Ambassador Ishikawa’s Farewell Reception
On March 19th, Ambassador Ishikawa and Mrs. Ishikawa held a farewell reception in Ottawa.
The reception was attended by distinguished guests including: the Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons; The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food; The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade; Mr. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; The Honourable Rob Merrifield, M.P., previous Minister of State for Transports and current Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade; and Co-Chairs of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group: the Honourable David Tkachuk, Senator; and Mr. Mike Wallace, M.P.. There were about 380 people in attendance such as: a cabinet minister and parliamentary secretaries; Canadian government officials; heads of diplomatic missions; Japanese nationals and people from the local Japanese community; journalists; and people representing academics, cultural groups and businesses.
In his farewell speech, Ambassador Ishikawa expressed his gratitude for all the support and friendship that he received during his tenure in Canada. The Ambassador mentioned that Canada and Japan share a strong bond in the area of security, science and technology in addition to the economy and trade. He concluded with his hopes for the further development of this bilateral relationship, referring to its recent remarkable progress in various fields.
The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, made a toast with wishing for further deepening and growth of the bilateral relationship between Japan and Canada.
Please click here to read Ambassador Ishikawa’s farewell speech.
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