 I'd like to focus tonight on a fundamental shift that every single leader in this room can act on immediately. One that I've made a central tenet of my leadership. One that is core to this year's forum thanks to the leadership of our seven exceptional co-chairs. I'm talking about hiring, promoting, and retaining more women. And not just because it's the right thing to do, or the nice thing to do, but because it's the smart thing to do. In Canada, like all over the world, much of the economic and labour force growth we've experienced over the last many decades is because of women entering into and changing the workforce. But there is still so much room for improvement, and such enormous benefit still to be had. McKinsey estimates that narrowing the gender gap in Canada could add $150 billion to our economy by 2026. Research tells us that organizations with women on their corporate boards and in key positions of leadership perform better than those without. In fact, the Peterson Institute for International Economics just found that increasing the share of women in leadership positions from zero to 30% translated into a 15% boost to profitability. Recent estimates suggest that economic gender parity could add $1.75 trillion to the United States GDP. And in China, the GDP boost could be as much as $2.5 trillion, which is bigger than the entire Canadian economy. Ladies and gentlemen, to embark, to promote, and to retain more women is translated not only by an increase in your profits, but also by a greater diversity of ideas. In fact, women's inclusion can bring innovation to another level and facilitate the resolution of conflict. Encourage women's participation and your companies, just like your communities, will be stronger. Now, when we talk about getting more women into the workforce, the issue of pay equity comes up, and it should. It's vitally important. In Canada, we'll be moving forward this year with legislation to ensure equal pay for work of equal value at the federal level. And I'm sure there's a few of you in the audience who are thinking, I already have equal pay policies in place. This doesn't apply to me. But while I commend your effort on that front, it may not be good enough. For our own governments, pay equity efforts, while important, are just a first step, because equal pay for women does not mean equal opportunity, or equal treatment, or equal sacrifice. Paying a female employee the same as a male employee doesn't even begin to touch issues around family planning, promotions, or job security. Women do more part-time work and more unpaid work than men. So, how do we address that? See, when we dig a little deeper, when we peel back that outer layer, we see that there are a whole host of barriers facing women in the workplace. Removing those barriers will take effort, leadership, and a willingness to change the nature of work as we know it. What does that mean? What can we do? So here's where we need to start. It's time to take a serious look at parental leave and childcare policies. We should be encouraging women and men to make the best decision for their family situation. In Canada, we've given parents more options for parental leave and invested billions in affordable, high-quality childcare. But there's more to do. We've also introduced a really successful child benefit program that gives middle and low income parents more money every month tax-free to help with the costs of raising kids. And since the Canada Child Benefit gives more money to those who need it most, the financial impact on single mothers has been significant. Last year, nearly 90% of single moms receiving the Canada Child Benefit earned less than $60,000 a year and received about $9,000 in total benefits tax-free. And let's be clear, helping those families has been a key driver of Canada's recent stellar economic growth. Companies should have a formal policy on gender diversity and make the recruitment of women candidates a priority. You may remember that we introduced our country's first gender-balanced cabinet in 2015. The usual suspects complained, but guess what? Two years later, Christia Freeland and Miriam Montsef, who are here this week, along with their many female colleagues in cabinet, are serving the country with great distinction and have elevated the level of decision-making and debate for everyone in cabinet and in government. As corporate leaders, consider a gender-balanced board or gender-balanced project teams. Anytime we're looking for a new hire, we should be identifying women candidates at a rate equal to men. In Canada, when we look to fill appointments, we work to recruit people who reflect the true diversity of our country. And we have to make accounts of the efforts we make openly and transparently. In fact, we are at the point of adopting a law that would force companies constituting a federal law to divulge information on the subject of their policy on gender diversity. For example, it would include the proportion of women from their administration council and their higher management. Some other points to improve? We must understand that the responsibility to take care of the elderly or sick people often comes back to women. So, the creation of a program for the natural helpers who continue to reduce financial difficulties engendered by absence of work is an option we must face. And we have to recognize that aspects of intersectionality are always at play and require special and explicit attention. Here's an example. In 2016, among women who were newly appointed to the boards of Fortune 500 companies, 77 percent were white. Race, religion, sexuality, socioeconomic status, those are just a few of the ways that women are even further discriminated against. Finally, here's the really big one. Me too. Times up. The women's march. These movements tell us that we need to have a critical discussion on women's rights, equality, and the power dynamics of gender. Sexual harassment, for example, in business and in government, is a systemic problem, and it is unacceptable. As leaders, we need to recognize and to act to show that truly time is up. We must each have a well understood, established process in place to file allegations of workplace harassment, and when we receive those complaints, we must take them seriously. As women speak up, it is our responsibility to listen and, more importantly, to believe. Folks, treat these not as piecemeal alternatives to how things are currently run. Treat these examples as fundamental and essential shifts in the way we operate. As governments and as corporations, we were entrusted with a platform and a voice. Let's use them. Last year, with our neighbors in the U.S., we established the Canada U.S. Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. The council just put out an important report, their first of five, focused on supporting and growing women-owned businesses. We need to listen to them and implement it. The advancement of women on social, political and economic levels is an important aspect of our presidency. The equality of sex and the comparative analysis between sexes will be integrated in all the themes, activities and results of our presidency of the G7, including in the ministerial meetings and during the G7 leaders' summit. I am very happy to announce that Melinda Gates and Isabel Udon will be the co-president of the consultative council for the equality of sexes of the G7. These two women are strong voices for the advancement of the equality of sex and the autonomy of women and girls, and this will therefore mean the equality of sex will be a priority in all of what we are doing at the G7 this year. I am pleased to announce that the co-chairs for the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council will be Melinda Gates and Isabel Udon. Both of these women are global leaders in the advancement of gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, and so will ensure that gender equality is a priority throughout everything the G7 does this year. Canada will also, 2018 will also see Canada hosting Fortune's Most Powerful Women International Summit and 2019 will bring the Women Deliver Conference to Vancouver, the world's largest gathering on health rights and well-being of women and girls. So those are just a few examples of what we're doing to draw regular and frequent attention to the untapped potential of women and girls around the world. It's not a one-time thing, it's an ongoing effort to convene, to challenge, and to push boundaries. But that's not to say we've got it all figured out. In Canada, we need more women in politics, more women on corporate boards, and more women in STEM. And that's, of course, just the tip of the iceberg. So in reflecting on this, let me ask you, what are your challenges? And more importantly, what are you doing to address them? Ladies and gentlemen, the hiring, promotion and retention of women is something we can make happen today, right now. More women in leadership positions won't just grow our economy, create jobs, and strengthen our communities. It'll also lead to innovation and change in the workplace, innovation and change that workers desperately need.