ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean began her five-day official visit to Newfoundland and Labrador Tuesday by feting Canada’s first English-speaking settlement.
The 800-person town of Cupids, N.L. was called Cupers Cove when John Guy arrived in 1610 to establish the coastal community in what would grow to become Canada. And as the town celebrates its 400th anniversary this year, its residents welcome Jean – along with her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond and daughter Marie-Eden – with polite applause and delighted smiles.
Jean was first greeted by an estimated 100 visitors for the official opening of the Cupids Legacy Centre, a cultural museum celebrating the region’s heritage, but that number quickly ballooned to more than 3,000 for her remarks later in the day at the Cupids Cove Soiree.
The soiree is considered a pinnacle event in the Cupids 400 year – which saw the small town spruced up with flowers, fresh pavement and signage – and Jean delivered her speech on an immense stage on Cupid’s Pointe Beach.
"We are celebrating a decisive page of our collective history," she said Tuesday evening. "Here, where the adventure of the first British explorers took root, giving birth to English Canada . . . The entire country is proud of the pioneering role that Cupids played 400 years ago in the anglophone culture in Canada."
Among the thousands in attendance were a number of dignitaries, including Cupids Mayor Ron Laracy, British High Commissioner to Canada Anthony Cary, Newfoundland and Labrador’s Lt.-Gov. John Crosbie and Premier Danny Williams.
"Heavy artillery here tonight, I gotta tell ya," Williams joked. "This is a truly momentous occasion. I personally feel incredibly proud and fortunate to be part of it."
But despite the party going on around him, the day had archaeologist William "Bill" Gilbert working flat out.
Yet instead of digging and cataloguing at his site – where he is working to uncover the structures from Guy’s settlement to trace its legacy through the centuries – Gilbert was conducting guided tours for VIPs and media.
"This was the first English settlement in Canada and the first permanent European settlement in Newfoundland," he said of the dig site. "So really it’s the beginning of Newfoundland as a settled place."
More than 160,000 artifacts from Gilbert’s work will be housed at the Cupids Legacy Centre, which was built with a $5.3 million contribution from the provincial government and a $1.5 million contribution from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.
The Cupids 400 celebrations continue until Aug. 22, one day after Jean departs the province.
The Governor General will next visit the communities of St. John’s, St. Anthony, Red Bay, Battle Harbour and Happy Valley-Goose Bay.
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