Good evening. Thanks very much for having made a little room for me in your program at the last minute! I have good reasons for wanting to come to the summit. I am very happy to be with you and to speak to you now as the minister of international development.
Thank you very much, Jeremy [Hunt, United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs], for that extremely kind introduction. I do want to thank you, Jeremy, for having the very important idea of hosting this conference.
Bonjour, salam alaikum to the Muslims in the room, those observing Ramadan. What a great privilege it is to be a guest on this territory that the Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh peoples have called home for generations upon generations, to be in this room with change makers, in a room teeming with excitement because we’ve done something quite exceptional together.
Good evening. It’s a great pleasure to be here and especially to be in the company of such a diverse group of women who are making a difference in the world of international trade.
I would like to begin by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Anishnaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Métis and the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.
Let me start by thanking Finland for hosting us here so very warmly in Rovaniemi. Canadians will always feel very much at home in a hockey rink. And I want to thank you very much, Timo [Soini, Finland’s Minister of Foreign and European Affairs], and your entire team for the excellent work you’ve done chairing the Arctic Council for the past two years. And let me start by saying that Canada is very pleased to support the excellent chairman statement.
"We’re here to update you on the restricted access to China’s market for Canadian canola. We know that maintaining markets for our high-quality canola means more money in the pockets of our farmers and supports good, middle-class jobs for Canadian farm families..."