Mississauga, Ontario - 20 February 2015
Good evening.
Xin Nian Kuai Le.
It is really tremendous to be here with all of you this evening and to be joined by so many of my colleagues from the Parliament of Canada as well.
You of course all know Minister Jason Kenney who received his Chinese name right at this temple.
We also have Minister Bal Gosal with us, Parliamentary Secretaries CS Leung and Bob Dechert, Members of Parliament Stella Ambler, Terence Young, Joe Daniel, Wladyslaw Lizon, and of course your own Member of Parliament, Brad Butt.
Give them all a big hand.
Give them all a big hand everybody.
And of course for opening your doors to us today I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Temple and in particular to my hostess today, Abbess Venerable Yungku.
Thank you all for your generous hospitality.
Now before I go any farther I just want to begin by telling you what a great honor it is to have received that beautiful name scroll, and the name stamp as well.
Now that I have an official Chinese name I feel as if I'm an honorary member of the community.
I also understand that the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Temple, the Venerable Master Hsing Yun personally wrote the calligraphy on my name scroll, so let me extend, through you Abbess, my deepest thanks to him for this very kind gift.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I look across this country at this time of year, the Lunar New Year, I would be hard-pressed to overstate the tremendous contributions that are being made by Canadians of Chinese ancestry, not just today but throughout our history.
From the building of the national railway many, many years ago, almost 150 years ago in the early days of Confederation, to the present day contributions that are made in industry, to commerce, and to our social life, the hard work, the creative genius, and the rich cultural heritage of this community have helped make Canada what it is today, the best country in the world.
The Chinese Canadian story really is a tremendous one, and I know there's much more to come.
Now ladies and gentlemen the New Year is always a time for celebration and tonight I gather that's what you're here to do.
But it is also a time for all of us to look forward and, I believe, to do so with hope.
And as we do that, as we think about the times to come, you can be confident that our Government shares your optimism for this country and that we too believe there is an exciting future of expanding trade, growth, and development that lies before all of us as Canadians.
As we ring in the Year of the Sheep, let us unite to wish us harmony, prosperity and success.
Let us all join together, all of our hopes and dreams for harmony, prosperity, and success – or should I say for the three goods and the five harmonies.
Let's wish for that as we welcome the Year of the Sheep with both pride in our past and gratitude for the opportunities that lie before us.
Once again, thank you for having me.
Happy new year to each and every one of you.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Xièxiè.
