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Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Today, we welcome to our Parliament the 46th President of the United States of America, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.

Mr. President, you are a true friend to Canada, and that matters more than ever in this consequential moment. Make no mistake: These are serious times. When the consequences of a warming planet are intersecting with the aftermath of a global pandemic, when an unjustifiable war in Europe has shocked the conscience of the world and exposed the vulnerability of energy markets and supply chains, when families are facing the pressures of inflation and struggling with affordability, when citizens around the world feel anxious about their future and their kids’ futures. Mr. President, as it should be, our two nations stand united in this moment, finding solutions side by side.

We will continue to work together to create jobs and to build economies and societies that are healthier and more sustainable.

It has never been more clear that everything is interwoven: economic policy is climate policy is security policy. People need us to think strategically and act with urgency, and that is exactly what brings us together today.

Mr. President, throughout our history, Canada and the United States, as friends and allies, have faced many challenges together: pandemics, recessions, wars. Here in this House, in September 1939, members of Parliament debated going to war. A few years later, Canadian and American soldiers were fighting against fascism, shoulder to shoulder. There are battlefields around the world where our soldiers lie in cemeteries, shoulder to shoulder.

War has now returned to Europe. As you well know, Mr. President, Canada will continue to stand strong with Ukraine with whatever it takes. Together, both of us are partners that Ukraine and the world can count on. Since Putin launched his brutal invasion, like you, Canada has provided significant military support. In our case, artillery, ammunition, armour, and tanks. From 2015 to today, with Operation UNIFIER, the Canadian Armed Forces trained the brave members of the Ukrainian military, about 35,000 of them, and counting.

With partners and allies, we have both used sanctions and punitive economic measures to continue to deplete the Kremlin’s war chest. After a terrifying spring, a violent summer and fall, and an exhausting winter, Ukraine still stands.

One year ago, our friend, President Zelenskyy, addressed this House to thank us for having supported him from the beginning. Today, Mr. President, together, we reiterate our message for President Zelenskyy and all Ukrainians: we remain at your side.

It is by defending democracies and the rules-based international order that we will ensure the security of Canadians and Americans. Vladimir Putin underestimated the resolve of Europe and NATO Allies. He underestimated the strength and courage of Ukrainians and their will to defend their language, their culture and their homeland.

Mr. President, today I want to introduce you to Nataliia, whom I met just last week. Nataliia arrived in Canada from Ukraine more than 10 years ago. Give us a wave, Nataliia. She arrived from Ukraine more than 10 years ago. She’s safe here with her family, but she still has a lot of loved ones in Ukraine. Every time she hangs up after speaking with a cousin or a friend, she feels a twinge in her heart, wondering if this conversation might be their last.

Mr. President, we cannot and will not let Nataliia’s loved ones down. The Ukrainian people are counting on us. We must stand shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine with as much as it takes, as long as it takes. But I bring up Nataliia now, not just because of what’s happening over in Ukraine as we speak, but also because she’s key to what we are building here today and tomorrow.

You know, I met Nataliia in Nova Scotia last week. She currently lives near Bridgewater, a small town with 9,000 people. For over 50 years, the Michelin tire plant in Bridgewater has been one of the top performing facilities in the world. It is thanks to the strength of the workers there that Michelin has just announced major investments to modernize its plant to respond to the growing demand for electric vehicles. Good, stable jobs like the ones at that plant truly count for Nataliia and her family. And they also count for our large and small communities.

When I was there in Nova Scotia, meeting with Nataliia and others, I met third-generation tire workers at that Michelin plant. And because of the work we are doing together and the investments we are making for the future, that community will have jobs for generations more to come. And that doesn’t just impact them in Bridgewater; it means there will continue to be vans delivering food to grocery stores in California and trucks delivering medical supplies to hospitals in Pennsylvania that roll on tires made in Nova Scotia, as it should be.

Mr. President, in 1987, Ronald Reagan addressed this House in a final big push toward the first Canada-U.S. free-trade agreement. He pointed out that the U.S.-Canada border was a meeting place, rather than a dividing line. More than 30 years later, our border is no longer just the place where we meet each other; it is the place where we will meet the moment. It is the place where we will meet the future, a future not only with good jobs, but good, stable careers for generations to come.

