 Good Friday, everyone. It's been a difficult year. There's no other way to put it. But when times get tough, Canadians step up. I want to start today by thanking all Canadians for all their efforts in the fight against this global pandemic. You've made a lot of sacrifices over the past many months. You helped keep people safe. You helped save lives. Everything we did, small and big in following public health orders and making sure that ourselves and our loved ones and frontline workers were safe made a difference. So thank you. On this eighth and final day of Hanukkah, and with only one week to go until Christmas, there are more than 75,000 active COVID-19 cases across the country. Deaths per capita are continuing to rise in many G7 countries, including Canada. Countries around the world continue to feel the pain of the second wave. We need to take this very seriously as numbers continue to head in the wrong direction. Our fight against this virus is not over, even as we're preparing to say goodbye and good riddance to 2020. It may be the holiday season, but we have to be more careful than ever. On Monday, vaccinations started for the most vulnerable and our frontline workers. Canada has secured agreements for up to 417,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines ahead of schedule. This includes over 200,000 early doses of the Pfizer vaccine scheduled for next week and 168,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine before the end of December, pending Health Canada approval. I want to assure you again that any vaccine approved in Canada will be both safe and effective, and that health experts are making those decisions independently. In January, we'll be getting 125,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine per week for a total of about 500,000 doses for the month. With the guaranteed millions of doses coming in 2021, every Canadian who wants a vaccine will get one, no matter where they live. This is the largest immunization campaign in our country's history, and I know that we have the right plan and the expertise that we need. But getting a vaccine in a week or in a month won't do you any good if you catch COVID-19 today. That's why we need to keep working to halt the spread of COVID-19. So please, continue to follow public health guidelines. Avoid gatherings. Practice social distancing. Use the COVID Alert app. Do the right thing for the most vulnerable. And think of being careful as a gift you can directly give your fellow Canadians, especially front-line workers who continue to step up every single day to keep us safe, to keep Canadians safe. We make a lot of effort to ensure that Canadians have access to safe and effective vaccines throughout the country. At the same time, we also work to procure and develop treatments to combat COVID-19 as well as other viral infections. On this subject, I am announcing today an investment of nearly $9 million through the Canadian National Research Centre to support the development of these treatments. This investment will go to four companies for their treatment candidates against COVID-19, including two in Montreal and two in Vancouver. It is important to continue to develop solutions here in Canada to fight COVID-19 and get ready for other possible pandemics. We are working with researchers, scientists and companies that we are going to get to. For many Canadians, the holidays are a time to cook good food and have a few extra pieces of dessert because, well, why not? But for far too many others, the reality is very different, especially during this pandemic. More than a third of Canadians who rely on food banks are children. That's unacceptable. In a country like Canada, no child should go hungry. In October, our government announced another $100 million under the Emergency Food Security Fund, doubling our investment from the spring. This morning, Minister Bebo outlined the details of where that additional funding will go, including $30 million for food security in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities. With these funds, food banks, local food organizations and Indigenous groups will be able to purchase and safely distribute food to help vulnerable people and communities. I want to say a special thank you to all the volunteers and workers at food organizations who've stepped up to help their fellow Canadians. I met many of you virtually in October, and I remember you sharing how you had to adapt really quickly when the pandemic hit. Thank you for your work, your time, your generosity and for your commitment to answering the call for others in need. I know we would have all hoped that the situation would be different for the holidays. The year has already been difficult, and we still ask you to make efforts. But it's not the time to give up. There's hope. We know that vaccines are coming. We weren't sure that having vaccines against COVID-19 when we spoke about it six months ago. But our researchers, our scientists, have done an incredible job here in Canada and across the world. And we now know that this pandemic has an end and it's coming. But it's not the end yet. We have millions of doses to be reserved for Canadians. Everyone will be able to get vaccinated in 2021 in Canada. But before they arrive, we'll have to go through a difficult winter together. So keep doing what we've been doing for months. Be careful. Avoid gatherings. Follow public health advice. Telecharge, use the COVID alert application. Avoid gatherings. Christmas will not be the same this year. But it will still be a time to be there, virtually or in person, for the closest people. To reflect on this difficult year, but above all to reflect on how we've been able to go through as a community, as a society, to be there, one for the other, to make the mark of the tens of thousands of Canadians that we've lost, but to redouble our commitment to have a Christmas in 2021 even better and far better than the one we're going through now. We could do it, but we'll have to keep holding on. We can offer our vigilance as a gift to the health workers, those on the first line who are there to protect us, to continue working even during the holidays to save lives. We all have a duty to protect them and we have the capacity to do it. Let's keep doing what we need and we'll go through it. Since the beginning of this crisis, our government has done everything we can to protect you and your family. We've sent millions of pieces of PPE to the provinces and territories. We've created special programs for families and workers who needed it. We've supported small businesses so that they could stay open and hold on. We've presented historic measures to rebuild a more resilient economy that works for everyone. Now, I know that this won't be the kind of holiday season we might have hoped for, but that doesn't mean we can't feel hopeful about what comes next. This past year has had its challenges, but we face them together. When this new virus started spreading, few people thought we'd have an approved and safe vaccine so quickly. So thank you to our scientists, to researchers, and to experts around the world who stepped up and worked incredibly hard. You've all done incredible things this year, and it's important that we keep supporting you in the work you do, and that we keep listening and trusting you in your expertise and your work to keep us all safe. The Vaccination Campaign has started. Millions of doses are already secured and will be coming in in the coming months. We planned thoroughly. We're relying on advice from the best experts, and we're working with the provinces and territories to roll them out. Canada has the most vaccines secured per capita and the most diverse portfolio of vaccine options in the world. We're also doing our part to help developing countries get access to more tests, treatments, and vaccines so we can fight this pandemic everywhere. There are reasons to be hopeful for 2021. Just like through this spring, summer, and fall, we will continue to be there for you. We will have your back every step of the way. We will do as a government whatever it takes for as long as it takes to keep you safe and supported. We're coming into the final miles of this crisis, and we can't give up now. So stay home, stay safe, and we will get through this together. Joyeux Noël tout le monde. Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and mostly, Happy New Year.