Honourable senators, thank you for your heartfelt tributes this afternoon. Today, I wish to celebrate and acknowledge the past year in Canadian sport achievement. Much has happened in the last year, and I will do my best to recap what I can in the short time I have, and at a time when each Canadian needs much to be inspired, valued and hopeful about.

I’d like to begin by acknowledging the 625 total Canadian athletes who competed at the 2019 Pan American and Parapan American Games this past summer in Lima, Peru. At the Pan Am Games our athletes broke four Pan Am records and took home a total of 152 medals, the third-highest tally at the games.

Our Parapan athletes brought their best as well, bringing home 60 medals. Sixteen-year-old Anna Huckster deserves an honourable mention here for earning five bronze medals in swimming, the most medals of any athlete at those games. Another Canadian, Stephanie Chan — there’s still hope — earned a bronze in tennis at the age of 62 and also had the honour of carrying our flag at the athletes’ parade.

Off the field, our athletes left their mark in Lima as well. As the games closed, our athletes wanted to give back to the country that hosted them. It was wonderful to see this. Working with our embassy, our representatives at the games found a community centre in the Callao area of Lima in need of all manner of equipment. At the close of these games, a group of our athletes took hundreds of boxes of food, furniture, electronics, you name it, to this centre. After unpacking, in a sea of red and white, a spontaneous game of volleyball broke out between the Canadians and Peruvians.

We fast forward to January, only a short time ago, and 78 of our young athletes competed at the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland. Some of you know their stories from your communities because I’ve been in touch with you. These games are an international sporting event that combines sports performance, culture and education in an authentic celebration of competition, peace and being active, but in a more festive atmosphere. The aim is to encourage young people to adopt and represent the positive values of sport and activity; that is, respect for others, for themselves and for our environment, friendship between people and cultures while becoming sport ambassadors throughout the world. We have much to learn from them.

In only a few weeks, Canada will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Vancouver Olympic Games. And then, on March 15, go north, the Arctic Games will commence in Whitehorse. Beyond the competition, this event is the largest multi-sport and cultural event for young people in the Arctic, highlighting the values of cultural awareness and understanding.

The games planning has included the signing of an MOU between games organizers and those on whose land the games will take place. These games will represent a prime example — the best example — of the role such events can have in the reconciliation process.

Before I finish, honourable senators, I leave you again with the reminder not to lose sight of your own health and well-being as we dive headlong into what will no doubt be an unpredictable and engaging Forty-third Parliament.

Thank you, meegwetch.