 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for being here as we mark this solemn occasion. I have to thank the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem for organizing this event. Every year, National Holocaust Remembrance Day reminds us to take pause and reflect on the horrors of the past and the challenges of our present and future. We're reminded of the more than six million Jewish men, women, and children who were sent to their deaths simply because they were Jews. Entire families systematically rounded up and executed. Their lives brutally extinguished. Last week, I was in Toronto for Yom HaShua, and I heard from survivors like Faye Kiefer, a woman of incredible strength who bravely shared her story with us for the first time in public in her nineties. When we hear these stories, we're reminded that the Holocaust was a true horror, the likes of which the world had never seen before. Many brave women and men came from all over the world to repost it. While the 75th anniversary of Yom HaShua is approaching, we recognize the Canadians who fought so fiercely against the Nazis. Some of them were able to enter their homes, many others did not. Unfortunately, the Canadian government's policy at the time did not reflect the heroism that the Canadians were performing in uniform. Indeed, while the Canadian soldiers were trying to end Hitler's reign, their government led an anti-Semitic campaign here in the country. After the Great Depression, Canadian lawmakers codified their discrimination against Jews in a none-is-too-many immigration policy, imposing strict quotas to limit the number of Jewish newcomers. This policy, unfortunately, was extremely effective. Between 1933 and 1945, Canada admitted the fewest Jews of all the allied countries. Perhaps one of the most egregious examples of blatant anti-Semitism came in May of 1939, when Canada turned away the MS St. Louis, sending more than 900 German Jews back to Europe to near certain death. During wartime, many of the Jews that did make it into Canada were labelled as prisoners of war and detained alongside Nazis. It wasn't until three years after the end of the war that Canada's anti-Semitic immigration laws were changed, with this past fall, just two weeks after a deadly synagogue shooting in the US, I stood in the House of Commons and offered, on behalf of all Canadians, a formal apology to the Jewish community. I apologized for the MS St. Louis, for Canada's restrictive immigration policies of the day, and for the deep history of anti-Semitism in Canada that permitted such abject moral failure on the part of the government for far too long. It was an apology that was long, long overdue. In the years that followed the Holocaust, the world was burned by the vastness of perpetuated atrocities by Hitler, from one decade to another, from one generation to another. We are committed to keeping the stories of living survivors and to knowing that this tragedy has never been forgotten. Anti-Semitic violence acts are now more and more frequent, and Canada is not at the brink of this trend. According to the latest data, 17% of all the hate crimes committed to Canada are possible of the Jewish people, much more per capita than any other group of citizens. Once again, people filled with hate dare to leave the shadow. Ignorant speeches spread on social networks and infiltrate our daily lives. We find crossroads on Jewish institutions and in Jewish neighborhoods that have been vandalized. An attack has been perpetuated in a synagogue in Pittsburgh last autumn, and another has been committed almost ten days ago near San Diego, in California, once again during the Sabbath during the celebrations of the last day of the park. The election of the Holocaust is likely to be forgotten if we remain the crossroads, if we remain silent in front of these events. As Prime Minister, I had the privilege to observe and celebrate the holy days with Jewish communities across the country. But I also cried with you, following the attack on venues elsewhere in the world, the attacks that scare us here in the hearts of the Jewish Canadians. It is our solemn duty, as politicians, as leaders, as human beings, to stand united with one voice and to say without equivocation that anti-Semitic hatred has no place in Canada or anywhere else. Offering thoughts and prayers yet again in the wake of anti-Semitic violence and death just won't cut it anymore. We have to loudly declare that hatred will not be tolerated in our communities, near our places of worship, or on our campuses. And on that, I have been unequivocal in my condemnation of the anti-Semitism that pervades the BDS movement. As a government, we have increased funding for security at places of worship twice to acknowledge the evolving nature of threats against religious groups. We've stepped up our investigations into hate groups, including white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups, because once again people filled with hate are feeling emboldened across the country and around the world to step out of the shadows. Divisive, hateful words and speeches and tweets spread across our daily lives online and in real life. So we just announced funding for the creation of a new anti-racism strategy. A number of leading Jewish organizations, among many others, have been an integral part of its development. And importantly, we continue to proudly declare Canada's unwavering support for the state of Israel. Israel has always been the national homeland of the Jewish people, and the Holocaust only reinforced the need for a state where Jews could feel safe. Out of our entire community of nations, it is Israel whose right to exist is most widely and wrongly questioned. Earlier this week, we strongly condemned the recent rocket attacks by Hamas and other terrorist groups. We will always champion Israel's right to defend itself and protect its people. Ladies and gentlemen, we could not do this without the solidarity of our partners in the communities around Canada, which many are among the people who are here in this room. Thank you for your advice, while we are working to make our society and our world the most right places for Jews and for everyone. Today and every other day, we will stand with the Jewish community here in Canada and around the world as we vow together never again.