Opening Statement of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda at the G-8 Development Ministers Meeting in Halifax (Low speed)

Transcript

Greetings and welcome! First, let me thank the RCMP honour guard for its welcome, and Emmitt Peter, an elder of the Mi'kmaq nation, for inviting us to take part in a sweetgrass ceremony, a tradition of Canada's First Nations. I also welcome you to Halifax, a beautiful city on Canada's east coast.

2010 is a landmark international year for Canada with the Olympics in British Columbia to be followed by the G-8 Summit in Muskoka and the G-20 in Toronto later this spring. This morning, I believe it's fitting that we're gathered here at the historic Pier 21 where one and a half million immigrants, displaced persons and refugees, uncertain about their future first set foot in Canada and they were welcomed by the Mi'kmaq Nation.

And as they set out to settle throughout our Maritime provinces and across Canada, they dreamt of a brighter future for themselves and their families. Many were fleeing conflict, poverty and starvation. Some were seeking refuge from abuse of their human rights and basic freedoms. And many who passed through these rooms and hallways were women caring for their children. Over many decades and generations, despite hardships, they flourished and built Canada to become the country it is today.

As this year's G-8 President, Canada recognizes that we are in a position, along with other G-8 countries, to take action to help millions who today are still facing an uncertain future, continued hunger, early deaths and little or no access to the basic necessities of life and particularly women.

As the sweetgrass ceremony signifies, something important is about to happen. Our work will help prepare the ground for June 2010's G-8 Leaders Summit in Muskoka as well as being another step leading up to the Millennium Development Goals Summit in September. Canada has chosen to champion maternal and child health at this year's G-8. We know we have the means and the tools to make a difference for millions of mothers, newborns and young children in developing countries, improve their health, reduce preventable diseases for mothers and children and reduce their mortality. There are proven interventions and they are effective and they are cost-efficient. Our job now is to maximize their effectiveness and deepen their impact.

And we must focus greater effort, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where progress is lagging behind. Last year at L'Aquila as the G-8 we recognized the importance of food security to meet another challenge facing the developing world. Here in Halifax, we have the opportunity to further our work in that regard. The G-8 initiatives we are collectively working on call for integrated, evidence-based approaches grounded in enduring commitments and driven by political will. I believe that with our collective efforts and diligence, the G-8 can assure that our development efforts will make a sustainable difference in the lives of so many.

Over the next two days, we will hear from experts in the fields of maternal and child health as well as food security. These interventions will help inform our discussions on these issues. To meet our shared Millennium Development Goals, we must constantly strive to make our aid more effective and accountable to achieve the best possible results.

And so, in closing, I ask you to join me in our work ahead to reach a consensus on a G-8 initiative to save the lives of millions of mothers and children under the age of five, to continue our work to meet the challenge of food security and to do so effectively, sustainably and accountably.

Thank you.