Good evening everyone, and what a pleasure it is to be here.

Let me first begin, Enrique, by thanking you for your incredibly warm welcome and to everyone involved a great thank you, but mostly thank you for your friendship.  It has been steadfast and strong, and a real treasure in this time.  Thank you. 

Before I begin, I’d like to say a few words regarding the two devastating earthquakes that hit Mexico and took so many innocent lives just a few weeks ago.  On behalf of all Canadians, I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the Mexican people in the wake of these tragic events.  Canada stands united with its Mexican friends in these incredibly difficult times. But today is also an opportunity for me to thank the President in person for his steadfast support when Canada faced natural catastrophes of our own last summer.  As wildfires raged across Canada, he promptly offered assistance to our first responders and firefighters that worked tirelessly to contain the fires, and I’m so pleased to highlight so many of the brave men and women who helped out, here tonight with us.

(Applause)

I want to thank all of you, and through you, Mr. President, I want to thank all the citizens of Mexico for their tremendous support through difficult times.  We are friends... that means we’re there for each other in times of difficulty, and we will continue to be there.

Canada is also committed to working with its Mexican counterparts to help the Caribbean region after this devastating hurricane season.  Canada and Mexico are not only strong partners, but close friends.  We share not only a set of common goals for our people, but a commitment to uphold the values we hold dear. Values like peace, democracy, the rule of law, and gender equality.

This trip was a chance for us to deepen our ties and discuss how we can work together to help our citizens get ahead and make our countries even better places to call home.  With that in mind, you could imagine that it turned out to be a very busy, very productive visit.  Of course, the President and I talked about the importance of strengthening our economic ties bilaterally, and within the North American framework.

Mexico and Canada have become closer on the economic front. More and more entrepreneurs are turning toward their neighbours to find locations to grow their businesses. It is increasingly easier for our respective citizens to travel between our two countries, since the visa restrictions were lifted.  This has encouraged business travel and tourism to Canada and to Mexico, thus strengthening our respective economies. The President and I hope that trend will continue in the coming years.

We also talked about our economic partnership against the backdrop of the ongoing NAFTA negotiations.  Since the agreement first came into force, Mexico and Canada have enjoyed a closer, more prosperous partnership.  As we move forward with renegotiations, we will continue to work towards our shared goal of a win/win/win agreement to ensure that the new provisions are fair and beneficial to all three parties involved.

President Peña Nieto and I are confident that with our American partners we can establish a framework that will create real, meaningful growth that benefits all our citizens.  A framework that will ultimately help put food on the table for families and strengthen our communities. 

In the same vein, we also talked about creating more opportunities for our people to succeed.  The President and I share a vision where every citizen has a real and fair shot at success, and that includes Indigenous peoples, women, and young people -- this is something that featured prominently in all our conversations today.

And, finally, Canada and Mexico are committed to working together as we tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our world; namely those brought by climate change.  We stand firm in our commitment to fully implement the Paris Agreement, and to keep the global momentum going.

The President and I share the same determination to exert our leadership in North America and on the international scene. Once again, I thank Enrique and all his team for their warm welcome.

We look forward to continuing our joint efforts to make a positive difference in our world for all our citizens.  Thank you Enrique.

(Applause)