2002
Address of Mr. Anton Bergmeier, President of the German Canadian Congress
(Canada).
Liebe G�ste.
Good
afternoon, honoured guests, Gruess
Gott, Gruezi, Sally, Servus, Guten Tag, ich glaube, ich habe alle
deutsch-sprechenden Gegenden erfasst. Sch�n dass Sie alle kommen konnten.
Ladies and
Gentlemen: herzlich willkommen.
On behalf
of the German Canadian Congress and its provincial organizations across the
country, I like to bring you greetings and congratulations to the third annual
�German Pioneers Day�.
Ontario is
the first Province to officially recognize the contributions of the German
Pioneers to this province, to this country. The Ontario Government must be
congratulated for passing this Private Members� Bill introduced by Mr. Wayne
Wettlaufer.
I also like
to congratulate �The Record�, our local newspaper, for bringing an excellent
piece on the history of our city Berlin-Kitchener last weekend, on its German
heritage.
This has
been a major step in correcting a certain lack or oversight in the teaching of
this country�s history.
Who, of
today�s students knows, that German settlers under the guidance of Berczy-Moll
and Governor Simco, founded York or as it is now known Toronto.
Who knows,
that the first couple of miles of Yonge St. were cleared and built by those
Germans. They were not even mentioned at the 200-hundred year celebration of
Yonge St. recently.
Who knows,
why the Town of �New Hope� was renamed Hespeler in 1859 at it�s
incorporation?
Who knows,
that Mr. Wilhelm Hespeler, the younger of the two brothers was essential in
the settling of the Prairies? He brought in 7000 German Mennonites from Russia
at the risk of his life, to settle in Manitoba. They proved to future
newcomers that the Prairie could be viable agricultural land.
Thanks to
the efforts of the German Canadian Congress, the Federal Government, too, has
now recognized the contribution of Mr. Hespeler and provided for a monument in
Manitoba, with inscriptions in English, French and German.
The German
Canadian ethnic group not only makes up 10% or 3 million of the Canadian
population, but it also has been part of Canada�s history from the very
beginning.
The first
documented arrival of German settlers goes back to 1664 in Quebec.
They have been part of
this country�s development ever since.
Hessian
troops fought alongside the English during the War of Independence 1776-1783
under the command of Baron von Riedesel. After this war, thousands of those
troops and United Empire Loyalists of German origin, came north to settle in
Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and along the St. Lawrence river as well as the
Niagara Peninsula.
In 1788 the
newly founded territory of Upper Canada under King George III was divided into
the four districts of Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Hessen and Nassau, to recognize
its German population. (We are right now in Hessen).
Three of
the founding fathers of the Confederation of Canada were of German background.
This is but
a small part of the German-Canadian history in this country.
We are
proud of this history and hope to continue to be a major contributor to the
future of this country.
Meine
verehrten Damen und Herren, wir k�nnen
stolz sein auf das was unsere Vorfahren in diesem Lande geschaffen haben.
Lasst uns fortfahren in ihren Fussstapfen, dass auch unsere Enkel stolz auf
uns sein k�nnen.
Danke and
Thank you.