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Visit of the President of the U.S.A. to Quebec. 31st July, 1936.

Mr. President, as the personal representative of His Majesty the
King I welcome most warmly to this ancient capital the First Citizen
of the United States. Canada welcomes you not only for your own sake as an
old acquaintance - for I think you know well our Eastern coasts - but also
as one of the major forces today in the statesmanship of the world.
She welcomes you not less as the ruler of a people to whom she is
bound by many ties of blood and tradition, a people whose problems
are akin to her own.

We are a North American nation and our destiny is inseparable from
yours. We have much in common with you, but we are also unlike
you, and differences understood and respected are the best foundation
for friendship.

Canada is a free and sovereign nation, and for generations
she has dwelt side by side with yours in perfect amity - an example to
all the world of how civilised neighbours should live together. She
is also a principal constituent part of the British Empire, and as
such she is a link between your great Republic and that Commonwealth
of Nations which covers more than a quarter of the globe. Mr. President,
it is my earnest hope - and I know that it is also yours - that
our friendship and goodwill may grow to a still closer understanding,
and become that strongest of human creations, a thing about which men
do not argue, but which they can take for granted. It is my prayer
that, not by any formal alliance, but through thinking the same
thoughts and pursuing the same purpose, the Republic of the United
States and the British Commonwealth may help to restore the shaken
liberties of mankind.