Kuwait - 5 May 2015
Good morning.
Thank you, Jason, for that very kind introduction.
Ambassador Moreau, Chief of the Defence Staff Lawson, Brigadier General Constable, Colonel Boyle, our host base commander, Colonel Bader, members of the Canadian Armed Forces, special guests including Paul Coffey, Ryan Smyth, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
I am here today because I want to thank you all personally for your hard work and your sacrifices in the service of our country, and to congratulate you on everything you have accomplished so far in this mission.
And in saying that, I know that I speak on behalf of all Canadians.
One of the things that I believe unites Canadians from coast to coast to coast is our pride in the men and women who serve.
So I'm here to thank you and to congratulate you.
But I’m here to do more than just that.
I’m here to show our unconditional support for you, and for the mission you have accepted on behalf of our country.
I don’t need to tell you why you are here.
Jason made some reference to it.
You are facing an extraordinarily dangerous enemy, the so-called Islamic State, ISIS and its allies who have threatened not only our partners and friends in this region and beyond, but specifically Canada and Canadians by name.
And we know that these are not idle threats.
Its adherents have already acted, striking down two of our own in cold blood on Canadian soil.
Not to forget the effective work of our security agencies in thwarting many other plots to storm Parliament, to bomb the CN Tower, to derail a Via train over Niagara Falls, to name just a few.
So make no mistake.
By fighting this enemy here you are protecting Canadians at home because this is an evil that knows no borders, and if left uncontained, it will spread like the plague.
This is what we know.
Now some will say we don’t know how effective our actions will be or whether this is the ideal strategy.
Of course how could we?
But what we do know for certain is this:
In the face of this menace, the worst thing we could do – possibly do – is nothing.
In the absence of resistance, ISIS had already established its so-called Caliphate, its quasi-state, extending all the way from near Aleppo in Syria to near Baghdad in Iraq.
The goal of ISIS is not merely to hold that territory.
It is to use that territory to launch a global jihad, an orgy of terrorist violence around the world which is what we have seen in so many countries.
Acts of brutality and murder.
A war waged against everything we hold dear: freedom, democracy and human dignity, a war of enslavement and extermination begun in Iraq and Syria against anyone, anyone who is different than they are.
That’s why, as the national anthem says, you stand on guard.
Today alongside a wide coalition of the international community to comfort and defend the innocence in this part of the world and to make sure this threat does not despoil our home and native land.
This is how it has always been.
You stand on guard between the civilization we enjoy, and the savagery that seeks to come to our shores.
And you are making a difference.
Last week, just last week I met with King Abdullah of Jordan.
He was straightforward in his assessment, and I quote: “Your presence in our part of the world is more important now than ever.”
Your CF18s have struck ISIS garrisons, field positions, bomb factories, vehicles, equipment, and storage depots.
Your Auroras are providing reconnaissance information that is vital to the coalition’s success.
And your Polaris refueller has provided millions of pounds of energy to coalition aircraft.
Meanwhile, as I saw yesterday, members of the Canadian Army are providing crucial advice and assistance – active assistance – to our allies on the ground in northern Iraq.
But our efforts are geared not only to fighting the enemy.
We’re also helping its victims.
We’re also providing relief to the vast number of refugees displaced by ISIS violence.
We’re helping to provide food for 1.7 million people in Iraq, shelter and supplies for a million and a quarter more, and access to education for half a million children.
On the home front we’re working to give our security agencies the whole range of modern tools necessary to identify terrorists and thwart their plans, including greater ability to stem the recruitment and the flow of homegrown terrorists.
We’re supporting new and innovative ways to blunt and counter the ISIS propaganda machine, and we’re taking action with our international partners to cut off its sources of finance.
We vowed to degrade ISIS capacity for terror and bloodshed, and so you have.
ISIS has stopped gaining territory and is starting to lose some.
Its leadership is being hunted down and taken out.
As it is pressured here, its capacity to wage war abroad is being reduced.
But while ISIS is battered it is far, far from beaten.
So we must press on – our resolve undiminished – as I know yours is.
Because we know that you who carry our flag into battle, you who are our sword and shield, are the very best in the world.
Your courage, your dedication and your professionalism are unequalled.
My friends, you, we, didn’t ask for this fight.
We don’t start fights like this.
As Canadians the only conquest we aspire to is over oppression and injustice.
The only treasure we desire is the security of hearth and home, and the only glory we seek is that of lasting peace.
But we have always been relentless in those pursuits.
It has been said many centuries, many, many centuries ago, it has been said that the secret to happiness is freedom, and the secret to freedom is a brave heart.
Your courage, like the courage of generations of service personnel before you, is the currency in which our freedom, our lifestyles, have been bought and paid.
For that, the Canadian people offer you our deepest admiration and our eternal gratitude.
We will keep you in our minds and hold you in our hearts until you return safely home.
God bless you and keep you safe.
God bless Canada.
I look forward to meeting you all a bit later.
Thanks.
