Hello, everyone. This week Canada participated in the North American Leaders’ Summit here in Mexico City.

I also had productive bilateral meetings with our host, President López Obrador, and with President Biden. We advanced our shared priorities, such as economic growth. Whether it is strengthening our supply chains or creating good jobs for the middle class, the more competitive and prosperous North America is, the more Canadian workers and businesses benefit.

Since President Biden took office, we’ve made a lot of progress together on our shared priorities. Our work continues this week, and it will continue in March when we’ll host President Biden in Canada. Here in Mexico City, he and I talked about many important issues, including borders and transportation.

Yesterday, we announced a new process that will restore and strengthen the capacity to process NEXUS traveler cards. The new process will reduce wait times and address backlogs. The NEXUS program generates billions in economic activity and supports local communities on both sides of the border. Making sure this process is as efficient as possible is beneficial to both Canada and the United States.

President Biden and I also talked about security issues around the world.

We know that we have an important role to play in protecting global security and stability. We talked about the ongoing crisis in Haiti and our commitment to support Haitian-led solutions and to continue to help Haiti and its people.

We also denounced the Iranian regime’s continued attacks on the brave women, students and people of Iran who want to live their lives free from persecution. President Biden and I also discussed Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine; we continue to be there to support Ukrainians as they defend themselves. Yesterday, we announced that Canada is purchasing a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System from the United States to donate to Ukraine. This military aid will help Ukraine strengthen its air defense systems and protect civilians.

Russia’s war is tragic and devastating for Ukraine, and it also has impacts around the world on energy and food security, as well as on supply chains. With President López Obrador and with President Biden, we all agree that it's essential to continue working together as reliable partners to strengthen our supply chains.

This week, I also had many meetings with CEOs and business leaders from Mexico and the United States. I made it clear that Canada is a great place to invest. We have critical and valuable resources, we have the stability that makes us a reliable partner, and we have a skilled, educated and ambitious workforce. Canada is rapidly becoming the reliable energy and tech supplier a net zero world will need, and business leaders and partners are noticing it.

For example, Canada has gone up from fifth in the world to second when it comes to the battery supply chain. Critical minerals are essential to build batteries and electric vehicles, but also laptops, smartphones and the semiconductors that they need. With Mexico and the United States, this week we launched the North American Alliance for Semiconductor Supply Resilience. This will help our governments work with industry to identify opportunities, increase investment, and strengthen and expand semiconductor supply chains within North America. This continent should, and will, be at the forefront of global innovation and sustainability, and more collaboration will continue to be the key to our success.

While we continue our work to grow the economy, we are also making sure that people are at the centre of this growth. It’s important to make sure that no one is left behind. This week we reiterated that our three countries need to continue their efforts to address systemic racism and discrimination, because everyone deserves a real and fair chance at success.

With President López Obrador, we created the Canada-Mexico Action Plan, this is our shared vision to build more prosperous, sustainable, safe and equitable societies. The plan includes initiatives to advance gender equality and women’s rights. We’re also modernizing cooperation between our two countries on Indigenous issues, our countries signed a memorandum of understanding that will move us both forward on reconciliation and the empowerment of Indigenous peoples.

Whether it’s growing the economy and making sure no one is left behind, creating good jobs for the middle class, protecting our environment, strengthening our supply chains, empowering people or standing up for democracy, Canada will always step up and partner with Mexico and the United States of America.

I would like to again thank Mexico and President López Obrador for hosting us this week for this important summit. I look forward to continuing to work together in the coming months and years to build a better future for North America and for Canadians.