Speaking notes for the Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism at the Reception celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and Israel

Tel Aviv, Israel
May 24, 2009

As delivered

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Shalom, good evening. Thank you very much Your Excellency, members of Cabinet, Ministers, Members of the Knesset, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of our Prime Minister, the Right Honorable Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, it is a great pleasure to join with you this evening in celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between two of the world’s great democracies – Canada and the State of Israel.

It’s great to see so many Canadians who are also proud Israelis, who represent a human bridge between our two great countries. There are some 20,000 Canadians who have made Israel their home, and who have contributed to the prosperity and diversity of this society.

One of the reasons for my visit is to look at the diversity of Israeli society. The other day I was in the old city and I saw a young IDF soldier who had come to this country from France, talking to a young IDF soldier of Ethiopian origin and a young IDF soldier of Russian origin. And all three of them like brothers with great fraternity and solidarity.

I am proud of the model of pluralism and unity and diversity that we have built in Canada, but I can think of no other country in the world where there is such fraternity between people of such diverse backgrounds as you see here in Israel. You have done an amazing thing to create this society built on democratic values, which faces such tremendous challenges, but which overcomes them day after day to build this open and democratic society that respects human rights, and that’s a champion for democratic and liberal values.

And so on behalf of Canada’s government I salute Israel, which is such an important ally and friend of ours.

Our government has stood foursquare, shoulder to shoulder, with Israel in facing its challenges strategically because we believe, as Prime Minister Harper has said, that threats that Israel faces are ultimately threats to Canada; that not only do we have common values, we also have common interests. Our government has also recognized the threat of new anti-Semitism and what it poses to Israel it also poses a threat to social peace in Canada. So I’m proud to be here to reaffirm that friendship this evening.

This is a vital relationship that exists in every domain. We see our commerce and trade growing, and our relationship in science and technology expanding. And on a cultural level we see tremendous vitality in our exchanges. So this really is a vital human relationship between our two countries, and I want to thank all of our Israeli friends here for making that possible. Thank you very much, and let’s celebrate 60 great years.