Main Container

I’m happy to be joined today by Ministers LeBlanc, Hajdu, and Anand, as well as by Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo.

Before I get started, I want to speak very quickly about the call I had earlier this morning with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

Hello, everyone. I am very pleased to be here this morning with ministers Hajdu and Anand, and Drs. Tam and Njoo. We’ve a lot of ground to cover this morning so let’s get right into it.

Hello, everyone. As Secretary-General Guterres and Prime Minister Holness have said, today we are hosting another joint meeting on financing for development.

I’m very glad to be here today with Premier Legault to start spring with more good news. François, we hadn’t seen each other in person for almost a year and now it’s been two Mondays in a row that we’re together for some big announcements.

Vaccines are the path out of this pandemic and that’s why securing doses, and getting them to the front lines, is my number one priority.

Earlier this month, we announced funding to electrify transit systems – funding that will help us deliver on our commitment to put 5,000 zero emission buses on Canadian roads in the next five years.

Yesterday, we marked one year since the pandemic officially began. No matter who you are, getting through the last 12 months has taken strength. It has taken courage, but above all, it has taken hope.

In February last year, the coronavirus disease discovered in 2019 gave us a new word – COVID-19. But even as COVID-19 took hold of our planet, even as this new word took over our lives, we found ourselves talking about other words, too.

Good morning, everyone. I’m happy to be joined today by Minister LeBlanc, as well as by Dr. Tam and Dr. Njoo. Our mass immunization campaign continues. We are working tirelessly, each and every day, to obtain as many doses as possible, as quickly as possible.