I am honoured to be here this evening and bring greetings from Canadian Jewish Congress's national president, Moshe Ronen.
Today is an historic day in Canada.
For today, as we mark this Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, around the world, the Province of Nova Scotia, through its Lieutenant-Governor, proclaimed into law Bill 27, the Act to recognize Yom Hashoah as Holocaust Memorial Day, making it part of the official calendar of this great province. Earlier in the day, the province of Quebec proclaimed similar legislation. In western Canada, the provinces of British Columbia and Manitoba are doing so today as well. Along with Ontario, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, these Canadian provincial jurisdictions are leading the world in the legislative commemoration of the Holocaust. The Province of Nova Scotia, like the other provinces I have mentioned, has seen the importance of drawing on the universal lessons of that terrible period as a tool to combat racism, anti-Semitism, intolerance and extremism.