Thank you. Thank you very much, Lawrence. Thank you, Annette. Thank you all for including me.

I would like to thank the National Holocaust Committee, CIJA, the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, B'nai Brith, the Israeli and Swedish embassies for organizing this important event. And to Tibor, Judy, Joe, Ruth. Judy Bosloy, who's here on behalf of her mother, Vera. John Diener on behalf of his father, Nathan. Lawrence, you are here on behalf of your father, and Annette, on behalf of your family. Thank you from all Canadians for your presence and for your witness. 

You have lived through the most horrific chapter of human history. Yet, again and again, you have chosen to bring those darkest memories to light, so that what happened will not fade into silence, so that what happened will never happen again. That is the power of one, one life, one voice, one choice to bear witness. And it's the responsibility of those of us who hear witness to truly listen, to reflect and to act. The liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau exposed the scale of Nazi crimes to the world and became symbols of the horrors of the Holocaust, the guilt of the enablers and the resilience of the survivors. 

Today, we remember the consequences of ignorance, of hatred and complicity. Today, we acknowledge that looking away is not a passive act, but an act of betrayal. And from the MS St. Louis to the ‘None is Too Many’ era, Canada, too, has our history of turning away. We must remember that history to ensure that we never repeat it. 

We must remember these lessons – the danger of denial and indifference in the face of evil. And the awareness that evil is once more marshalling its forces. That the Jewish community is once again afflicted by a devastating resurgence of antisemitism. In Canada, synagogues and schools have been attacked, and some have sought to downplay or even deny the horror of October 7, and even the Holocaust itself. The world has once again witnessed the remarkable strength and resilience of the Jewish people. Yet it remains our duty to rebuild a country where they can live securely, openly, and freely.

And that's why with the Leader of the opposition, we are working together as parliamentarians to make it a criminal offence to intentionally and willfully obstruct access to places of worship, schools, religious and cultural community centres. We know that these laws are tragically necessary, but they're far from enough. Laws can deter acts of hate and punish them if they occur, but they can't prevent hate from taking root. Just as the absence of war is not peace, the absence of physical and verbal violence is not the same as truly living in Canada. 

We stand, all parties stand with the Jewish community against hate. Legislation to combat hate, resources to protect communities through engagement with all Canadians to help build our society anew so the Jewish people are not merely protected, that they don't only not live in fear, but they participate fully in every aspect of Canadian life. 

Because that's when Canada thrives, when we all thrive. The responsibility to confront antisemitism belongs to all of us. That responsibility begins with remembrance. As Elie Wiesel warned: “To forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time”. Canada will remember because our remembrance is vigilance, so that never again is always true. Our duty is deliverance from intimidation and hate, and our goal is transcendence, an open society where all can flourish. 

Thank you very much.