Thank you, Jim Bennett, for welcoming us to this historic airport and for being here today. Minister Cannon, Ambassador Wilson, it is an honor to have you here today as well. It also is my pleasure to welcome Deputy Minister Ranger and all of our distinguished guests from Canada to the United States.

We are here this afternoon to sign an historic agreement that paves the way for better, more flexible and efficient air transportation between our two countries.

Freedom to travel and trade is at the core of the special friendship shared by the United States and Canada, as neighbors and allies. It is these shared freedoms to go where we want, when we want, freedom to live and work where we choose, and freedom to spend time with our families that make our two countries great.

Rivers, roads, and rails provided pioneers the freedom to settle towns and move goods across the American and Canadian frontiers. More recently in both of our vast nations, aviation has linked distant communities with one another, and to the world.

The same transportation systems that have been so vital throughout our histories continue to be the key to our futures. That is because, as commerce and trade become increasingly global in nature, economic prosperity depends in large part on our ability to move goods and people as efficiently and quickly as possible.

By opening the skies with our closest friend and one of our strongest trading partners, we will give businesses new freedom to compete and travelers new conveniences to get where they need to go.

These new connections are crucial to allowing us to keep pace with the growing flow of people and goods across our border. In fact, we have seen an increase of more than 2 million customers flying between the U.S. and Canada since 2003. And, over the past 16 years, the total value of trade flowing across our borders has nearly tripled – growing from almost $9 billion a year in 1990 to more than $24 billion in 2006.

This new agreement will, for example, give the express air cargo industry the ability to drop-off freight in several cities on the other side of the border and then fly onto other destinations around the world, making it easier for them to meet the growing appetite for their services.

By making it easier and more affordable to ship goods between our two countries, we are opening opportunities for expanded trade and investment between the United States and Canada. In fact, studies show that air traffic grows anywhere from two to four times faster where air service agreements are liberalized.

That is why I also am working to finalize the tentative Open Skies Agreement we announced last week with the European Union; why, early next month, I will visit China to meet with officials about new ways to expand the number of flights between our two countries; and why, when Minister Cannon and I meet next month with Mexican Secretary of Communications and Transportation Luis Tellez in Tucson, I will be exploring new ways to expand air service between the U.S. and Mexico.

We must break down the arbitrary barriers that constrain commerce, make international travel tedious and keep our cultures all too distant.

So, before I turn the microphone over to Minister Cannon, I would like to acknowledge the negotiating teams in both Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, and thank them for their outstanding work in developing this agreement. I would like to particularly recognize U.S. Ambassador David Wilkins and Canadian Ambassador Wilson, whose ongoing support and involvement in securing this agreement were invaluable.

Thanks in large part to their efforts, Canada becomes one of more than 70 full Open Skies partners of the United States. Our new aviation relationship will stimulate stronger partnerships, innovation, more choices and lower prices – to the benefit of both of our countries.

I would like to invite Minister Cannon to the podium to share his thoughts. Minister Cannon…