Victoria and Vancouver: Gateways to Canada

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Narrator:
Just off the extreme southwestern coast of Canada lies the picturesque little city of Victoria, chief seaport of Vancouver Island and the capital of British Columbia, the most westerly of Canada's nine provinces. The history of Vancouver Island goes back to the thrilling days of fur trading, when Russian adventurers crossed the northern Pacific to Alaska and later made their way down to Vancouver Island, which had already begun to attract fur traders from most of the seafaring nations, including Spain and England, the chief contenders for ownership. Due largely to the diplomacy of the British captain George Vancouver, war between England and Spain was averted, and the island, which now bears the name of Vancouver, became part of the British Empire.

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Narrator:
On July 25th, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, the late Warren G. Harding addressed a tremendous gathering in Stanley Park, and insofar as he was the first president of the United States to visit Canada, a monument has been erected on the spot where he spoke, and it commemorates the spirit of friendship and goodwill that exists between Canada and the United States, two great neighbors who have learned how to live in peace with each other. And it is with this thought that we say "Farewell" to Victoria and Vancouver, gateways to Canada.