Montréal, Quebec
21 May 2015
Thank you, everyone.
Thank you for that warm welcome.
Thank you Rabbi Emanuel for that kind introduction, for those…that beautiful prayer as well.
But thanks to Ron and thanks to everyone for all of those strong and wonderful words.
They are very touching, and I know they are heartfelt.
I feel it.
I know our entire family feels it and we all thank you for those strong words and for that award.
I want to thank also our host this evening, the Jewish Community Council of Montreal.
To all of our head table guests.
To all of the organizers, give them a big hand for a very successful turnout.
Friends, Canada's Jewish community has long had an active and positive presence throughout the country, and nowhere more so than here in Montreal.
Indeed, Quebec has been home to a flourishing Jewish community for over 250 years.
And one of the members of that proud community is none other than Robert Libman.
Robert Libman.
You all know that Robert has a long and distinguished record of service with families in this region, especially as the mayor of Côte-Saint-Luc.
I have every confidence that if he has the opportunity, he will do an extraordinary job as a Member of Parliament for Montreal.
That one was political.
I had to get that one in.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to be here.
I am also really very touched and very honoured to have been chosen as the recipient of this award.
King David was a giant of history.
He left an outstanding legacy as a public servant, a loyal friend, a courageous warrior, and a principled leader.
When David was king, the Philistines, a people known for their extreme cruelty, posed the greatest threat to the safety and security of his people.
Now friends, we know that evil comes in many forms and it reinvents itself time and again.
In King David’s time, it was the Philistines.
And in the last century, the lethal ideologies of fascism and communism.
Just over 80 years ago, fuelled by extreme hatred, and drawing on a new technology, Nazi Germany rose to power.
That regime, the Nazi regime precipitated the deadliest war the world has ever known.
A war that was marked by the Holocaust, by the deliberate mass murder of millions of innocents, principally Jewish men, women and children.
Some of their names, their stories, their struggles, sacrifices and suffering are familiar to us.
But sadly, many more have been lost to history.
As you know, ladies and gentlemen, the world recently marked the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe.
It was my honour to travel to the Netherlands with a group of distinguished Canadian veterans.
We went there to mark the anniversary of the campaign led by Canadians that liberated that country from its Nazi occupation.
Thousands of Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen helped to liberate the European people from the ravages of the Nazi occupation.
Thousands of Canadians gave their lives so that those people and that continent might experience the fullness of freedom, and the sweetness of peace.
During my time in the Netherlands, I visited the Canadian war cemetery at Holten, the final resting place of more than 1,300 Canadian soldiers.
As I walked along that sacred ground, I couldn’t help but note that carved into each white tombstone was our proud maple leaf, and below it a cross or in some cases, the Star of David.
Because during the Second World War, thousands of Jewish Canadians volunteered to fight and were prepared to die alongside their fellow Canadians for the cause of freedom.
And I am proud to tell you that, even after 70 years…70 years…our Canadian veterans still receive a hero’s welcome from the Dutch people, and it is something they so richly deserve.
And I have to tell you that for our veterans, but really for all of us as Canadians, it was very, very moving.
The generation of Canadians who liberated the Netherlands, that generation of Jewish Canadians, some of whom also helped found the modern State of Israel, learned and taught two things from that terrible episode of history-- some of the lessons I was taught that were referred to around the dinner table from my father.
First, that a great threat to freedom and security, a great evil somewhere in the world will inevitably be a great threat to freedom and security everywhere.
And we know it so often starts as a threat to the freedom and security of the Jewish people and it becomes a threat to the freedom and security of all of us.
And second, confronted with such great evil, the greatest risk lies in doing nothing.
Now, I would say that in fact, this has been our view as Canadians for almost all of our history.
Despite being a small nation usually far removed…far removed from the world’s great threats, Canadians have always been willing to stand for and to fight for what is good and right.
For the freedom and safety of own families and of families in far off lands, including the families at this end, from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Now I have to stop here to note with great sadness that Canada's past is certainly not perfect.
There have been times when Canadians did not live up to our most noble values.
One of those occasions came in 1939, when Jewish refugees were sent away from Canada's shores.
That event was as tragic for those on board as it was indefensible for those who pushed them away.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, just last month we also marked another significant milestone, the 67th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel.
And you’ve heard me say before some of these things, but look, 67 years in the history of mankind is but a fleeting moment.
Yet in that short time, I do believe that no people, no country has given the world a more brilliant example of courage, perseverance and success.
The Jewish people desire what we all desire: a homeland where we can raise our families in peace and security.
And ever since even before the time of King David, the greatest responsibility of any government has consisted in keeping its people safe and securing its borders.
Our Government recognizes that Israel is a friend.
A nation of democracy and constancy in a region of repression and instability.
We understand that Israel’s neighbourhood is as dangerous as Canada’s is peaceful.
And we know that Israel’s leadership has no choice but to take at all times, every step necessary to protect its territory and its family from the forces that wish to destroy it.
Friends, our Government is also taking steps necessary to protect Canada's borders and Canadian families against the greatest threat to our security today, the threat of violent jihadism.
Canadians know, as the people of Israel know that jihadi terrorism did not first show itself when the Twin Towers crumbled nearly 14 years ago.
Those who hate democracy and freedom, tolerance and openness, have been plotting attacks against western nations beginning with Israel for decades, seeking to destroy our rare and precious way of life.
Just a couple of weeks ago… just a couple of weeks ago…this didn’t get much coverage, the head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service tabled his latest annual report.
In it he wrote, and I quote: “There are violent people and violent groups that want to kill Canadians. It is a sobering observation to make, and there is no euphemistic way of making it.
