Malala addresses the House of Commons: Full video
More than three years after the government announced its intention to bestow honorary citizenship on Malala, she visits Ottawa for the official ceremony
Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, the joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, leaves after speaking at Birmingham library in Birmingham, central England October 10, 2014. Pakistani teenager Yousafzai, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 for advocating girls’ right to education, and Indian campaigner against child trafficking and labour Kailash Satyarthi won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Darren Staples/Reuters
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In a moment more than three years in the making, Malala Yousafzai today became the sixth-ever honorary Canadian citizen. Governor General David Johnston first announced the federal government’s intention to do so in October 2013’s throne speech, when Stephen Harper was prime minister. About a year later, on Oct. 21, 2014, Harper sought and received the unanimous consent of the House of Commons to make Yousafzai an honorary Canadian at a ceremony planned for the following day. That ceremony never took place, as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau attacked Parliament on Oct. 22.
Today at 11:30 a.m. ET, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcomed Yousafzai to Parliament Hill. The PM will attend the citizenship ceremony and then introduce Yousafzai in the House of Commons, where she addressed parliamentarians at 12:10 p.m. Watch that speech here.
More on Malala Yousafzai:
Who are Canada’s other honorary citizens?