HC Goodale's speech at the Chamber's inaugural Gala event.

Notes for Remarks by
H.E. HON RALPH GOODALE, P.C.
High Commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom
to the
CANADA-UK CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GALA
Guildhall, London
November 20th, 2025

Good evening, everyone.  Bonsoir tout le monde.  Salutations et meilleurs vœux du gouvernement du Canada.

Congratulations to the Chamber on this splendid Gala, hosted in an iconic London venue.  I hope this is the beginning of a long-lasting tradition, showcasing the strength and vitality of business and commercial connections between Canada and the United Kingdom.

Let me also THANK the Chamber for being an excellent PARTNER with the Canadian High Commission.  You serve as an invaluable auxiliary to Canada House, bringing private sector ingenuity and flexibility into our collective efforts to promote two-way investment and trade.  We very much appreciate what Wayne and Nigel, the executive team, and members of this organization do, day-in and day-out, to nurture the business-to-business and people-to-people ties that lie at the heart of our Canada-UK relationship.

…..

After nearly five years as High Commissioner, my assignment in London will come to an end next month.  Pam and I will be home for Christmas, but we will always be very grateful for the TIME we’ve had here, for the PEOPLE we’ve met and worked with, and for the PRIVILEGE of representing Canada in and through the United Kingdom.

London is a superb venue – one of the great cities of the world.  The rest of the UK is equally fascinating.  This is a strategic, global centre for diplomacy, geopolitics, business, defence and security matters, academia, science and technology, the arts and culture, not to mention “intrigue”, both foreign and domestic.

 Our relationship with our host government is strong and solid.  And no one can say the past five years have been “boring”.

In 2021, we arrived here in the midst of BREXIT and COVID, plus there was a G7 Summit in Cornwall that year, the AUKUS controversy, the chilling evacuation from Afghanistan and CoP26 in Glasgow.

2022 began with Putin’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine.  Then came Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.  Three British Prime Ministers – Boris, Liz and Richi.  And then, Her Majesty’s sad passing and a magnificent State Funeral.

In 2023, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement that ended “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, followed by the Coronation of HM King Charles III.  Then, while war continued to rage in Ukraine, a terror attack by Hamas triggered another war in Gaza.

2024 was a year of elections – in more than a hundred different countries around the world – including big ones in the UK in July and in the US in November.  In both cases, the vote seemed to be more AGAINST the incumbents than FOR their successors.

2025 produced an election too in Canada which featured the biggest political turn-around in Canadian history.  The incumbent government started the year 25 points behind in the polls.  Then Mr. Trudeau retired, Mr. Carney entered the race, and Mr. Trump decided to inject himself into the campaign too.

The main issue became how to protect Canadian sovereignty against an existential threat from the United States.  A big proportion of Canadians responded vigorously and spontaneously with a rare outburst of patriotic fervour, standing loudly for “the true north strong and free”.

Mr. Carney’s new government is confronting a double challenge.  Firstly, geopolitically and economically, our WORLD today is probably more divided and more dangerous than at any point since WW2.  Multilateralism and the rule of law have lost ground to the “tough guy” doctrine of “might makes right”.

And in our own backyard, we’re grappling with a big, rich, often friendly, but sometimes cantankerous next-door neighbour who keeps coming back to the notion that “economic force” – such as the weaponization of tariffs – could be used to weaken Canada and lead eventually to annexation.

Clearly, the past 80 years of deepening economic and security integration between Canada and the United States – to the benefit of both countries – is over.  Since we cannot change our geography, it’s imperative that we build a new relationship with our neighbour.  It will always be big and important.  But it will not be the same as before.  It will certainly lack the affection and the trust that used to be.

Given that reality in North America, and given the contentious global context, there are two urgent missions that emerge for Canada.

First, and as quickly as possible, we need to build out the Canadian economy to be bigger and stronger, more productive, less vulnerable, more resilient, self-reliant and diversified in its global reach.

That’s why the federal government is prioritizing investments for economic growth ahead of spending on operations and current consumption – so far, 12 major growth projects have been identified, with many more to come, and the approvals process is being simplified and accelerated.  

The growth agenda is buttressed by federal tax cuts, measures to double home construction, focussed attention on science, technology and innovation, more vigorous utilization of our energy resources, including conventional, renewable and nuclear, fewer inter-provincial trade barriers, and diversification of Canadian export markets far beyond North America.

The second imperative is Canada taking more direct responsibility for our own defence and security – within the North American Air Defence Command, in NATO and through the Five Eyes intelligence alliance.   Steps have been announced to meet all our international security obligations on time, to reinforce Arctic sovereignty and support economic growth in the process.  Incremental investments of $9.3-billion are in the works for this fiscal year alone.

With Canada’s new plans for economic growth, productivity and innovation, and our fresh emphasis on stronger defence, security and intelligence capabilities, we can build for ourselves more independence, prosperity and sovereign success than any foreign power can take away.

A window of opportunity is open at the moment to get these things done.  It’s open because of consensus among Canadians that these measures are urgent, necessary and appropriate.  The government is clearly anxious to move as fast as it can.

By any analysis, this Canadian agenda should generate a determined effort to broaden and deepen our bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom.  Our two Prime Ministers have met three times this year to push in that direction.  They want more two-way trade and investment and more collaboration in security and defence.  Senior officials will be in London in early December to continue the work.

We’ll try to find solutions for lingering trade problems caused by BREXIT and unscientific, non-tariff trade barriers, but even more important, there are exciting gains to be made, both ways, on critical minerals, nuclear power, Ai and sovereign Ai infrastructure, quantum, semiconductors, the digital economy, biomanufacturing, cybersecurity, defence production and much more.

We will be building on an existing portfolio of bilateral investment and trade that currently totals more than C$550-billion.  In 2025, Canadian export values to the UK appear to be up by more than 60%.

In wrestling with the realities of a very difficult world in which the role of the United States is uncertain, it just makes good sense for Canada to be close and tight with its oldest of friends, the United Kingdom.

We share hundreds of years of history and heritage.

That lived-experience with each other has generated a precious legacy of mutual understanding, respect and trust.

For a very long time, we have stood together in the world to defend the most basic values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Now more than ever, solidarity between the UK and Canada is a priority that truly matters.