Ottawa, Ontario
3 November 2014
Thank you, colleagues.
Mr. Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Speaker of the House of Commons, Honourable Members, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, distinguished guests, Mr. President of the French Republic, yesterday I had the pleasure of welcoming you to my home province of Alberta.
Today I am very honoured; we are all honoured to be able to welcome you to our Parliament.
Before you acceded to your country's highest offices, you yourself were a parliamentarian for some 20 years.
So we are very touched by your presence here with us this morning.
Ever since your election to the presidency in 2012, I have had many opportunities to appreciate your wisdom and your courage throughout a turbulent period for the global economy.
As you know, we are not out of the woods yet.
But your presence here, Mr. President, with a large and important business delegation, and the recent conclusion of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, shows the world that we are determined together to move forward in creating jobs, growth and prosperity for our citizens.
It also reassures me to know that our countries, during difficult circumstances in the world, have been able to set an example of enlightened cooperation based on common values.
Indeed, our meetings in Banff confirmed that Canada and France on the international scene share the same attachment to multilateralism, democracy, human rights, and good governance.
We were also able to confirm the vitality of the strengthened cooperation agenda we developed last year, which touches defence, policy dialogue, culture, academia, and the scientific community.
We also fortunately see eye to eye on major international security issues, on which France and you, Mr. President, exercise global leadership.
The tragic events that unfolded just a few steps away, less than two weeks ago, have reminded us that even our most hallowed democratic institutions are not immune to the deadly madness inspired by terrorist movements.
Your country has also been cruelly tested recently by the senseless murder of one of your citizens in Algeria, which we have deplored and denounced.
So I am pleased we had the opportunity yesterday to reaffirm our will and review our strategy to eradicate the most virulent centres of the terrorist scourge, especially in Iraqi territory, where our respective air forces are engaged.
In addition to the jihadist threat in a number of countries, we addressed the issue of the brazen deployment of Vladimir Putin's troops in Ukraine, and the emergencies posed by climate change, and the terrifying emergence of the Ebola virus in western Africa, challenges on which we are committed to work together.
These will of course, Mr. President, only add to the long and proud history of Canada and France working together for common values and against the great threats to our civilization.
Just over four months ago, on a Normandy beach with more than 20 other heads of state and government, you and I celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Allied landing, the beginning of the end of the Nazi oppression of Europe.
To us Canadians, that anniversary, along with the centennial of the start of the First World War this year, reminds us with a solemn pride that a young country on two occasions did not hesitate to come to the aid of the old continent from which most of its population originated.
More recently, we also took part in the G-7 Summit in Brussels, then in the NATO meeting in Wales.
These recent meetings, one inspired by historic collaboration and the other two concerned with the challenges of the present and the future, are I believe a clear demonstration that the relations that joined Canada and France are both longstanding and far-reaching.
Mr. President, in the eyes of the old Europe, Canada may seem like a young country.
And yet France and Canada met some five centuries ago, when the seafarer Jacques Cartier reached our shores.
It is he who gave the name Canada to those lands as yet unknown to Europeans.
And the great adventure of the French language in the Americas has continued ever since.
I can assure you, Mr. President, that all Canadian Francophones feel for their language, their culture and their institutions the same pride and the same hope that your ancestors brought here.
And all Canadians today appreciate the testimony of friendship and solidarity that you are making with your visit.
And now it is my privilege to invite you to this tribune.
Friends: President François Hollande.
