[Screen Description: A stone inuksuk stands amongst trees. The grass and the leaves are green. There is a small yellow banner in the lower left corner of the screen, which reads “Rideau Hall.”]

[Screen Description: The Governor General is sitting in a room at Rideau Hall. She is wearing a red and black blouse with a white blazer. A beaded pin representing an orange t-shirt is pinned to her blazer. She is also wearing an Order of Canada pin. There are paintings and a rustic cabinet behind her. There is a logo and a yellow banner in the lower left corner, which reads “Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary May Simon Governor General of Canada”. The text on the banner fades and is replaced with the same text in French. As she speaks, subtitles appear at the bottom of the screen in both French and English. In the background, we hear soft instrumental music.]

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] Good evening. 

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In French) Good evening.

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In Inuktitut) Good evening.

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] I am speaking to you from Rideau Hall, on the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I am honoured to be Canada’s Governor General and to be part of acknowledging this very first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Today, I want to communicate a message to you: 

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In French) Reconciliation requires effort every day from everyone. 

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In Inuktitut) And this effort we must carry out for all time, for it has no end date or finish line. 

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In French) On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, I urge you to pause and reflect on Canada’s full history. 

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In Inuktitut) Do it to honour those Indigenous children who experienced or witnessed cruel injustices. Many emerged traumatized, many still suffer pain. 

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] As we strive to resolve the tensions of the past with the promise of the future, we can stand together and move forward with grace and humility.

[Governor General Mary May Simon:] (In Inuktitut) Make reconciliation a way of life.

[Screen Description: The screen fades to black.]