Hon. Gwen Boniface: Honourable senators, I rise today to commemorate and celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. It was signed on April 10, 1998, in Belfast and ended three decades of violence and unrest in Northern Ireland, a period known as the Troubles.

During the Troubles, the Northern Irish people suffered through car bombings, riots and revenge killings that caused 3,600 deaths and over 30,000 injuries.

The Good Friday Agreement underpins Northern Ireland’s peace, its constitutional settlement and its institutions. It created a framework for political power sharing and an end to decades of violence with the help of other countries, including Canada, and represented a new beginning for the people of Northern Ireland.

Amongst other things, it established the birthright of the people of Northern Ireland to identify and be accepted as British or Irish, or both.

It ended direct U.K. rule and set up a Northern Ireland legislature and government with power shared between unionist and nationalist parties.

There are close ties between Canada and Ireland with more than 4.5 million Canadians having Irish heritage. We share democratic traditions and strong economic ties.

Many Canadians represented us well as the implementation of the agreement became a beacon for other nations.

Retired General John de Chastelain played prominent roles, including being one of three people invited to chair the peace talks amongst the parties.

Other important roles were filled by Justice William Hoyt, a former Chief Justice of New Brunswick; Justice Peter Cory, formerly of Canada’s Supreme Court; University of Toronto Professor Clifford Shearing; and many RCMP members who served in the multinational police oversight commission.

Having served in Ireland from 2006 to 2009, I saw first-hand the attention paid to the Good Friday Agreement in every aspect of governance, and particularly policing.

The Patten report directed the transition of the Royal Ulster Constabulary to the Police Service of Northern Ireland, marking the most significant policing reform likely anywhere in the world. It created a modern and sophisticated police service that served all citizens of Northern Ireland.

British Prime Minister Sunak recently said:

As we look forward, we will celebrate those who took difficult decisions, accepted compromise, and showed leadership – showing bravery, perseverance, and political imagination.

Northern Ireland remains a work in progress, but the steps along the road to fully realize the Good Friday Agreement lie ahead.

Thank you.

[Editor’s Note: Senator Boniface spoke in Irish.]