| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you for that introduction. Please be seated everyone. The honour is really mine, to be with all of you. I don't think there's anything we do in our jobs as elected representatives, as Canadians who care about this country and all that goes into keeping it great; I don't think there's anything more moving than a citizenship ceremony with so many of you from so many different countries, your families and the stories that you have been part of, the places that you were born in and lived in before Canada.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you very much Nick Noorani for being our master of ceremonies for tonight's sixth annual Paul Yuzyk awards for excellence in the promotion of multiculturalism. Earlier today, I had a news conference with Nick, who is one of the most effective advocates for immigrants and their successful integration, to announce that he is chairing a special expert panel that I've appointed to advise the government on how we can better assist newcomers in getting their credentials recognized, their qualifications recognized so they can get to work and realize their potential. Nick, thank you for your service to Canada.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you very much, Judge Janega. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It's wonderful to be here with you. Morning or afternoon? Afternoon. When I got here, it was morning.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Welcome, everyone, to the Montréal Airport. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for today's announcement. I would first like to build on a point that was raised by my two colleagues and that remains essential for Canada, and for all Canadians, which is the key role of our airport.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
It's really wonderful to be back in British Columbia, first and foremost. And this has been a frequent stop for me since becoming Minister, and will continue to be, not only because it's a great and warmer province ¿ there was snow again this morning in Ottawa.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you very much. How is everyone? Warm enough? Good. It's great to be here with you at Pearson International Airport, Canada's top gateway, and top connection, to the world. It's the third largest port of entry for people from outside of North America coming into North America, so very fitting to be here for today's announcement. Thank you very much for joining us ¿ it's a huge part of what we do, to be able to communicate through you.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you very much, Sarah. Thank you very much, Bishop Robinson, for being here as our wonderful co-hosts this evening. Thank you to the Canadian War Museum for welcoming us yet again in this spectacular venue of Canadian history for the launch of our federal celebration of Black History Month. And thank you to all of you who are involved here, including my friend Deepak Chopra, CEO of Canada Post, and all of the officials at Canadian Heritage who have put tonight together.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you very much for that warm introduction. And veterans, cadets, board members of the Canadian Club, Madame President, it is a real honour to be here with you in Vancouver to talk about a subject that I know you are so passionate about, and that we in the Government of Canada are reigniting passion for across Canada with an important legislative initiative that really will strengthen our country, and strengthen all of us in respect of the citizenship in which we take such great pride.
| Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
| speeches
Thank you so much for that introduction. Good afternoon, everyone. It's wonderful to be with you on this special ground right in downtown Toronto and on this special platform, because the Canadian Club really is one of those venues that we need to prize above almost all others. I don't know how many of you have reviewed the history of the Canadian Club recently, but we would literally not have Canadian citizenship, the pride that we take in our country, the rights and responsibilities that we have as Canadians, unique in the world, were it not for the commitment to public debate of organizations like this.
