Queen Elizabeth puts Waterloo on the map

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For a brief time this morning, the residents of Waterloo Region had royalty in their midst. One of only five stops on the nine-day Royal Tour, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillipโ€™s stopover in Waterloo brought the pair to Research In Motion (RIM), maker of the world-famous BlackBerry.

The Queen was met by an impressive crowd as her motorcade descended upon RIMโ€™s Phillip Steet location.

Amidst a large crowd, many of whom had gathered for hours, Queen Elizabeth was promptly whisked inside the plant.

Accompanied by RIM co-founder Mike Lazaridis and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, the 84-year-old Queen was taken for a 30-minute tour of the facility and then presented with a personalized white BlackBerry.

David Yach, RIMโ€™s Chief Technology Officer for Software, expressed excitement over what the royal coupleโ€™s visit meant for RIM.

โ€œIt feels that it gives us some recognitionโ€ฆ not for what we do locally, but for what we do globally as well,โ€ he said.

Peter Braid, Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, echoed Yachโ€™s enthusiasm.

โ€œ[It] speaks to how important we are in the national fabric and as an engine of our national economy,โ€ he said.

Braid also highlighted the significance of the Queenโ€™s visit for the city as a whole, saying that it โ€œunderscores the very important role that we play with respect to our high tech community as a research hub and as a centre of innovation.โ€

If Waterloo was previously overlooked, according to Braid, the affectionately dubbed โ€œhome of the BlackBerryโ€ is now โ€œon the map.โ€

For others, however, the Queenโ€™s visit to Waterloo Region served as a marker of a different sort.

For Waterloo residents Elizabeth and John Kerr, the occasion marked their eighth time seeing the Queen. The couple, who considers Queen Elizabeth the โ€œQueen of Canadaโ€, was ecstatic to hear of the 2010 Royal Tourโ€™s Waterloo stop. This, John Kerr explained, is because the Queen is โ€œnot just visiting, [she is] coming home.โ€

Todayโ€™s visit to Waterloo marked the second-last day of the Queenโ€™s 22nd Canadian homecoming. Tomorrow Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip will fly on to New York City where Her Majesty will address the United Nations assembly.


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