Good morning. Thank you, Minister McGuinty.

Before I begin, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the thousands of Canadians whose lives have been upended by the wildfires across the country, and particularly flooding in Manitoba.

On behalf of Canadians, I want to thank the courageous firefighters, first responders, and the Indigenous and local leaders who are working tirelessly to keep people safe.

In the presence of the Minister and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), I want to acknowledge their contribution. The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) is providing search and rescue aircraft and the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre is providing helicopters.

We are in close communication with our provincial and municipal counterparts. We will provide additional assistance as needed, because Canadians always look after each other.

Now, we’re here today in London, Ontario, at the General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada (GDLS-Canada) headquarters. Heather, thank you for the tour, and thanks to the whole team at GDLS-Canada for hosting us.

More than 1,700 Canadians work in this factory, designing and building the armoured vehicles that roll into service around the world for the CAF and our allies.

That’s where I want to begin. With the people who depend on what is built here.

Over the past year, Canada has been strengthening our ability to defend ourselves at home, to protect North America, and to support our allies.

The Canadian Armed Forces are deployed across a large, single crescent – running from the Canadian Arctic, across the European High North, down through the Baltic, to Latvia.

In the Canadian Arctic we now have a 365-day, year-round land, sea, air, and space presence. Our forces are working with Nordic partners under the NATO umbrella to provide collective defence in the High North on exercises such as Cold Response. In Latvia, just last week, we expanded and extended our leadership role protecting NATO’s Eastern Flank, on the frontline with Russia, through Operation REASSURANCE.

The presence, service, and sacrifice of the women and men of our Armed Forces must be matched with best-in-class capabilities.

Authoritarian regimes are increasingly assertive.

We face growing threats, from incursions in our Arctic to attacks in cyberspace.

And the nature of warfare is changing rapidly, driven by the proliferation of drones, autonomous systems, and hypersonic missiles.

In a more dangerous and divided world, Canadian leadership will be defined not just by the strength of our values, but also by the value of our strength. That strength must be modernised, reinforced, and built to last.

That was the conviction behind our announcement last week in Halifax to procure up to 12 submarines from Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) –  the largest defence procurement in Canadian history.

That was the conviction behind our decision to procure the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Deploying the first of 15 River-class destroyers. To contract an Arctic over-the-horizon radar system. To acquire new long-range precision strike capabilities. To establish a secure, sovereign Low Earth Orbit communications constellation.

And that is the conviction behind today's announcement.

The Canadian Army needs new vehicles to support our increased presence at home and abroad. Vehicles that are:

Built to last – with next-generation capabilities that strengthen our aging fleet.

Built to protect – with advanced armour to keep our soldiers safe on the battlefield.

Built for the future – with technology to meet the demands of modern warfare.

The CAF needs a new fleet of vehicles to support their operations, not just today, but for decades to come. To that end, Minister McGuinty and I are proud to announce the launch of a new strategic partnership with General Dynamics Land Systems–Canada. Through this partnership, our government will invest nearly $2 billion over four years to build and deliver 190 Armoured Combat Support Vehicles (ACSVs), expanding our fleet to 550 vehicles.

These vehicles are designed to keep soldiers protected, mobile, and mission-ready in the most demanding environments. For decades, GDLS-Canada has made vehicles that have supported the CAF on military bases across our country, in Afghanistan, in Latvia, and – as we just announced last week – the provision of another 35 vehicles to Ukraine to help defend themselves against Russia.

This new fleet will continue that legacy -- serving our women and men in uniform on bases across the country.

Every single one will be built right here at the GDLS-Canada factory in London, Ontario.

Our new Strategic Partnership with GDLS-Canada will create and sustain over 6,000 high-paying Canadian jobs every year over the next eight years.

Because behind every vehicle is an entire supply chain of Canadian ingenuity, skill, and craftsmanship.

The technicians at Ryan Manufacturing in Richmond, Ontario, who build the military-grade cable and wire harness assemblies that power these vehicles and keep them connected.

The steelworkers at InterPro in Regina, Saskatchewan, who produce advanced armour that helps protect our troops.

The engineers at Thales Canada in Saint Laurent, Québec, who design the thermal imaging systems that allow our soldiers to operate in the toughest conditions.

And the electricians at IMP Aerospace & Defence in Enfield, Nova Scotia, who build the specialised components that keep these vehicles mission-ready. And many more.

