Monsieur le maire,
Mesdames et Messieurs,

Je remercie M. Corderre et les Montréalais de leur accueil chaleureux.

Je suis très heureux d’être de retour à Montréal, ville internationale qui incarne l’esprit des Nations Unies.

Je suis très reconnaissant à Montréal d’être la ville hôte d’une de nos institutions spécialisées, l’Organisation de l’aviation civile internationale, ainsi que de plusieurs autres entités des Nations Unies.

Mr. Mayor,
Ladies and gentlemen,

I am very happy to be here on my fifth visit as Secretary-General of the United Nations.

I am back to the beautiful city of Montreal – I am back because Canada is back.

This has been a very productive visit. I have had excellent meetings with senior Government officials, including Prime Minister [Justin] Trudeau.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Before I continue, let me say a word about the talks on Syria.

I welcome the decisions made by the International Syria Support Group to facilitate humanitarian access to besieged and hard-to-reach areas in Syria and on a nation-wide cessation of hostilities, which was agreed upon yesterday.

Tens of thousands of people there are in desperate need of life-saving aid, and the entire country urgently needs peace.

As the Secretary-General, [I am committed to make sure that] United Nations will continue to provide humanitarian life-saving assistance, while engaging and facilitating Syrian-led peace talks.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with a group of Canadian high school students. I was deeply impressed by their awareness of global issues – and their spirit of solidarity.

These young Canadians are carrying on this country’s proud tradition of multilateralism. Canada is a leader on the global stage – and Montreal is a leading city.

Mayor Coderre was at the historic Paris Climate Conference in December last year. I deeply appreciate his strong engagement and leadership. As Secretary-General, I feel very much [appreciative] to have such a dedicated and engaging Mayor along with the United Nations on global sustainable development and climate change.

Local initiatives, engagement and leadership are essential to address climate change. That is why I highly value Montreal’s first-ever Global Warming Adaptation Plan.

We are now preparing for the United Nations Habitat III conference on human settlements in Quito in October. Montreal helped the world to get ready by hosting a preparatory conference here last October last year.

This afternoon, I look forward to meeting the students and faculty at McGill University. I will speak about the importance of young people in tackling the major threats in our world. And I will hear from the students there about their aspirations and concerns.

Although my visit to Montreal and Canada is short, I am confident that with so much Canadian goodwill, we can strengthen the very important partnership between Canada and the United Nations for our common future.

Thank you. Merci.