It’s a great honour to have this opportunity to speak to you about Canada’s strong and growing relationship with its friends and partners in the Americas.
It is a pleasure and an honour for me to be here today. Thank you for the warm welcome and the invitation to participate in this assembly. As Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, I want to point out the importance of what is being discussed here.
I want to extend my appreciation to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce as well as the Mexican Council for Foreign Trade and the Embassy of Canada for their great work in organizing this event, as well as the great work they do through the year in helping to strengthen our trade and investment ties.
I spent many years in business before entering politics. So I really enjoy meeting and speaking with people who help to drive the engines of economic growth in our respective countries.
The success of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s International Convention, which regularly attracts more than 20,000 attendees each year and hundreds of exhibitors from around the world, is a testament to importance of mining in Canada, and the size of Canada’s extractive sector.