All of those parts – each intricately crafted and built by Canadians from British Columbia to Nova Scotia – arrive here, on the London factory floor, where skilled workers turn them into advanced armoured combat vehicles.

That's the core strength of GDLS-Canada, because they work across the entire supply chain. In fact, this company already supports more than 10,000 jobs nationwide – above and beyond the 6,000 that are expected to be created by this partnership. Congratulations.

So, to the workers here, you have the women and men of the CAF, and our allies, relying on you. You also have workers and families across the country relying on you. You should feel very proud of what you’re accomplishing.

In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada must do more to defend ourselves, secure our sovereignty, and support our allies.

And we must do so in a way that invests in Canadian workers, Canadian steel, and Canadian manufacturing.

That is how we build a stronger, more independent, more resilient Canadian economy.

Today’s announcement is an example of our Defence Industrial Strategy in action. Our bold plan to get our Armed Forces what they need, when they need it; to scale Canadian defence companies; and to put hundreds of billions of dollars to work in the strategic sectors of our economy.

Its framework is simple: build, partner, buy.

We are focused first on building in Canada, directing procurement to Canadian firms that have sovereign capabilities – this is what we are doing today with GDLS-Canada.

There will be many cases where we don’t have all those capabilities here in Canada, so we look to partner with trusted allies. That’s what we did in May, when we entered into negotiations to procure Saab’s GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, an early warning and control system to detect and deter threats across Canada’s Arctic and beyond. This contract will include a commitment to support 3,000 Canadian jobs and ensure one-third of the projected fleet – the global fleet – is manufactured in Canada. That fleet that has already expanded with the announcement by NATO that the Alliance will use the GlobalEye as its preferred aircraft.

When it’s not feasible to build or partner, Canada is buying equipment from allies, with clear conditions that spur reinvestment into the Canadian defence industrial base. This was the strategy behind the submarine procurement. As a condition of that contract, 100% of the value of our investment must be matched here in Canada. By design, that process will have, by far, the greatest economic impact across the country.

Another way in which we are building a stronger Canadian defence industry is through our new Strategic Partnership Framework, which will help strengthen Canada's defence industrial base through long-term partnerships with Canadian industry.

Through this framework, we are creating a pathway for Canadian companies like GDLS-Canada to work more closely with our government to build the sovereign capabilities – the armoured vehicles, the drones, and the icebreakers – the equipment that our Armed Forces need.

Companies selected as Strategic Partners will commit to invest in Canadian research and development, grow domestic supply chains – the kind that GDLS-Canada has – and hire a Canadian workforce, and wherever possible, union workforces such as UNIFOR.

In return, the federal government will act as an anchor customer – accelerating approvals and opening doors to new export markets.

The commitment is simple: when Canadian companies build for Canada, Canada will build with them.

We launched this framework at CANSEC less than two months ago. And today, we are announcing that GDLS-Canada will be our first Strategic Partner. That is the kind of swift, decisive action that Canadians expect, and this moment demands.

Nearly 50 years ago, here in London, GDLS-Canada started building the vehicles that carried Canada's strength around the world. Vehicles that turned Canadian steel and Canadian ingenuity into Canadian security.

Today, we renew this strength. And we are ensuring it is built in Canada, by Canadians.

We are rebuilding, rearming, and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces.

We are giving every CAF member a raise – the largest in a generation – because their pay should reflect the weight of their responsibilities.

We have achieved NATO’s 2% defence spending target for the first time since the fall of the Berlin Wall. This is not a ceiling for Canada’s defence investment, but the foundation. Our fiscal framework has already budgeted to achieve 4% of GDP in total defence spending by the end of this decade.

And we launched Canada's first-ever Defence Industrial Strategy, and created a Defence Investment Agency to accelerate timelines, strengthen partnerships, and deliver for both our Armed Forces and our economy.

In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is stepping up to protect ourselves and our allies.

If we are to deter Russian aggression in the Baltic states and across Europe, if we are to ensure a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, if we are to assert our full sovereignty in the Arctic, and if we are to defend and promote our values of freedom, democracy, and peace, Canada must do so from a position of strength.

If we want a safer world, we need a stronger Canada.

Every day, the women and men serving in the CAF make Canada stronger.

They deserve the very best equipment this country can build.

And the very best this country can build is made right here at GDLS-Canada.