Trudeau welcomes the WNBA to Canada

As a Montrealer, it does pain me to say that Toronto is such an incredible sports city. Through thick and thin, through heartbreak and triumph and heartbreak, Torontonians consistently demonstrate their passion, their commitment, and their love for professional sports. Toronto is also a diverse city, a welcoming city, and a progressive city. So it should come as no surprise that when it hosted the first ever WNBA game in Canada a year ago, it sold out and set records for attendance. Broadcast viewership and merchandise sales. And over the other way, in the PWHL's inaugural season this year, Toronto, along with Ottawa and Montreal, wholeheartedly embraced their new hockey teams. I had the pleasure to meet with the Toronto and Ottawa hockey teams, who told me how magical it was to play in front of huge crowds of dedicated fans night in and night out. I have to say, sitting in that sold out crowd, watching the PWHL with my kids, my daughter especially, made me so proud to be Canadian, seeing the energy that's been built up around women's professional. Sports, the hunger for it, the excitement for it and just the glory of it is huge. Proud, proud to be part of a country that uplifts women in sport. Whether it's Canadian soccer legend and my cousin Christine Sinclair are all the great players of the PWHL or all the incredible basketball players we're celebrating today. Cities across Canada have said loudly and clearly we are and we want to be a destination for women's in sports. For too long, women's sports have been under reported underfunded. And underappreciated. But that era is over. That era is over because people in Canadians especially, want to watch the most talented women in the world compete at the highest level. The record-breaking crowds during the first ever PWHL season are proof of that, as is the unprecedented surge in interest in women's basketball thanks to incredible Canadian talents like Kia Nurse and Alia Edwards. But my friends. We know there's lots more work to be done here in Toronto. People sitting with me. Are not shying away from the challenge. We're all taking another step forward toward equality in sport and I for one could not be more excited to see it happen. Thank you everyone for being here today. Thank you for all the incredible work we've done. Let's celebrate. Let's let's see the success we're all building together. Go women sports. Go.