Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • (applause)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: Merci, Monsieur le President.

  • Female Speaker:: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: Thank you, dear friends.

  • It's wonderful to see you all here today.

  • Mr. President, it's an honor to welcome you

  • to Parliament.

  • On behalf of all Canadians, welcome to our house.

  • (cheers, applause)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: Before

  • we begin, I would like to

  • ask we begin, I would like to ask everyone

  • here today to join us in a moment of

  • silence in memory of those killed and injured in

  • yesterday's attack in Istanbul.

  • Merci.

  • Female Speaker:: Thank you.

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: Mr. President, the house

  • extraordinary moments in history.

  • It's where governments made the difficult

  • decision to send young men and women to war.

  • Decisions that forever changed our country and

  • the world.

  • It was here in 1922 that Agnes Macphail, our first

  • female member of Parliament, showed

  • generations of Canadian girls that yes, they could.

  • (cheers, applause)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: And now, finally, this house gets

  • to see a bromance up close.

  • (laughter)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: Thanks for making that possible --

  • (laughter)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: -- although I still think

  • "dude-plomacy" is more accurate, but I'll get

  • over it.

  • (laughter)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: The truth is that, while Barack and

  • I are friends, it's a friendship that is far

  • from unique.

  • [speaking foreign language]

  • Female Speaker:: Be it through family, friends,

  • social media, or even by the $2.4 billion in goods

  • and services that cross our border every day, the

  • links between Canadians and Americans are everywhere.

  • And it is through those relationships that we give

  • life to what President Kennedy stated when he

  • addressed this house: "What unites us is far

  • greater than what divides us."

  • Canadians and Americans are united in their quest

  • for peace and prosperity.

  • We all want real opportunities for success.

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: And we understand that economic

  • growth means most when it improves the lives of the

  • people who work so hard to secure it, especially the

  • middle class and those working hard to join it.

  • And we echo the values of President Roosevelt, who

  • said the test of our progress is not whether we

  • add more to the abundance of those who have so much;

  • it is whether we provide enough for those who have

  • too little.

  • Canadians and Americans are also united in our

  • desire to leave to our children and grandchildren

  • a better world - a safer, cleaner world - than the

  • one we inherited from our parents.

  • That's an ambitious goal, but not one beyond our reach.

  • Today we made an important down payment on that

  • cleaner future with the new Continental Climate

  • Change Strategy.

  • (cheers, applause)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: And finally, and, at this moment,

  • critically, Canadians and Americans are united in

  • our understanding that diversity is a source of

  • strength, not weakness.

  • Generation after generation, our countries

  • have welcome newcomers seeking liberty and the

  • promise of a bitter life.

  • And generation after generation, our identities

  • and our economies have been enriched by these new

  • perspectives, not threatened by them.

  • The North American idea that diversity is strength

  • is our great gift to the world.

  • No matter where you are from or the faith you

  • profess, nor the color of your skin, nor whom you

  • love, you belong here.

  • This is home.

  • (cheers, applause)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: So let us reaffirm today with our

  • American cousins the spirit that, 153 years

  • ago, Abraham Lincoln called "the last, best

  • hope on Earth": openness, diversity, inclusion,

  • responsible self-government, freedom

  • for all people - these ideas are as important

  • today as they have ever been.

  • And we will promote them together.

  • On all these things - on economic opportunity, on

  • the environment, on building a more inclusive

  • and diverse society - Canadians and Americans agree.

  • [speaking foreign language]

  • Female Speaker:: When people say that the

  • President and I share a special relationship,

  • there's something that they often don't realize:

  • We're not inspired by each other, but by the people

  • whom we have the privilege of serving.

  • From the mother who does overtime in order to pay

  • her rent and buy new clothing for her daughter

  • and save a little money to help her parents; from the

  • retiree who gives his time to teaching children the

  • importance of wetlands; the communities that come

  • together after a natural disaster or who walk

  • side-by-side, hand-in-hand, to affirm

  • the right to love one another.

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: These are the stories I will think

  • of when I consider President Obama's time

  • in office.

  • History books will record the signature policies,

  • but I will remember -- what I hope we all will

  • remember - are the lessons that you taught us not by

  • executive order but by example.

  • That we are accountable --

  • (cheers, applause)

  • Prime Minister Trudeau: The lesson that we are accountable

  • to each other, that we are stronger together than we

  • are apart, that we are more alike than we are

  • different, and that there is a place in this world

  • for politics that is hopeful, hardworking,

  • ambitious, and kind.

  • Mr. President, in your last State of the Union

  • Address you said of the American people that they

  • are clear-eyed, big-hearted, undaunted,

  • and optimistic.

  • I can think of no better way to describe their leader.

  • Barack, welcome to Canada.

  • [speaking foreign language]

  • Female Speaker:: Ladies and gentlemen, the President

  • of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

  • (cheers, applause)

  • President Obama: Thank you so much.

  • Thank you.

  • (applause)

  • Thank you, everybody.

  • (applause)

  • Thank you so much.

  • Thank you.

  • Please, everyone have a seat.

  • Thank you.

  • (applause)

  • Thank you so much.

  • Good evening.

  • Bonjour.

  • Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker, members of the

  • House, members of the Senate, distinguished

  • guests, people of Canada -- thank you for this

  • extraordinary welcome, which temps me to just shut up

  • and leave.

  • (laughter)

  • Because it can't get any better than this.

  • (laughter)

  • Obviously I'm grateful for the warm welcome.

  • I'm extraordinarily grateful for the close working

  • relationship and friendship with your outstanding Prime

  • Minister, Justin Trudeau, and his extraordinary

  • wife, Sophie.

  • But I think it's fair to say that much of this greeting

  • is simply a reflection of the extraordinary alliance

  • and deep friendship between Canadians and Americans.

  • Justin, thank you for your very kind words, and for the

  • new energy and hope that your leadership has brought

  • to your nation as well as to the alliance.

  • My time in office may be nearing an end, but I know

  • that Canada -- and the world -- will benefit from your

  • leadership for years to come.

  • (applause)

  • So Canada was the very first country that I visited

  • as President.

  • It was in February.

  • (laughter)

  • It was colder.