Paul Martin - Canada and Aboriginal Canada Today - Le Canada et le Canada autochtone aujourd’hui: Changing the Course of History - Changer le cours de l’histoire

The Symons Medal was designed for the Confederation Centre of the Arts by Dora de Pdery-Hunt, CM, O Ont (1913-2008), the famed Canadian sculptor, renowned for her designs of medals and coins.

The Symons Medal, one of Canadas most prestigious honours, is presented annually by the Confederation Centre of the Arts, Canadas national memorial to the Fathers of Confederation, to honour persons who have made an exceptional and outstanding contribution to Canadian life. The presentation of the Symons Medal is normally an occasion for the distinguished recipients to offer a major address on the state of Canadian Confederation, and its place in the world. It provides a national platform to discuss the current state and future prospects of Confederation in the world of today. The Symons Medal Series, co-published by the Confederation Centre and by the University of Ottawa Press, aims to make the Symons Medal addresses available to a wide and continuing audience of Canadian readers, and to make them permanent contributions to Canadian culture, and to the future of the Canadian Confederation.

Symons Medal Series Editor:
Ralph Heintzman

The University of Ottawa Press gratefully acknowledges the support extended to its publishing list by Heritage Canada through the Canada Book Fund, by the Canada Council for the Arts, by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Awards to Scholarly Publication Program and by the University of Ottawa.

The University of Ottawa Press is proud to partner with the Confederation Centre of the Arts to publish the inaugural volume of the Symons Medal Series, which honours persons who have made an exceptional and outstanding contribution to Canadian life.

Proofreading: Didier Pilon

Typesetting: discript enr.

Cover design: Johanna Pedersen and Lisa Marie Smith

Cover art and photo: Paul Martin (Dave Chan photographer)

Detail cover and interior: Charlottetown Revisited, detail, 1964, Jean Paul Lemieux (1904-1990), oil on canvas, 197.2 380.4 cm, Commissioned with funds from Samuel and Saidye Bronfman, Montreal, 1964 (rights of reproduction Gestion A.S.L. Inc.).

Detail cover and frontispiece: The Symons Medal was designed for the Confederation Centre of the Arts by Dora de Pdery-Hunt, CM, O Ont (1913-2008), the famed Canadian sculptor, renowned for her designs of medals and coins.

Photography (interior photos): Louise Vessey

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Canada and Aboriginal Canada today: changing the course of history / The Right Honourable Paul Martin, 2013 Recipient of the Symons Medal = Le Canada et le Canada autochtone aujourdhui: changer le cours de lhistoire / Le trs honorable Paul Martin, Laurat de la mdaille Symons en 2013.

(The Symons Medal series = Collection de la mdaille Symons)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Issued also in print and electronic formats.

Text in English and French on inverted pages.

ISBN 978-0-7766-2253-8. ISBN 978-0-7766-2255-2 (pdf).
ISBN 978-0-7766-2254-5 (epub)

1. Native peoples Canada Politics and government. 2. Native peoples Canada Government relations. I. Martin, Paul, 1938- . Canada and Aboriginal Canada today. II. Martin, Paul, 1938- . Canada and Aboriginal Canada today. French. III. Confederation Centre of the Arts, issuing body IV. Title. V. Title: Canada et le Canada autochtone aujourdhui.

University of Ottawa Press, 2014

Printed in Canada

Ralph Heintzman

The Honourable Robert Ghiz

The Right Honourable Paul Martin

Harvey McCue

The Symons Medal is one of Canadas most prestigious honours. It is presented annually by the Confederation Centre of the Arts to honour persons who have made an exceptional and outstanding contribution to Canadian life.

The Confederation Centre of the Arts was founded in 1964 as Canadas National Memorial to the Fathers of Confederation, on the centenary of the Charlottetown Conference, the historic first step on the road toward Canadian nationhood. In 1864, the Fathers gathered at Province House, the distinguished, neo-classical legislative building of Prince Edward Island, to discuss the union of the British North American provinces. The union they brought about, in 1867, established the foundation for the Canada of today.

Every Canadian played a part in establishing the Centre as a national institution honouring the Fathers of Confederation, because every province and the federal government committed 15 cents per capita to construct the Centre. This was the first time all provinces agreed to fund a national institution located outside their own boundaries. Covering an entire city block in Charlottetown, adjacent to historic Province House, the site of the 1864 Charlottetown Conference, the Centre houses several theatres, an art gallery, a restaurant, and a gift shop.

As Canadas only national memorial to the Fathers of Confederation, the mandate of the Confederation Centre of the Arts is to inspire Canadians to celebrate the founding and evolution of Canadian Confederation, through the performing and visual arts, arts education, heritage, and by public initiatives such as the Symons Medal. When the Confederation Centre was opened by Her Majesty The Queen, on October 6, 1964, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson said: [The Fathers of Confederation Memorial Building] is a tribute to those famous men who founded our Confederation. But it is also dedicated to the fostering of those things that enrich the mind and delight the heart, those intangible but precious things that give meaning to a society and help create from it a civilization and a culture.

As part of the Centres role to nourish those things that give meaning to Canadian life, and establish our Canadian civilization and culture, the annual presentation of the Symons Medal provides all Canadians with an opportunity to recognize an outstanding contribution to our national life, and to reflect upon their country and its future. The presentation of the Symons Medal is normally an occasion for the distinguished recipients to offer a major address on the state of Canadian Confederation, and its place in the world. It provides a national platform to discuss the current state and future prospects of Confederation in the world of today. The Symons Medal ceremony and its accompanying lecture are normally held each fall, in Charlottetown, to mark the meetings of the Fathers of Confederation in 1864.

The Symons Medal is named in honour of Professor Thomas H.B. Symons, a supporter and board member of the Confederation Centre for many years. Professor Symons, the Founding President of Trent University in Ontario, is widely recognized for his work in the field of Canadian studies, especially in the areas of public policy, cultural policy, heritage and education.