Mr. Prime Minister, all of the distinguished guests on the platform, and all of the very friendly audience here in Canada:
I express my deep appreciation to the Prime Minister and to his colleagues here in Canada for 'the very gracious words of welcome that they have uttered on this Occasion.
As I noted the bilingual characteristics of the remarks that have preceded me, I realized that I, perhaps, have a responsibility in that respect that I might not be able to fill as well as I would like.
However, whatever my pronunciation may be, what I now say will come from the heart. Je suis tres heureux d'etre au Canada dans la Belle Province de Quebec.
And if you understood that, give the credit to a senior at McGill University who just before me said that meant I am very happy to be in Canada in the beautiful Province of Quebec.
Now, on this occasion, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Seaway. Earlier, on the United States side, we pointed out the significance of that celebration.
But the Seaway has meant to the United States what it has meant to Canada, what it has meant to all the nations of the world whose flags are there before us in the breeze.
We also spoke of what the Seaway has meant in a larger sense, as a lesson as to how two nations can work together; how they can dream together and make those dreams come true.
And if I have one thought today to leave with this great audience, it is this: I believe that the spirit that built this Seaway is the spirit that the world needs today to bring the people of the world together.
Second, I would like to express, on behalf of all of us from the United States side, the great pleasure that is ours to be here at the site of Expo '67, which, as I understand from Mayor Drapeau,1 will go on and on and on, Expo '68 and Expo '69.
1Jean Drapeau, Mayor of Montreal.
I was thinking of the heritage of Expo '67. My family and I were not as fortunate as some to visit it then, and we are so fortunate to have seen it today, and we are glad you kept it so we could see it today. And that heritage is in many ways the millions of people, 50 million who came that first year in 1967, most of them from the United States, and as a result of having come here took away with them an understanding of and an affection for Canada and the people of Canada that they will carry with them the rest of their lives.
And, second, Expo '67 will live on, not only in the physical environment that we see here, but also, of course, in the Expos who now play in the National League.
I should point out to you that I am somewhat of a baseball fan. I know the record of the Expos to date. Some of my friends in Montreal and in Canada have expressed some concern about that record. But I have noted that despite the place in the standings that the Expos presently occupy, the attendance of the fans from Montreal is still at an all-time high for any new team in the League.
And to those who may have any question about the future, just let me say, I speak from experience. For 14 years in Washington, I rooted for the Washington Senators and they were in the cellar every year. And now they are out of the cellar, and so will the Expos be, if you just stick with them as I know the fans in Montreal will in the years ahead.
But now, on a more serious subject, serious in the sense that it transcends all of the interests that we have already spoken of, the Seaway, the field of sports, and it is what this exposition stands for today, "Man and His World." And we all think what a great and profound theme that truly is--not the Canadian and his world, not the American and his world, not the Russian and his world, but "Man and His World."
And here at this exposition, we get a feeling of what that really means to all of us. We recognize here in this Place of Nations that within a month when the first man lands on the moon, it will happen that he will be an American.
But it is significant to note that when he lands there, he will come in peace and he will come from all the world and not just the American part of the world.
And so, today, as we think of what our two great countries have done together in building this Seaway, as we think of the record of peace and friendship that we have built together over 150 years, as we think of what we can do together in the future, in working for the cause of progress and freedom and peace in the world, I think that we will leave this occasion, not with the sense of desperation about the admittedly difficult problems the Prime Minister has referred to that we have, that you have, and other nations have, but with the sense of hope, a sense of hope because in a moment like this, we realize that those great principles and those great desires and those great dreams that unite men are infinitely stronger than those that divide them.
And as we learn to dream together, we shall learn to work together, we shall live in peace together, as Canada and America have always lived in peace together and will for the time that we can see ahead.
Thank you.
Note: The President spoke shortly after 4:20 p.m. at the Place des Nations Stadium on the site of "Man and His World" in response to remarks by Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau who spoke in French. A translation of his remarks follows:
Mr. President, Governor Rockefeller of the State of New York, Representatives of the Governments of Quebec and Ontario, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
It is fitting, Mr. President, that we should meet at this site to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the great work which our two peoples have built together. For several centuries, the inhabitants of North America, the settlers from Europe and before them the Indians, considered this great river as a waterway opening into the mysterious and the unknown, and from the beginning, explorers have plied it from the ocean to its most distant sources.
It is truly a fine thing that this river has, like the open arms of a continent, drawn to the interior peoples ever eager to discover unimaginable beauties and unhoped-for wealth. It is these people who have enabled our two countries to develop and it is this river which has made it possible for our countries to go to the source; it has truly been the path of progress-the path of physical progress, but also the path of material, social, and economic progress. All these villages, towns, and cities extending along its course actually served as a link between those who were pressing onwards and those who were planting roots and developing their country.
And it is for this reason that we are happy to welcome you here, Mr. President, and to salute the great work which our peoples have undertaken together. It is proof not only that the economic progress which resulted from it was essential to the happiness of men, but also that this waterway which nature has given us, laboured upon by men working together, can serve not as a barrier between peoples but as a path of welcome, of progress, and of access. And in this way, the symbol of our river, the symbol of the Seaway, this gigantic and marvelous work, symbolizes friendship and cooperation between our two peoples.
[At this point the Prime Minister continued speaking in English]
Mr. President:
It is a great pleasure, Mr. President, to welcome you here with Mrs. Nixon and with members of your family. And it is truly appropriate on this, the first visit to Canada since your election, that the meeting should take place here at the Place des Nations.
This open forum, which knows no division, was during the year of Expo '67 the meeting place of peoples of many lands who came here to share knowledge, friendship, acquaintances, in a spirit of brotherhood and understanding.
I know this lesson, Mr. President, of men building together with what nature has given them so that they should be freer and more prosperous. This lesson is one that we will all remember and imitate.
And I am very happy to welcome you here and I am very pleased that you should have come with Mrs. Nixon and with members of your family and with many of your colleagues.
I remember well when I was in Washington in March, the welcome that Mrs. Nixon extended to me at the White House, the charm, the warmth of the welcome, and I am very glad that you came with her today. Because we are told--at least, I have heard--that wives have a great influence on the travel plans of their husbands and I hope that Mrs. Nixon will impress on you the warm welcome that we will always have in the heart of Canadians whenever you come to visit us.
You are the head of state of a very great nation, Mr. President--a nation which has immense resources, and extraordinary people, which always knows great difficulties, which we know that your people, your Government, is attempting to solve in a spirit of friendship and equity and we realize the difficulty of the problem.
But we want to say to you, not only that you are welcome here, but that we understand, that we want to share in the spirit of friendship that is in the hearts of the American people.
It is my great privilege to introduce to you today the head of state of Canada's closest friend and ally, and to introduce also the members of the First Family.
Mr. President.
Richard Nixon, Remarks at the International Exhibition "Man and His World" in Montreal, Canada. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/239516
