Good morning, everyone. Still morning. It feels like it could be the afternoon after everything that we have seen. This is an absolutely extraordinary deployment, an extraordinary group of women and men. And it is my pleasure to greet the members of the Canadian Armed Forces and our NATO allies. It's an honour. It's a tremendous honour for me and the Minister of National Defence of Canada to be with you here today at the Ādaži base. The minister and I have just come from a trip where we've been in Riga, in Berlin, in Warsaw and Kyiv. And it's fitting we've been building up to this moment. It's fitting to conclude our trip here at the Ādaži base, standing with so many courageous men and women who defend our values, our freedom and our security every day.

This, as we've seen this morning, is much more than a military base. It's an anchor of service and cooperation, a foundation of security. A foundation of security in a world that's more divided, in a world where we must once again contend with hard power, contested borders and authoritarian aggression. This base is a pillar of service, cooperation, and security in a world that is again confronted with military powers, contested borders, and authoritarian aggression.

Those serving in uniforms and 14 uniforms at this base represent over a dozen allied nations. Allies who train together in advanced combat and strategy. Allies who work together seamlessly. This is one of the impressive accomplishments of this base, Colonel. Working together seamlessly to preserve peace and security in Latvia, collective security in the Baltics, in Europe and across NATO. 

Thank you. Thank you for the duty and devotion that you demonstrate every day. When the minister and I were in Kyiv on Sunday for Ukrainian Independence Day, it would be difficult for us to overstate the enormous gratitude that was conveyed to us by the Ukrainian people for Canada's contributions and the contributions of our allies to their freedom and independence.

Canada's contribution over the years includes more than 45,000 Ukrainian security service members who've been trained by Canadian soldiers as part of Operation Unifier. And we'll see some of those soldiers, some of the officer corps later today. Ukrainians know that Canada and our allies stand with them. They know that their cause is our cause, that we stand with them for freedom, for democracy and independence. And so it was in 1991 when Canada became the first G7 nation to recognize Latvia's independence. The anniversary, the 34th anniversary, it was yesterday. We recognize that independence after Latvia had courageously reclaimed independence after decades of Soviet rule. And so, it was when Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Canada, under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, launched Operation Unifier, sending hundreds of Canadian Armed Forces personnel to Ukraine to train Ukrainian troops to fight Russian aggression. And in April of that year, 2014, more than 100 members of the Canadian Armed Forces were deployed here to Latvia to begin Operation Reassurance. Today, it gives a sense of what's been built on that core. Three years later, as Russia's threats to the Baltics intensified, so 2017, 2018, Canada stepped up to lead the NATO Battle Group here at the Ādaži base and added 450 more of our troops. And today, this battle group has grown into a major multinational brigade, with Canada leading more than 3,500 soldiers from those 14 nations. Working together, soldiers working together to deter and defend against Russian aggression on NATO's eastern flank and to fortify our shared defence by air, by land and sea. Since its inception, the need for Operation Reassurance, unfortunately, the need for Operation Reassurance has only intensified. In Kyiv on Sunday, I recalled decades ago when President Ronald Reagan led a peace effort with the Russians, he adopted the slogan ‘Trust but verify’. But Vladimir Putin is not Mikhail Gorbachev. Putin seeks darkness, not Glasnost. He seeks empire, not Perestroika. We can't ‘Trust but verify’ with Putin. We must deter and fortify. Deter new aggression and fortify our shared defence.

And that's why yesterday, the Minister and I announced the extension of Canada's Operation Reassurance for another three years. This renewal will increase capabilities in Latvia to reinsure, reinforce our collective defence, and to bolster our cooperative security and strengthen that NATO deterrence. The extension of Operation Reassurance is part of our broader mission to rebuild, rearm and reinvest in the Canadian Armed Forces. This June, along with our NATO allies, all of whom are represented, well, many of whom are represented here today, along with our NATO allies, we committed to NATO's new defence pledge of investing 5% of our annual GDP in the next decade. For Canada, this will represent a quadrupling of our defence expenditures in cash terms by the end of this decade. We're making this year alone additional investments of $9 billion. And we're working with urgency and determination to increase our defence capabilities to meet the threats that are growing in the world. Our greatest strength is the women and men of the Canadian Armed Forces. We entrust you with the responsibility of carrying this flag, representing our nation in service to our Allies and our most important values. You are the ones we trust to carry the Canadian flag, the ones who risk their lives for us. In moments of crisis, when people see the maple leaf on a sleeve, they see hope. They get help. And your pay should reflect the weight of your responsibilities.

In moments of crisis. When people see the maple leaf on a sleeve, they see hope and they get help and the pay of our soldiers should reflect the weight of their responsibilities. And that's why last month, Minister and I announced the largest pay rise in a generation for the Canadian Forces, with all members of the CAF receiving a pay rise. Those pay increases are retroactive to April 1st of this year, and the rise will be applied on top of base pay. We're also introducing a new military service pay benefit, recognizing the time spent in uniform. And we're increasing the pay for high-risk training and deployments, such as here. And we're reforming posting allowances so that families disrupted by frequent relocations, including some of the soldiers here coming to Latvia, will receive greater support. When members of the Armed Forces are mobilized at home or overseas, they will be able to focus on their mission without worrying about anything else. And that's how we make sure that when Canadians are in distress, when our allies call upon us for help, or when our sovereignty is threatened, the Canadian Armed Forces are ready. 

To support the women and men of our armed forces. We're making major investments in our military capacities. In June we struck a new EU-Canada Security and Defence partnership, leading to Canada's participation in the European Safe Initiative and the relaunch, or the launch, rather, of the ReArm Europe plan. By doing so, we'll be able to partner with our European allies to invest in new drones and new ships and new aircraft and new munitions more quickly and more economically. And we're also back home creating a new defence procurement agency so we can build at pace. So, the women and men of the armed forces have cutting edge military equipment that they need and deserve. These investments will modernize our military and they'll fortify our leadership role in the world. If we are to deter Russian aggression in the Baltic states and across Europe, if we are to ensure lasting peace in Ukraine, to defend and promote our values of freedom, democracy, and peace, Canada must do so from a position of strength. In short, if we want a safer world, we need a stronger Canada.

Because if we're going to deter Russian aggression in Latvia, in the Baltics, across Europe, if we're going to secure a lasting and more durable peace and security, if we're going to defend and advance our values of freedom of democracy and peace, Canada must do so from a position of strength. In short, if we want a safer world, we need a stronger Canada.

And so, it's the service, the women and men behind me and those that they represent. It's their service and sacrifice that makes Canada strong. As we confront the challenges facing the world at this hinge moment in history, Canada's leadership will be measured not only by the strength of our values, but also the value of our strength. This is the strength on the very front line in the struggle between authoritarianism and democracy, between freedom and fear, and in no small part because of their service, your service, your service and sacrifice. This is a struggle that we will win because we are stronger together. Thank you very much.