Queen unveils human rights cornerstone

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh wave as they leave the Ottawa airport en route to Winnipeg on Saturday. (Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press)

Winnipeggers gathered at The Forks on Saturday to watch Queen Elizabeth unveil the cornerstone of the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The stone came from the fields of Runnymede — near Windsor Castle — where the original Magna Carta, also called the Great Charter of Liberty, was signed in 1215.

The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh spent the day in Winnipeg before flying to Toronto, where they touched down at Pearson International Airport shortly after 10 p.m. ET.

The Queen described the as-yet unfinished human rights museum in Winnipeg as an important symbol for Canada.

"This building will, in due course, rise up to take its place on the Winnipeg skyline," she told the crowds at The Forks, a downtown gathering place where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet.

"But it is also a symbol of the importance which Canada attaches to human rights and its own role in promoting them at home and throughout the world."

In Winnipeg, the Queen's speech kicked off a concert dedicated to human rights. Manitoba-born singer Chantal Kreviazuk, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and aboriginal drummers were on the concert program.

Zainab Manasary said seeing the Queen left her almost speechless.

"I don't know how I am going to express the way I feel," Manasary said. "Maybe I will cry. This historical moment is really good for me."

Earlier in the day, the Queen, 84, and Prince Philip became the first official passengers at the city's new airport terminal. They landed at the almost completed $585-million James Armstrong Richardson International Airport around 12:20 p.m. CT.

There, the Queen signed a letter addressed to the province's young people before it was placed in a time capsule that will not be opened until 2060.

Shortly after, about 1,000 Winnipeggers gathered at Government House to see the Queen re-dedicate a statue of herself crafted by the late sculptor Leo Mol.

An original copy of Magna Carta was unveiled at the Manitoba legislature on Friday. (CBC)

While at Government House for the luncheon, the royal couple looked at a copy of the original Magna Carta that is on loan to Manitoba for the next three months.

Premier Greg Selinger had just unveiled the copy the day before at the legislature. It was produced in 1217, two years after the legal charter recognizing certain rights was drafted. Magna Carta is considered the bedrock of today's modern democracies.

Queen arrives in Toronto

The nine-day visit is the Queen's 22nd visit to Canada.

The royal couple, who visited Halifax and Ottawa earlier in the tour, were greeted on the tarmac in Toronto by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, Lt.-Gov. David Onley and Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion.

The Queen planned to attend a church service on Sunday morning at St. James Cathedral in downtown Toronto.

In the afternoon, she will travel to Woodbine racetrack for the 151st running of the Queen's Plate, the longest continuously run stakes race in North America.

The Queen, an avid racing fan who also breeds racehorses, paid her first visit to Woodbine in 1959 shortly after it was constructed.

The Queen's attendance at this year's race has brought much tighter security. The walking ring is surrounded by a tall security fence and there will be bag checks at every entrance to the facility.