And thank you for inviting me to speak this evening at the University of Cape Town Faculty of Law. It is a great pleasure to be here and I thank all of you for coming.
Thank you so much for your kind introduction and warm welcome. I am truly honoured to be here tonight. This trip is a bit of a homecoming for me. It is my first trip to India since being sworn in as Minister of National Defence by Prime Minister Trudeau in November 2015.
As a country and as a public service, we are on a journey where diversity is not enough. In fact, diversity is a foundation where it is important to be representative and inclusive. Diversity without inclusion isn’t going to get us where we want to be as a country. The really important part is the inclusion, which means everybody feels they are heard, their ideas and worth are valued and they are part of conversations shaping policy, services, workplace, well-being, etc.
| Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
| speeches
Good morning. Thank you, Mike [Mike Gerbis, Chief Executive Officer, GLOBE Series], for the kind introduction. Ladies and gentlemen, my message to you today is simple and direct: The time to invest in Canada is now.
| Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
| speeches
Good afternoon, everyone. Let me start by acknowledging my provincial and territorial counterparts who are here today. In particular, I want to salute our chair from Ontario, Minister Brad Duguid. Minister Duguid has worked enormously hard to get us where we are today. Thank you, Brad.
Thank you, Janice (Charette) for that kind introduction. And thanks to those who helped organize this event here at Canada House today: David Marsh from the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum, and Rachel Pine. And thank you to all of you for coming. It's a pleasure to be here.