Ottawa, Ontario - 27 February 2015
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon.
Your Excellency, Madame Clerk, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
Today we pay tribute to an outstanding public servant, and in doing so, as the Governor General just said, we also pay tribute to the work of the Public Service of Canada more broadly.
First, I would like to thank the members of the selection committee, Peter MacKinnon, the Honourable Larry Smith, Kay Stanley, Barbara Stymiest, and of course, committee chair Denis Desautels.
Narrowing the list of candidates down to one outstanding candidate must have been a daunting task.
Because Canada is truly blessed with a high quality, professional public service that, every year, provides us with numerous stories of achievement.
For those who dedicate their lives to this endeavour, it isn’t just a job or career—it’s a vocation.
Serving the public, serving the common interest; not seeking the limelight while striving to make Canada a better country.
I'm always proud to say that Canada is the best country in the world, and the fact that we have men and women like this who are part of a public service that is professional, non-partisan, and trustworthy, is no small part of the reason I can make that claim.
Our public service has these qualities in a much higher caliber than just about any other country in the world.
Canadians just are used to that; they do not appreciate how truly unique it is.
Now, I’d like to thank all of these men and women, these Canadians who have chosen to make a career of serving their country.
These people are overwhelmingly committed to the principles that are the foundation of the Public Service of Canada – integrity, dedication, and excellence.
So today it is a real pleasure to honor a public servant who epitomizes all of these principles.
Ian Burney has served our country well and faithfully for almost 30 years.
I don't know why he doesn't look older than he does.
As a manager and leader, as a diplomat, Ian Burney has played a defining role in the most ambitious trade program in the history of our country.
At all times the intent and result of his efforts has been a better and more prosperous Canada.
Ian is Assistant Deputy Minister in the Trade Agreements and Negotiations Branch of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development.
It's a long title because it's a big job.
Over the past decade, there have been many changes within Canada’s department of international trade, and a revolution in terms of Canada’s engagement in the world.
Back when Ian first took charge of Canada's trade negotiations, the agenda was focused on the multilateral talks of the World Trade Organization, which, to be blunt, were going nowhere fast.
Other countries had, for many years, around the world, been signing numerous bilateral free trade agreements, a field that the Government of Canada, with only three small agreements in 13 years, appeared to have largely vacated.
This was passing strange in that our country was the prime mover in one of the first truly transformational trade deals at the end of the Cold War, the original Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement, followed of course by the North American Free Trade Agreement, about which much could be told by Ian's father Derek, who received this same award in 1992.
Diplomacy, trade, and public service must be in the blood.
I know that Derek and mother Joan are both here today for this proud moment, which is unprecedented, father and son receiving this award, unprecedented in a single family.
Also here is Ian's wife Sylvie, herself a public servant involved in our trade agenda, their children Andrew, Laura, Chloe, and Sophie.
And Ian's brothers Derek, Alex, and Jeff, Derek and Alex having come a long way from Seattle and Denver respectively.
I have no doubt that behind any successful person is a loving and inspirational family, so thank you all for supporting Ian in the vital work that he has been doing for our country.
Now as I was saying, our Government understood very early on that bilateral and regional trade agreements were the key to the future, and thanks to the efforts of Ian and his team, that future is now our present.
Under Ian's supervision the team needed to meet our objectives was built, and as a consequence our Government has been able to expand Canada's trade network exponentially.
For Ian, it’s not enough to be one of the best negotiators in the process; it’s important to be able to spot talent and be a mentor, too.
He clearly excels in this regard, just as he does at the negotiating table.
And he has put together a team that is fiercely loyal to him, as he is to them.
Along with this team, he oversaw the recent talks and implementation process of the free‑trade agreements with Peru, Colombia, Honduras, Panama and Jordan.
And with the European Free Trade Association, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
He has supported the negotiations that resulted in our agreement with the European Union, with its 28 members, the most far-reaching trade agreement in our history or, as it has been called by one stakeholder, the Wayne Gretzky of trade deals.
In his departmental leadership position, Ian is also playing an important role in the negotiations of the Transpacific Partnership.
And, of course, for the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement which took effect this year, Ian was Canada's chief negotiator.
He spent nearly 10 years on that, never giving up, even during difficult talks, even during periods when negotiations were broken off completely, or almost completely.
I am told the deal with Korea is Ian's proudest achievement in the public service.
It's a pride that's well-earned and reflects on his sense of devotion and determination and commitment to excellence and to results.
Another thing I'm always proud to say when I'm talking about Canada, and of which Ian and his team are obviously a big part of, is what this all adds up to, which is a transformational story.
In less than a decade Canada has gone from having free trade agreements with only five countries in the world, the fewest among any major trading nation, to now having concluded such agreements with 43 countries representing more than half of the global economy.
And of course we also have, in the same period… Go ahead, give him an applause for that.
Those are the things to get the big spotlight.
But we also have, in the same period, a growing range of other economic and investment agreements with dozens of additional countries.
Ian, this transformation bears eloquent witness to your performance and leadership.
For this, you have also earned our gratitude, because these economic and trade agreements actually all have a single objective: the sustainable prosperity of Canadian families.
These trade and economic deals mean jobs, opportunities, long term for our families.
They mean stability and financial security for generations.
And they go a long way towards making sure that Canada remains, as I said earlier, the best country in the world in which to live and to work and to raise a family.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, on behalf of Canadians everywhere, once again, Ian, thank you for your years of service to our country.
With this award, given over generations to some of our first-rate public sector leaders, you now stand among the very best.
Thank you very much and congratulations.
