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Members of the Verkhovna Rada, it is an honour to address you today. As I stand here, in the seat of your democracy, my first thought is for the Ukrainian people that you represent and serve.

This is a place where the world comes together, comes to connect. And the council is a great institution for that very reason.

I want to begin by thanking the Speaker of the National Assembly, Kim Jin-pyo, and the Secretary General of the National Assembly, Lee Gwang-jae, for their warm welcome.

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Good evening.

I want to start by thanking the Eurasia Group and BMO Financial Group for inviting me and for hosting.

I would also like to thank everyone attending this evening and discussing the major issues affecting Canada and the United States as the world’s closest trading partners and allies.

These are critical issues for a consequential time.

With global inflation, exacerbated by Russia’s illegal war, people in developed economies are struggling to make ends meet.

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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.

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Good morning. Buenos días. Bonjour.

Three decades ago, Canada, Mexico, and the United States made history.

With NAFTA, we “Three Amigos” established the world’s largest free trade zone.

We created millions of jobs.

We enabled an extraordinary economic expansion.

And showed that by breaking down barriers, we build opportunity for people.

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It’s great to be here today at the University of Ottawa Medical School, talking with future medical workers.

This afternoon, I worked with all 13 of Canada’s premiers to tackle one of the most important issues to Canadians: Strengthening publicly funded universal health care across this country.

For generations, public health care has been a core part of what it means to be Canadian.

Thank you all for being here, because it’s with conversations like today’s that we can better understand what the business community needs to grow the economy and create good jobs for the middle class and people working hard to join it.

Whether as farmers, scientists, community leaders, athletes, or front-line workers, Ukrainian Canadians continue to make tremendous contributions to our country.

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On Monday, we lost Jim Carr.

We heard the news a couple hours later, here in this House, and held a moment of silence.

It was news that none of us wanted. And it was news that we weren’t expecting, yet.

Jim had been fighting multiple myeloma and kidney failure.

But he always had energy – able to withstand so much.

Jim had stood in this House last week and talked about how much he loved his country.