Thank you.
Xie xie.
Ni hao.
Thank you very much, Jason, for that kind introduction.
I'm not going to try and compete with Jason's Mandarin.
I just want to say this.
Jason Kenney, proud to be introduced by him, the best Immigration Minister Canada has ever had.
Give him a big hand.
And thanks as well to our masters of ceremonies, Wai Young and Mark Rosewell.
Mark, or Dashan as he is also known, has been Canada's goodwill ambassador to China since 2012.
In fact, a year ago yesterday when we were in Beijing, we announced that, and what a wonderful job he is doing.
So give Dashan a big hand, happy anniversary, congratulations.
Before I go any farther, I want to also thank the Canada-China Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and the Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver for organizing tonight's celebration, and particular thanks go to David Teng and James Chu representing the organizations here tonight.
What a job.
They've done a great job.
Give them a big hand for the organization.
Colleagues from the Parliament of Canada, James Moore, Jason Kenney again, Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Wai Young, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it's a real pleasure to be here this evening with you celebrating Chinese New Year in the province where the Canadian Chinese community first took root.
The community here in Metro Vancouver is second only to Toronto's in size, but second to none in community spirit.
I'd like to start off by offering a special acknowledgement of two of my colleagues from this community: Minister Alice Wang and Member of Parliament Wai Young.
In 2011, I was delighted to appoint Alice, who unfortunately can't be with us here this evening, I was delighted to appoint her Minister of State for Seniors, making her the very first Chinese Canadian woman in cabinet, and Wai, of course, was first elected in Vancouver South in the same election, 2011, and is doing a fine job on behalf of the people of that riding.
Alice and Wai are just two of a growing list of Parliamentarians of Chinese descent, a list that started here in 1957 when Douglas Chung became the Conservative MP for Vancouver Centre.
So Alice and Wai, you're both following in very good footsteps, and I want you to all join me in giving a hand to these colleagues.
Ladies and gentlemen, I'll just take a few minutes and talk about this occasion.
This pleasant occasion is one of many such celebrations across the country.
As you know, the New Year is the most important date in the Chinese calendar.
In fact, it has been described as Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled into one.
Across Canada, communities are celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Snake with parades and fireworks.
Families are gathering to share delicious meals, meticulously prepared houses, richly decorated with flowers, and with misfortune put out of mind.
It's a time to reflect on the year behind and to anticipate the year ahead.
And I'm going to come and talk about the future in just a moment, but I do want to spend a moment reflecting on the past.
I know Jason already spoke about this, but when I think about the Canadian Chinese community, and how successful it is, how vibrant, how integral to Canadian life, it's hard to imagine just how difficult things were within the span of a lifetime.
I am, of course, as Jason just did, I'm referring to the head tax and the exclusion of Chinese immigrants, shameful acts that produced extreme hardship and divided families.
That's why in our first mandate, our Government issued a full apology to the living victims of those misdeeds, along with symbolic compensation, and it's why we have funded nearly 30 projects to educate Canadians about this sad past, part of our history.
We cannot change the past, but we can learn from it and build a better future together.
That is exactly, friends, what our government did.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, as we move forward as a great country, we do so with shared hope and common values, values that have made this community so successful: a strong work ethic, commitment to family and education, self-sacrifice.
Today we say goodbye to the Year of the Dragon and welcome the Year of the Snake.
We are reminded that the snake is wise, a symbol of good fortune, hard work, prosperity, sound financial management, words that could have been taken right out of our Economic Action Plan.
Let me just say that Asia looms large in Canada's economic future.
I know this matters to many of you.
It's why I made my second trip to China just a year ago with Dashan, and why our Government works hard to forge deeper ties with that economy, which is already one of our largest trading partners.
Like the almost two dozen business agreements we signed while we were there in China, agreements worth almost three billion dollars.
In fact, speaking of that trip to China, let me just observe that this is not only the Year of the Snake; in Canada it is also the year of the panda.
Two pandas, in fact.
Under a ten year agreement we signed while we were in China, these two pandas will spend five years at the Toronto Zoo and then five years at the Calgary Zoo, and of course, I've lived in both of those great cities, and I know that when Er Shun and Da Mao leave us, they will feel like true Canadians, and what a wonderful feeling that is.
Again, ladies and gentlemen, I don't want to detain you any longer from your supper, but I want to thank you for your kind invitation, and for allowing me to wish you all the best for a healthy and prosperous New Year.
Happy New Year.
Gung hay fat choy.
