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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Queen coming to Manitoba for fifth trip

By: Mia Rabson

28/11/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 1

Stephen Harper meets with Queen during Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, on Friday. (SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

OTTAWA -- Queen Elizabeth II will make her fifth ever visit to Manitoba next year.

Gov.-Gen. Michaelle Jean announced Friday that Manitoba will be one of three provinces on Her Majesty's 2010 Canadian tour, scheduled for June 28 to July 6.

She will be accompanied by Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

Other stops will include Nova Scotia and Ontario, with plans for her to be in Ottawa for Canada Day.

Robert Finch, dominion chairman of the Monarchist League of Canada, said he hopes for as many public events as possible but said the Queen will likely ensure that is the case because she enjoys meeting with the public.

"She is known for wandering away from security and into the crowds," he said.

This will be her 24th official visit to Canada as Queen and her fourth to Manitoba as Queen. She visited the province as a Princess in 1951.

Her last visit was in 2002 as part of her Golden Jubilee year. In that visit she had a walk-about at The Forks, attended a public concert and ballet performance on the grounds of the legislature, and helped light up the refurbished Golden Boy. She also presided over a formal dinner inside the legislature.

Premier Greg Selinger said he feels it is a special tribute to Manitoba that the Queen has decided to make this province one of only three to visit on her upcoming trip to Canada.

"It's a great honour for Manitoba. There's nothing solid yet in terms of dates and times of events, but we're working on it."

The last time the Queen visited Manitoba, she was, for a brief time, cast adrift in a water taxi while on the Red River.

Selinger said special attention will be paid to "doing everything that we can to make sure all her transportation is managed properly."

The exact details of the tour, including which day she will be in Manitoba, have not yet been announced.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 28, 2009 B9

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