His address looked to the past while talking about the future and during the broadcast he held a small figurine of Isaac Brock which he said he looked at every day when he entered the Prime Minister’s office.
‘Brock was a hero who fought and gave his life for our forbears in the war of 1812,’ he said.
‘Before Canada even existed on paper, it had a shape in Brock’s imagination. Faced with the threat of an American invasion, Brock built alliances across our land and inspired what would eventually become Canada.’
Although he did not refer to specific issues, his comments seemed targeted at the tariffs imposed by the US on the country and how it could reduce economic reliance on its neighbour.
‘We can’t control the disruption coming from our neighbours,’ he said.
‘We can’t bet our future on the hope that it will suddenly stop. But we can control what happens here.’
After Brock came others who united Canadian’s indigenous peoples to resist US expansion, he said.
‘This statue of General Brock that I see every morning in the Prime Minister’s office reminds me that when we’re united as Canadians, we can withstand anything.’
Brock was born in St Peter Port on 6 October 1769, the same year as the Duke of Wellington and Napoleon. He earned the title of the Hero of Upper Canada for his involvement in the war of 1812. He was killed during the Battle of Queenston Heights on 13 October 1812.
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