Rideau Hall, Thursday, May 7, 2015

Sharon and I are delighted to welcome you and your delegation to Rideau Hall and to Canada. Throughout your visit, you will encounter Canadians who are building a smarter, more caring nation, who are building ties between our nations. Talk with them and you will discover willing partners and new friends.

The dialogue we engage in is vital to the strength of our relationship. In our modern age, we must be able to communicate. We know this today, just as those who forged our initial links knew that we would find more success when we work together.

In fact, we stand here in friendship because of the efforts of our predecessors. In your case, it is your parents, icons of democracy in the Philippines. Today, you will, quite literally, follow in your mother’s footsteps, who not only visited Canada in 1989 as president, but who also planted a tree at Rideau Hall. Soon, you will plant your own tree by your mother’s to mark this visit. What a wonderful legacy for your family!

As you know, President Aquino, our two countries have so much in common. Yours is one of the most vibrant and rapidly developing regions in the world, with great opportunities to achieve success and some new challenges to overcome. Canada, in turn, is pleased to support the Philippines’ long-term commitments in areas of security, disaster management, development and humanitarian aid. 

In addition, we have strong and growing links. Our trade is expanding, with both Canadians and Filipinos finding new avenues to invest in each other’s countries.

And in education, more and more Filipinos are coming to Canada to take advantage of our excellent post-secondary institutions.

Despite all that we have done, there is so much more we can do together, to share our knowledge more deeply, to partner in more sectors. Let’s see more students travel between our countries. Let’s see more mutually beneficial investment that will stimulate progress. Let’s see how we can work together to create a smarter, more caring world for generations to come.

How we do so is simple: through our people.

One of the largest Filipino communities in the world can be found right here in Canada. Some of them have joined us here today to help welcome you to our country.

My greetings extend to all of you as well. This is a wonderful day for Filipino-Canadians across the country!

President Aquino, we see there is much enthusiasm for your visit and for furthering our already close relationship.

Your State visit is important in many ways. And so, I look forward to discussing with you and your delegation about our opportunities, and to exploring new areas where our relationship can flourish.

Welcome to Canada!