Mr. Speaker of the Senate, Mr. Speaker of the House of Commons, parliamentarians, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my great honour to welcome His Highness the Aga Khan to the Parliament of Canada.
I am also pleased to recognize his family members and Ismaili leaders, who have come from across the country and around the world to hear His Highness address the Canadian people. Please, colleagues, welcome them all.
As we all know, Canada is home to a well-established and fast-growing Ismaili community. His Highness has therefore become an increasingly frequent visitor, and always a welcome one.
In fact, Your Highness, you are no longer simply a visitor. You are now an honorary Canadian citizen.
I remember well, Your Highness, the day you accepted honorary Canadian citizenship, something agreed to by all parties of this House.
It was during the foundation ceremony of Toronto's Ismaili Centre and Aga Khan Museum and Park. I am told construction there has gone well and that the centre will soon portray Islamic contributions to the enlightened pursuit of knowledge.
Soon, everyone will be able to access this carefully catalogued history.
In any case, Your Highness, know this: when you are in Canada, you are home.
In a few moments, His Highness will share some thoughts with us.
Our decision to extend Canadian citizenship to His Highness recognizes the reality of values shared and values acted upon.
His Highness' life-long advocacy for humanitarianism, pluralism, and tolerance has gone far beyond words.
For example, the Global Centre for Pluralism, here in Ottawa, was established in partnership with our government at the very beginning of our mandate.
His Highness' Global Centre for Pluralism here in Ottawa advances good governance and engages with societies on the precipice of crisis.
Similarly, through the Aga Khan Development Network, His Highness has been tireless in humanitarian and development initiatives in Africa, in Asia, including in Afghanistan, where the network continues to be a brave partner in Canada's efforts to secure and improve the lives of Afghan citizens.
Over the years, then, we have built together a solid record of genuine assistance to some of the world's neediest people. Today that work goes on. In particular, our government and the network co-operate in the development priority that Canada assumed at the Muskoka G8, the promotion of maternal, newborn, and child health.
The fact that so many women, infants and children in developing countries are dying needlessly is an unspeakable tragedy—I would even call it disgraceful—when medical knowledge is so widespread.
In this work, Your Highness, we are delighted to have your personal support and the capable assistance of the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada and the Aga Khan Development Network.
Canadians have the utmost respect for the work they do, and your leadership inspires us to hope for a better world.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, colleagues, Canadians are strongest when we have the support of those who share our values.
Although revered in the western world, deeply rooted values are not restricted to a single culture.
Those who love freedom and democracy, those who desire peace, those who will uphold the basic rights of every man and woman, and those who, such as His Highness, share our belief that pluralism, diversity within a united country, is the basis of all of these things—these are our friends.
Your Highness, we have met on several occasions and, like our country as a whole, I value your counsel and your friendship.
It has become clear that there is an exquisite symmetry, as I once described it, between your values and Canadian values.
You once said that we cannot make the world safe for democracy without first making the world safe for diversity. This is a most Canadian way of seeing things.
It is in that spirit that our government created Canada's Office of Religious Freedom last year, because we believe that freedom of religion and freedom of conscience form the basis of our freedoms.
Your Highness, the depth of our relationship suggests that more frequent and deliberate dialogue between the Imamate and the Government of Canada would be beneficial.
I am therefore pleased to announce that at the conclusion of these proceedings, the Imamate and the Government of Canada will sign a protocol of understanding that builds upon our broad, historic relationship.
I am, therefore, pleased to announce that at the conclusion of these proceedings, the Imamate and the Government of Canada will sign a protocol of understanding that builds upon our broad, historic relationship.
Let me conclude, Your Highness, by returning to the subject of Canada's Ismaili community, which began its life here more than 40 years ago as penniless refugees from Uganda. Yet, from that moment on, Canada's Ismailis have become one of Canada's most successful immigration stories.
Your Highness, the prosperity of your followers, their harmonious integration into Canadian society and the respect they have inspired could be considered a tribute to pluralism in Canada. That is very much the case.
The Ismaili combination of self-reliance and willingness to give for the betterment of others and of Canada itself is a reflection of your teachings and, Your Highness, it was a good day, a good day for all of us, when you told your followers to “make Canada your home”. You must be very proud of them. Certainly, we all are.
Now, Mr. Speaker, parliamentarians, please join me in welcoming a great friend and partner of Canada, His Highness the Aga Khan.