See, we’re also joined today by steelworkers from Dofasco in Hamilton. One of them is Neil. Won’t you stand up, Neil? You see, Neil’s mother worked at Dofasco in the seventies. His father worked in the finishing steel area for 37 years. Now, with the investments we’ve made to help Dofasco phase out coal-fired steelmaking in favour of electric arc, Neil’s kids, and grandkids, and great-grandkids will be able to choose careers making the clean steel the world needs to build electric vehicles, buildings, and bridges. Clean steel will be the backbone for manufacturing in the future, and workers like Neil, from generations past to generations future, will continue to be at the heart of the economy we’re building for the middle class.

See, economic policy is climate policy is security policy. With growing competition, including from an increasingly assertive China, there is no doubt why it matters that we turn to each other now to build up a North American market on everything from semiconductors to solar panel batteries.

Mr. President, with the Inflation Reduction Act, you are creating the jobs of today and tomorrow for the middle class in America. And this also means more clients for Canadian critical minerals processors, for our clean-energy innovators, for our integrated auto workers, for our farmers, growers and producers, and so many others. It is an example of how we can make progress at home and as partners.

To support good jobs for the economy of the future, Canada has one of the cleanest electricity grids in the world. Around 83 per cent of our electricity is already carbon neutral, and we are on our way to reaching 100 per cent by 2035. To do that, we are working with local communities, including Indigenous-led projects across the country, whether for solar panels or wind turbines. And all of our clean electricity exports go to the United States. Worldwide, we must all accelerate our transition to renewable energy.

This week, the United Nations Panel on Climate Change released a new report showing that our planet will reach a critical threshold in terms of global warming over the next decade. That means more heat waves, more droughts, more floods, and more endangered species.

When I think of the families I met on the Atlantic coast last fall who saw their houses being torn to pieces by Hurricane Fiona, when I think of the people who live in British Columbia whose town burned because of the wildfire during a record-breaking heat wave, I know that responsible leadership means doing more to fight climate change, more to protect families. Climate policy is economic policy is security policy.

As leaders, our priority is keeping people safe. Not only do we have to continue our work, but we also have to do more, and faster.

And I know you agree, Mr. President. I remember our discussion in 2016 on climate action, when you were here in Canada as Vice-President. You met with provincial and territorial premiers, as well as with Indigenous leaders. That same day, at the First Ministers’ Meeting, our government adopted the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth and Climate Change, which essentially put a price on pollution across the country. So I am pleased to welcome you again today, knowing that environmental protection remains one of your top priorities.

Mr. President, what makes this such a moment of consequence is that our world, our way of living, is facing multiple threats at the same time. That’s why security policy is climate policy is economic policy. Because climate change, inflation, war, energy shortages, but also foreign interference, misinformation and disinformation, and constant attacks on our values and institutions all compound.

Democracies like ours, just like democracies around the world, didn’t happen by accident and won’t continue without effort.

We have to stick together. We have to continue to face down authoritarian threats, both at home and abroad, and continue to defend what is right.

This is not a moment to compromise on our values. This is a moment to double down on them. We must continue to show resilience, perseverance, and strength.

Resilience, perseverance, and strength: these are words that perfectly describe two men who are here with us today, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

Mr. President, when the plane transporting the two Michaels landed on Canadian soil after more than 1,000 days of arbitrary detention in China, Canadians proved that resilience, perseverance, and strength are more than just lofty ideals. They are commitments that drive our actions and shape our character.

Canada got the two Michaels home, and we did it the right way, not just by respecting the rule of law, but by anchoring ourselves to it. When under great pressure to undermine our commitment to our agreements and treaties, and to the rule of law, we did not capitulate. We did not abandon our values. We doubled down, and we rallied our allies against arbitrary detention, and through that, with your support and your leadership, Mr. President, the rule of law prevailed and the Michaels came home.

With our allies and partners, Canadians and Americans have to remain a source of inspiration to the rest of the world, but above all, we have to continue our work. Every day, we have to do what needs to be done to build a better future for people like Neil and Nataliia, their kids and their grandkids.

We must and we will meet this moment.

Mr. President, in your most recent, powerful State of the Union Address, you encouraged the American people to stay optimistic, hopeful, and forward-looking. Well, this is a vision that Canadians share too. So, let’s keep working hard, and together, let us continue to build a better future for our people.

Welcome to Canada, my friend.

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden.