Dr. Deirdre Giblin:

Ireland and Canada enjoy one of the closest relationships of any two countries in the world. More than 14% of the Canadian population - some 5.6 million - claims Irish ancestry. During the Famine Quebec families adopted hundreds of Irish orphans. In many cases, the families made sure the orphans kept their Irish last names. Today there are native French speaking Quebecers with Irish last names. During the summer of 1847, 38,000 Irish immigrants arrived in Toronto, which at the time had a population of 20,000 people. I ask the members to think about that for one minute. When I have stood in Ireland Park in Toronto, I have certainly thought about that for more than one minute. It would be akin to 2.2 million people landing on the shores of Dublin over the next year. There are numerous historical examples of how Canada has supported Ireland, with none more vivid than the story of the Famine memorial represented by the Rowan Gillespie sculptures located on Custom House Quay in Dublin and in Ireland Park in Toronto. In more recent years, Canada’s late finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, and then Governor of the Bank of Canada, Mark Carney, represented Ireland at the IMF during the 2008 economic downturn. They succeeded in negotiating a better deal for Ireland than was originally on the table. At the same time, the Canadian Government also extended the working visa permits from one year to two years, to help young Irish people get the experience they required when work was not readily available in Ireland. These examples demonstrate the longevity and depth of this bilateral relationship and in some way explains the intrinsic ties in culture, business, and history that exist between our two countries. This relationship is now celebrated with March officially designated Irish Heritage Month to honour the contribution that Canadians of Irish descent have made to Canada. As we outlined today, the historically strong cultural links between Ireland and Canada are now matched by the strength of the economic relationship between these two countries. Let us do everything in our power to support this relationship and by doing so facilitate every aspect of this strong and expanding trade relationship between our two countries.