Mr. Prime Minister, Lieutenant Governor Onley, General Natynczyk, General Hillier, General MacKenzie, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, friends, in a room this size filled with so many people, I’m reminded of the story, a true story of the Nebraska Attorney General who was called upon to say a few words unexpectedly at the State Penitentiary.  So he stood there with all the prisoners looking at him, uncertain as to how he might begin.  He couldn’t start with my friends, (laughter) he didn’t want to acknowledge them that way, he didn’t want to say my fellow citizens since his audience had been deprived of their rights of citizenship and he wasn’t comfortable with ladies and gentlemen.  So finally, he began by saying, as I say to you now, it’s good to see so many of you here.  (Laughter) (applause)

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for being here.  You certainly had more convenient options for this evening, but you chose to be here.  You chose to support our military families by supporting the Military Family Fund.  And that fund has made all the difference to families like the Kerrs, Corporal Billy Kerr was badly wounded while on patrol in Afghanistan.  He lost both legs and an arm.  But Corporal Kerr has what our soldiers all have: determination, courage in the face of adversity and the love and support of people around him.  And thanks to the generous support from the Military Families Fund, Bill Kerr’s two daughters were able to fly from Sudbury to visit him while he recovers and rehabilitates in the Ottawa Hospital.

In the end, and I think we’ve all come to understand this, a family’s, it’s a family’s love that makes all the difference.  And it’s how this fund makes all the difference as well.  I want to thank the military families here tonight.  Thank you for your strength, for your courage, for your devotion to duty and above all, thank you for your true patriot love.  We Canadians can sometimes be quiet about our patriotism, but it’s there.  It’s why we’re here tonight.  Every day ordinary Ontarians show how much they care.  They do things like put ribbons or bumper stickers on their cars, they wear red on Fridays and they can stand for hours in the cold, in the rain or the snow on an overpass, just to quietly honour our fallen.

Now there’s something else Ontarians could choose to do.  Starting in February, drivers in Ontario can get new license plates with a yellow ribbon logo to show their support.  Proceeds will go to support military families.  (Applause) It’s just one more way, a small and perhaps quiet way, for us to say thanks.  So to our military families, I say thank you, we are proud of you and we want you to know you will always have our support.  Thank you very much.  (Applause)