His Excellency, the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada and his wife, Her Excellency Sharon Johnston, paid a special visit to SickKids last night to celebrate the dedication and generosity of our donors at our annual celebration event, Donor Hall.

The Governor General was at SickKids to recognize excellence in philanthropy and volunteerism, pillars of his mandate as Governor General. His visit began with a hard hat tour of the SickKids Research & Learning Tower, currently under construction. He then proceeded to the Reading Room at SickKids for story time with patients. Though his accomplishments include being a former hockey star at Harvard University and President of the University of Waterloo for 11 years, the Governor General referred to himself simply as “Grandpa Book” – a nickname his eight grandchildren coined for him in reference to his love of reading.

In front of a crowd of about 300 donors, His Excellence went on to recognize their commitment to the Tower and thanked them for their contributions to the future of children’s health care. “This new addition will increase the Hospital’s ability to heal, conduct the necessary preventative research that is so vital to the health of our children, and teach a new generation of medical professionals. When you look around at this facility, at these children, you know, without a shadow of a doubt, that your generosity has made this possible, that you have made a difference.”

Read his entire speech here.