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Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to Rideau Cottage. You don’t need to be alarmed, we’re here because I need to be in lockdown, not because you necessarily need to be. Today I want to talk to you about our plan to safely adjust our border measures, and what we’re continuing to do to support and protect people across the country.

In the last week, I had very productive meetings at the G7, NATO, and the Canada-European Union summits. At these summits in Europe with our allies, we made important progress on everything from ending this pandemic for good, to creating middle class jobs.

We just took part together in a very productive summit with our European partners. It’s always such a pleasure to speak with President Michel and President von der Leyen.

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Good afternoon, everyone.

I want to begin by thanking Prime Minister Johnson for his warm welcome and congratulate him on a successful Summit.

The G7 represents not only many of Canada’s strongest allies, but our closest friends.

And as our world faces the task of rebuilding from this once-in-a-century crisis, I cannot think of a better moment to meet.

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Hello everyone.

What happened on Sunday in London – this act of terrorism and of Islamophobia – is sickening.

It is heartbreaking.

It’s hard to find words that are enough.

What can be said when yet another family has had their loved ones ripped away?

When a child is in hospital?

When a community is in mourning?

So all I can say is this:

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As-salamu alaykum.

Lately, a lot of Canadians have been enjoying evening walks to get a bit of fresh air after long days at home during this pandemic.

On Sunday, in London, Ontario, that’s what a grandmother, two parents, and two children went out to do.

Three generations of the Afzaal family – Salman, Madiha, their children Yumna and Fayaz, and their grandmother.

But unlike every other night, that family never made it home.

Thank you, Seamus. You – and everyone here from our team – are incredibly strong voices for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador, and for all Canadians. Obviously it’s great to be joined today by Premier Furey as well. Andrew, it’s always good to see you, and mostly work with you on the issues facing not just Newfoundland and Labrador but the entire country. It’s great to have a friend and ally around the federation table. Thanks as well to Justin Ladha and the St. John’s Board of Trade for organizing this event, and all of you, thank you for joining us this afternoon. More than ever, we need your leadership as we rebuild a stronger economy for everyone.

Today, I want to talk about vaccines and what we’re doing to rebuild after this pandemic. I also want to talk about the measures we’re taking to continue moving forward on the path of reconciliation. Let’s start with vaccines.

I’m joining you from the traditional land of the Algonquin People. We acknowledge them as the past, present, and future caretakers of this land. Thank you, Gina, for that introduction. To everyone here, to all the speakers, thank you for being with us this morning

Thank you, Garth, for that introduction and for all of your work as President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). Thanks as well for listing so impressively all the things we’ve managed to do together over the past years, but there’s lots more we’re going to be doing.