paris and spent three very fruitful years there perfecting my French. Not only perfecting my French, but also learning about French culture, meeting students who came from all over Europe and the world, and meeting my own fellow citizens, who were French Canadian and also studying in France. And that kind of enriching "layering" of experience is exactly what we hope for here.

I especially congratulate the people who have worked so much into putting all this into place. It seems so easy standing here today in a building of such beauty, located in a square that is, after all, very impressive. In particular, we think of the people of Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) who have contributed so much to bringing this effort to fruition. They are people who have put their heart and soul into making sure that we all benefit from it.

It isn't only the young people who will benefit from this effort. It is also the people who are related to them, the people whom they will later meet. And these influences are incalculable.

So I'm very happy today to be here to help unveil this plaque, to say good luck, and to wish all of you much success with the new Canadian Studies Centre.