 As we come down then to Near the end. I'm down to the list of thank-yous and there's many many people to thank Who helped make this event possible starting off with the people here in Montreal? Of course our partners a idq, but also the local organizing committee Here in here in Montreal who helped with so many logistical things putting together the harm reduction services our friends at cactus our friends at And also our friends at the Ministry of Health all of whom were Instrumental in making this event happen the people who organized and hosted the site visits here across the city I know many people went on home reduction site visits me visiting other organizations Thanks to the venue here to Lewis and Jackie and their teams for helping us here to the technical team Led by Bill and Pascal. Thanks so much very few technical problems that I saw at all a very very smooth The translators of course Our donors who helped make things happen particularly the donors who give us money for scholarships to help bring people From near and far to the conference our exhibitors And I'd like to make a special thanks to our volunteers. Do we have our volunteers in the audience? Where are the volunteers stand up? Where the ball? I see a few blue shirts Thank you so much for taking so much time We had about 50 volunteers helping us out this week and it was really amazing. Thanks for all your help I know it was a bit disorganized at times at the beginning when everything's happening so fast And we appreciate your patience and helping us out Where are the members of the medical team? Is chili get up here? This is our wonderful medical services team who you saw in the film and have worked so hard all week to keep everyone safe Has anybody heard of any overdoses at the conference? We did it. We took care of each other Good way good work Montreal. Thank you so much but as we're Painfully aware It's never enough Enough is not being done The gentleman who spoke first ever that means we done. Where's the anger? Where's the broken glass? Where are the molotovs? Act up did it The book how to fight a flag or spot a flag the movie is nothing to what they really did they did incredible things that worked We need that kind of spirit. We need that fight. No one is going to listen to us You don't just lie down when people are kicking you all the time And I've always to be such a happy occasion It can never can be and to you with them I'm so sorry about your daughter But I'm so happy That there are people everybody in this auditorium everybody who's ever been there to the conference today Who care about your daughter? Who cared about her and took care of her and she took care of other people and passed it on And you and your family are my inspiration because I do it for you to protect you and your baby I'm very sorry. Thank you for speaking Goodbye Thank you so much you guys And thank all of you One of the numbers I didn't mention when I was reading them at the beginning was we had actually 27 registered media outlets here this week Which is probably among the best we've ever had and that's really important We've heard so many people this week talking about the need to get our own stories out and to counter the kind of racist You know anti-user prejudice that we see across the country and across the world and I know that having those media here has helped get some of those positive messages out So thanks very much to Michael and Matilda our media team who coordinated that We talked or I talked at the beginning about sort of this event being A family and a family affair. Well, this conference really was a family affair more than one way I mentioned Pat O'Hare our founder who organized the first 12 conferences 16 conferences Well, his two daughters Maddie and Lucy organized this conference So you saw the you saw the the young children being You know carded around at this conference. They grow up to be harm reduction organizers So I'd like in addition to Lucy and Maddie our conference team We actually have a big event put on by a very small conference team. It's Lucy and Maddie Pippa Holly Thomas who's here somewhere who did all of our web stuff and our colleague Sarah who is back in London but stand up and let everyone give you a round of applause and sure In addition to them, I really want to thank my other co-workers at HRI all of whom pitched in to making this happen And I include in that our former colleague Maria Felen who abandoned us three months ago for the robber car fund But who was with us until February and was integrally involved in designing the program and helping put all the conceptual Ideas for the conference together. So thanks to the team and thanks to Maria our extended family as the team Thanks again to Peter and Istvan for putting the film festival Together a couple of things. I wanted to say before We invite our elder Sidalia back to join us Probably the next big international event coming up will be the AIDS conference in the Netherlands in 2018 For those of us who've been to AIDS conferences before we know that the visibility of harm reduction issues Of people who use drugs is often very low at those conferences Obviously having it in Amsterdam We have a very supportive environment the government of the Netherlands is one of the biggest harm reduction donors in the world And a big advocate for harm reduction in human rights within international arenas But for all of us to be present at that conference, we have to make sure that we submit abstracts We submit proposals to make sure that we are very visible at that and use that as an opportunity So I encourage you all to do that Some of you may have been following the news recently about our good friend and comrade Carl Hart and what's been happening with him Carl Hart, of course, the very prestigious Neuroscientist at Columbia University and also just a shit-kicking activist Who was in the Philippines last week? Talking at a drug conference where he reported on some of his research around methamphetamine and within that Conference specifically refuting President Duterte's suggestion that methamphetamine shrinks your brain Which is there under the context for some of the war on drugs killings Carl just basically said that's a bunch of bullshit As a result of that Duterte specifically Attacked Carl in the press Carl started to get death threats while he was in the Philippines From Duterte's thugs and had to flee the country basically early I'd like on behalf of our entire conference to send solidarity to Carl. He's a great friend of us He was planning to be here actually to come straight from the Philippines But I think given everything that was happening. He wasn't able to get up here So I'd like to send on behalf of the conference our solidarity to him And a final a final thank you on this I've had the privilege of working with the chair of our board john peter cools for the last two terms that he's been at the board He's been an incredible rock in the organization a fantastic harm reduction pioneer Within europe and around the world and has taken that knowledge and experience Far in a field to eat to eurasia into africa John peter after serving his two terms on the board will be stepping down as chair. So this will be his last conference as chair I'm certainly not his last conference In fact, your term actually finished like six months ago. So you're still technically chair, but you'll be gone by then Um, want to thank a big thank you on behalf of me personally and the organization for all of your work Over the last, you know, we've been on the board for more than two terms, but two terms as the chair So thank you very much john peter