Hello, everyone!

We just finished the G20 Summit here in Indonesia. We discussed issues like Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, the global inflation and food insecurity exacerbated by this invasion, and climate change. I also announced elements of our new Indo-Pacific strategy. The Indo-Pacific region, including Indonesia, where we are today, has enormous potential. It has enormous potential for the Canadian economy.

I’ve been very clear during this G20 that Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine is appalling. After we learned the news of an explosion in Poland near the Ukrainian border, G7 leaders and other NATO allies had an important emergency meeting this morning. We need to remain calm and we need to gather the facts and find out exactly what happened with a full investigation.

After learning the news of an explosion in Poland near the Ukrainian border, G7 leaders and NATO allies held an emergency meeting. It’s important that we remain calm and investigate to find out exactly what happened.

One thing that’s certain is that the loss of life in Poland was a consequence of Russia’s latest indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainians. Russia firing a barrage of missiles during the G20 summit, which they were a part of, proves their reckless behaviour and their blatant disregard for the international system. These missiles are killing innocent people and destroying civilian buildings and are yet another demonstration of why it’s so essential to continue supporting Ukraine. This afternoon, the British Prime Minister and I spoke with President Zelenskyy. We conveyed our condolences for the terrible loss of life as a result of Russian attacks. We stressed the importance of a full investigation into what happened in Poland and we made it clear that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is ultimately to blame for this violence. I also had a call with President Duda of Poland. I offered my condolences and offered support for the investigation that will get to the bottom of what happened. Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, the Polish government and the Polish people have stood strong and stepped up for Ukrainians. We share their sorrow as we salute their strength and resolve. Canada and our allies are unified behind Ukraine. This week, we announced that Canada will provide $500 million in additional military assistance for Ukraine, which builds on the $500 million from Budget 2022. In addition, we’re extending the Canadian Armed Forces training mission of recruits of the armed forces of Ukraine in the U.K. for another year until the end of December 2023. This week, we also sanctioned 23 individuals responsible for human rights violations against Russian opposition leaders. Those who support this invasion need to be held accountable and we’ll use every tool at our disposal.

This war is, of course, tragic for Ukraine, and it’s also bad for all of us. For all G20 countries and indeed for the whole world. It’s disrupting supply chains; it’s creating global inflation, and food and energy crises, and making life more expensive for people everywhere. This instability has repercussions for everyone. If we want to make our world more stable and our communities safer, we also have to fight climate change and protect the environment everywhere. This week, we’re announcing new initiatives to do just that. We’re supporting Indonesia as it scales up its adaptation efforts, including in response to rising sea levels. In addition, with partners here in Indonesia, we’ll help protect or restore tens of thousands of hectares of tropical coastal vegetation. By keeping this vegetation healthy, we’ll prevent biodiversity loss and we’re fighting climate change because mangroves, tidal marshes, and seagrasses store even more emissions than forests on land. We’ll be building on our work here to protect nature and harness its power to fight climate change as we welcome the world to Montréal for the nature COP in just a few weeks. A gathering of the world’s major economies like the G20, also provides opportunity to foster cooperation on sustainable economic growth. On Monday, I spoke in front of a room full of business leaders from around the world. They know that Canada is a stable place to invest because we have the values that make us a reliable partner, the raw materials and trade access, and we have a skilled and ambitious workforce. I made it clear that Canada is rapidly becoming the energy and tech supplier a net zero world will need. We’re focusing on the whole supply chain; auto workers building electric vehicles in Ontario with batteries built in Quebec, from nickel and lithium mined in northern Canada. Because of the work our government has been doing in partnership with the private sector, Canada now ranks second in the world on battery supply chain. This is proof that fighting climate change and creating good, sustainable jobs go hand in hand.

Yesterday, during the global infrastructure and investment partnership event, we made an announcement to help meet sustainable infrastructure needs in the Indo-Pacific region. We are therefore facilitating investments in renewable energy while creating business opportunities for Canadian businesses. Here, in Indonesia, these partnerships will help build infrastructure to be less reliant on coal and reduce pollution. By strengthening our ties with our partners here, and by developing new relationships, we are continuing our work to help Canadian businesses prosper and to create good jobs for the middle class. If we want our economy to grow, we need to make sure that people stay healthy. And if we want Canadians to be safer from COVID-19 and other viruses, we need people elsewhere in the world to be safer, too. That’s why we’re investing in the Pandemic Fund, a G20 initiative hosted by the World Bank. We will also invest to help other countries produce and develop mRNA vaccines, in Africa, in Latin America, and in the Caribbean.

I want to thank Indonesia for hosting this G20 summit in a very difficult time. But look at what we’re talking about here and what it means to Canadians and people around the world. Biodiversity, climate change, inflation, and, of course, the impacts of Russia’s illegal war. Global challenges require global solutions and organizations like the G20 delivering for our citizens are vital. Canada will continue to defend its values and create more opportunities for people, we’ll continue our work here in the Indo-Pacific tomorrow at APEC and we’ll keep focusing on partnerships that will result in more good jobs for Canadians and more opportunities for our businesses.

Thank you very much!