As Canadians, we are not immune to terrorist acts, as we were so brutally reminded last October when two of our courageous unarmed men in uniform were murdered in cold blood.
Canadians came together to mourn their deaths and to give thanks for their lives and their service to our country.
Thankfully, our security agencies have thwarted many other plots: to storm Parliament, to blow up the British Columbia legislature, to bomb the CN Tower, to derail a Via Rail train, to name just a few.
They have also uncovered cases of radicalization of young people here in Montreal.
Ladies and gentlemen, Canadians did not invent the threat of violent jihadism.
We certainly did not ask for it, but the jihadist terrorists have nevertheless declared war on Canadians, and that war is very real.
The threat that terrorists pose to us, to our families, is very real.
Consequently, our Government has reacted and taken tangible action to protect Canadians.
Our Government recently introduced the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015.
The Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015, contains a range of measures to ensure that our police and security agencies have all the modern tools they need to meet evolving threats and keep us safe by giving them the authority to stop planned attacks, to allow them to share information, to get threats quickly off the street, to criminalize the promotion of terrorism, and to prevent terrorists from travelling and recruiting others.
Now, friends, to some in our opposition in Parliament, any security legislation, any security legislation is a threat to our freedom which is why they have opposed all such legislation.
But friends, we know that security is what allows us to safeguard our constitutional rights of speech, of association, of religion, and all the rest.
And that’s why I’m pleased to note that the Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015 will soon receive royal assent, and it will become the law of this land.
Last week, the Minister of Public Safety, Steven Blaney, tabled a new legislative measure to fast-track the deportation of dangerous criminals convicted of serious crimes.
Such foreign criminals should not and will not be allowed to apply for pardon or to remain in our communities.
They will be deported to their countries of origin and will not be allowed to enter Canada.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, at the same time as we are taking steps to protect our freedoms here at home, we are also helping to fight the forces that threaten us elsewhere in the world.
We’ve joined the international mission against the so-called Islamic State, not merely because it is in the wider interest of the global community, but because it is also in Canada’s national interest.
Canadians know that we cannot opt out of the world.
As Canadians, we have always carried our weight, and we keep our commitments to our friends and allies.
That is why Canada has joined the international coalition against the so-called Islamic State.
It’s why Canada has committed military aircraft and personnel to strike ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
And it’s why we have contributed soldiers to advise and assist Kurdish forces fighting to protect themselves and other minorities in Northern Iraq.
And I am proud to say that our men and women in uniform are making a difference in the fight to sap the capacities of the Islamic state.
As you know, I recently had the honour of visiting our troops in Iraq and Kuwait to show our unconditional support for the dangerous mission they are on, and all I can say is this: thank God we have the men and women in uniform who are willing to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria so we can be safe here in Canada.
Canadians area also helping more discreetly, providing humanitarian assistance to ISIS victims.
Indeed, Canada is one of the largest donors in the world of food and water, shelter and education.
So make no mistake, and let there be no mistake about this.
Wanting humanitarian assistance for the people of Iraq and Syria is no excuse for opposing military action against ISIS.
Canada can do both.
Canada should do both.
And Canada is doing both.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends, our Government, as has been noted on several occasions, our Government has taken a very different foreign policy approach from that of some previous governments.
Gone are the days when Canadian foreign policy was about nothing more than trying to be liked by every dictator with a vote at the United Nations.
Friends, in a world that is increasingly volatile and dangerous, Canadians have wanted us to pursue a foreign policy that is rooted in protecting our interests and projecting our values, not as our critics have long advocated to just go along and get along.
You know, we were told for years, we were criticized this for years…criticized for our approach for years…we were told for years to just ignore the erosion of freedoms and the growing aggression of Putin’s Russia.
Look where that has taken the world…
And, of course, we have long refused to be neutral in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against the violent jihadists who have threatened her for every single day of her 67-year existence.
As we did again this year, as once more Israel came under attack from the terrorist group Hamas…now I know there are those who continue to question the wisdom of our policy.
Who just as they once wished we would be more embracing of Putin, now wish we would be more ambivalent about Israel.
To go along and get along with those who regularly single out Israel for criticism – Ron talked about this, others have talked about this – it is…friends, I wish I could tell you otherwise, it is an overwhelming trend in the world: this singling out of Israel in the most extreme and bizarre ways that is so out of proportion with any reality.
Well, friends, we are never going along with that.
It is just wrong.
This government will never embrace it.
And I believe that because of recent events in the world, more and more Canadians have come to understand the nature of the threat Israel faces.
I have asked people just one question.
What is the difference between Hamas and Israel, and ISIS and us?
There is just one thing.
Hamas is a lot closer to Israel than ISIS is to us.
Israel is the frontline of free and democratic nations, and any who turn their back on Israel, or turn a blind eye to the nature of Israel’s enemies, do so in the long run at their own peril.
And so, I have to get this in, Canada will continue to stand by Israel through fire and water.
Friends, I’ve covered a lot of ground, but I wish to close by returning to the life of King David.
As King David united the nation of Israel, he made Israel prosperous by expanding trade and he, above all, was a protector who kept his borders secure and his people safe.
To be given an award in King David’s name is a great honour, one for which in all honesty I’m not sure I, or anyone else could really ever truly measure up to.
But do know…do know that our Government is working to do for Canada during this dark and dangerous time what David aspired to do in his own, to keep…to do our best to keep Canadians safe so that we can, as David himself wrote: “Lie down and sleep in peace, knowing that we dwell in safety.”
Thank you very much again for this great honour.
