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Speakers to Joint Sessions of Parliament


A joint session of Parliament is a rare and treasured event and is reserved for the most prestigious visitors to Canada. The table below shows all of the speakers to joint sessions of Parliament since 1941, first the heads of state, then other foreign dignitaries.

MAIN MENU: GOVERNMENT: FEDERAL: PARLIAMENT: SPEAKERS to JOINT SESSIONS of PARLIAMENT


Heads of State to Address a Joint Session of Parliament

DateSpeakerTitle
May 19, 1939His Majesty King George VIKing of Canada
May, 7, 1941His Excellency The Right Honourable R.G. MenziesPrime Minister of Australia
December 30, 1941His Excellency The Right Honourable Winston ChurchillPrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
June 3, 1943His Excellency Eduard BenesPresident of Czechoslovakia
August 25, 1943His Excellency The Honourable Franklin D. RooseveltPresident of the United States
June 1, 1944His Excellency The Right Honourable John C. CurtinPrime Minister of Australia
June 30, 1944His Excellency The Right Honourable Peter FraserPrime Minister of New Zealand
November 19, 1945His Excellency The Right Honourable Clement R. AttleePrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
June 11, 1947His Excellency The Honourable Harry S. TrumanPresident of the United States
October 24, 1949His Excellency Pandit Jawaharlal NehruPrime Minister of India
May 31, 1950His Excellency Liaquat Ali KhanPrime Minister of Pakistan
April 5, 1951His Excellency Vincent AuriolPresident of France
November 14, 1953His Excellency The Honourable Dwight D. EisenhowerPresident of the United States
February 6, 1956THis Excellency he Right Honourable Sir Anthony EdenPrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
March 5, 1956His Excellency Giovanni GronchiPresident of Italy
June 5, 1956His Excellency Dr. SukarnoPresident of Indonesia
March 4, 1957His Excellency Guy MolletPremier of France
October 14, 1957Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth IIQueen of Canada (Speech from the Throne)
June 2, 1958His Excellency Professor Theodor HeussPresident of Federal Republic of Germany
June 13, 1958His Excellency The Right Honourable Harold MacmillanPrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
July 9, 1958His Excellency The Honourable Dwight D. EisenhowerPresident of the United States
July 21, 1958His Excellency Dr. Kwame NkrumahPrime Minister of Ghana
May 17, 1961His Excellency The Honourable John F. KennedyPresident of the United States
July 1, 1967Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth IIQueen of Canada (Centennial Celebrations)
April 14, 1972His Excellency The Honourable Richard M. NixonPresident of the United States
March 30, 1973His Excellency Luis EcheverriaPresident of Mexico
June 19, 1973Her Excellency Indira GandhiPrime Minister of India
October 18, 1977Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth IIQueen of Canada (Speech from the Throne)
May 5, 1980His Excellency Masayoshi OhiraPrime Minister of Japan
May 26, 1980His Excellency Jose Lopez PortilloPresident of Mexico
March 11, 1981His Excellency The Honourable Ronald ReaganPresident of the United States
September 26, 1983Her Excellency The Right Honourable Margaret ThatcherPrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
January 17, 1984His Excellency Zhao ZiyangPremier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
May 8, 1984His Excellency Miguel de la MadridPresident of Mexico
January 13, 1986His Excellency Yasuhiro NakasonePrime Minister of Japan
April 6, 1987His Excellency The Honourable Ronald ReaganPresident of the United States
May 25, 1987His Excellency Francois MitterrandPresident of France
May 10, 1988Her Majesty Queen BeatrixQueen of The Netherlands
June 16, 1988His Excellency Dr. Helmut KohlChancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
June 22, 1988Her Excellency The Right Honourable Margaret ThatcherPrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
June 27, 1989His Excellency Chaim HerzogPresident of Israel
October 11, 1989His Majesty King HusseinKing of Jordan
April 8, 1991His Excellency Carlos Salinas de GortariPresident of Mexico
June 19, 1992His Excellency Boris YeltsinPresident of Russia
February 23, 1995His Excellency The Honourable Bill ClintonPresident of the United States
June 11, 1996His Excellency Ernesto ZedilloPresident of Mexico
September 24, 1998His Excellency Nelson MandelaPresident of South Africa
April 29, 1999His Excellency Vaclav HavelPresident of the Czech Republic
February 22, 2001His Excellency The Right Honourable Tony BlairPrime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
October 25, 2004His Excellency Vicente FoxPresident of Mexico
May 18, 2006His Excellency The Honourable John HowardPrime Minister of Australia
September 22, 2006His Excellency Hamid KarzaiPresident of Afghanistan
May 26, 2008His Excellency Victor YushchenkoPresident of Ukraine
May 27, 2010His Excellency Felipe CalderónPresident of Mexico
September 22, 2011His Excellency The Right Honourable David Cameron Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
September 17, 2014His Excellency Petro PoroshenkoPresident of Ukraine
November 3, 2014His Excellency François HollandePresident of France
June 29, 2016His Excellency The Honourable Barack ObamaPresident of the United States
October 25, 2018His Excellency Mark RuttePrime Minister of the Netherlands
March 15, 2022His Excellency Volodymyr ZelenskyyPresident of Ukraine


Foreign Dignitaries to Address a Joint Session of Parliament

DateSpeakerTitle
June 16, 1943Her Excellency Chiang Kai-ShekWife of the Leader of the Republic of China
July 11, 1944General Charles De GaullePresident of the Provisional Government of the French Republic
May 26, 1964His Excellency U ThantSecretary General of the United Nations
March 7, 1985His Excellency Javier Perez de CuellarSecretary General of the United Nations
June 18, 1990Mr. Nelson MandelaDeputy President of the African National Congress
March 9, 2004His Excellency Kofi AnnanSecretary General of the United Nations
February 27 2014His Highness Aga Khan IVImam of Nizari Isma'ilism
April 12, 2017Miss Malala YousafzaiRecipient of the Nobel Peace Prize


SOURCE: Library of Parliament.

See also
Parliament
House of Commons
Senate
Parliamentary Trivia

External Links
Nelson Mandela's 1990 Speech to Parliament
Nelson Mandela's 1998 Speech to Parliament
Parliament of Canada Official Website
Parliament Hill: A Treasure to Explore


Copyright Craig I.W. Marlatt