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"Regaining Confidence in Canada"
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
January 25, 1996
Canada, a universal model of openness, tolerance and generosity, must not
inflict on the world the spectacle of its break-up. On every continent,
governments hesitate to grant their minorities rights and autonomy, because they
suspect them, almost always incorrectly, of harbouring separatist ambitions. If
Canada were to break up, worried majorities would hold it up as an example. It
would be said that this defunct federation had died from an overdose of
decentralization and tolerance -- in short, from an overdose of democracy. Its
demise would serve as an alibi for everything that one can expect from
hardliners in the face of minorities' aspirations.
Rather than spreading mistrust between majorities and minorities in this way,
we must instead show that different populations can live in harmony within a
single state.
If Canada were unfortunate enough to split up, we, Quebecers and Canadians in
the other provinces, would certainly be the first to pay the price. In Quebec,
the majority would find it very difficult to obtain from its minorities the
enthusiastic support that it, for its part, had denied Canada. It would never be
able to give them the same high degree of autonomy that it had felt was not
enough for itself as a Canadian province. As for the rest of Canada, it could by
no means take for granted its unity without Quebec. There is no known example of
a federation that has survived being cut apart at its centre.
The unemployment and poverty that afflict the industrialized world do not
allow Canada to impose on itself, in addition, the costs of disunion. For the
future of our children, for all Canadians, we must preserve Canada. It is
through union, by staying together, that we will be able to make our lives
easier.
A mere ten years ago, Canadian unity was solid. The vast majority of
Quebecers no longer saw secession as a necessary recourse. To strengthen the
Canadian union, the governments of the day undertook a constitutional round
which did not work out. What some people called recognition, others understood
to mean privilege. Since then, the understanding that Quebecers and other
Canadians have of each other and of Canada has deteriorated to the point that a
break-up has never been closer.
The saddest thing is that, out of resentment, out of frustration, many
Quebecers are now ready to risk renouncing a country to which they nevertheless
feel attached. That attitude ill prepares them for the costs and difficulties
that secession will inflict on them. As for other Canadians, there are too many
of them who, weary and exasperated, have resigned themselves or no longer want
to make any attempt to preserve the unity of their country. This defeatism must
be fought.
We have the means to do so. It consists of two strengths that have made our
federation an admirable political system: linguistic duality and
decentralization.
Democracies which are fortunate enough to have more than one official
language, which enjoy through that fact a greater openness to a universe of
cultures, make special arrangements to help their linguistic groups live
together in harmony. Our Official Languages Act, and the recognition of language
rights in the Constitution, constitute a model of that type of arrangement. We
need only go further, and recognize as a strength, as an opportunity for Canada,
that within this English-speaking North American continent, there exists a
society that is functioning in French and takes the means to continue to do so
while respecting its own linguistic minority. The Canadian provinces are all
distinct from one another, but Quebec, with its French-language culture,
introduces a special distinction which must be recognized as such. Such
recognition, which leads neither to upheaval nor privilege, offers a guarantee
that in the grey areas of the Constitution, those areas where the rules require
some interpretation, Quebec's distinctiveness will be taken into account.
Our second strength lies in the fact that our federation is based on
decentralization. A strong Canada must not be confused with a strong federal
government alone, but must rather be based on a strong federative whole. Canada
is lucky that its provinces have a high degree of autonomy. This favours
creativity. It was the province of Saskatchewan that paved the way for our
public health systems. It is thanks to decentralization that eight out of ten
provinces have regained the path toward a balanced budget, each of them by
focusing on their own resources and their own strategies.
It is also through a clearer distribution of roles and responsibilities
between the two orders of government, more efficient forms of partnership, and
through a more intelligent decentralization that is better designed for
citizens, that we will find the path to unity, as Prime Minister Chrétien
stated in his speech in Verdun on October 24, 1995.
The Swiss have the most powerful municipal system in the world, and from that
extensive decentralization they derive a source of pride, an additional reason
to feel Swiss. In the same way, we as Canadians have nothing to fear from
decentralization. We know it well enough to make it our ally.
A strong federal government must not be confused with a centralizing
government. Restricting itself to its own role will only make it more effective.
Canadians understand this well. But Canadians will not accept provinces behaving
like ten egotistical republics. Change is possible only if it is based on
Canadian solidarity.
I have taken pains to demonstrate the relevance of these values and these
principles, as an academic and as a researcher. I have defended them publicly by
always saying the same thing in both official languages. The Prime Minister of
Canada has invited me to better promote them by joining his Cabinet. I have
accepted that honour.
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien is criticized a great deal in his native
Quebec. But for my part, I see him as a leader who knows how to surround himself
with capable people, how to listen and how to decide, and who is open to change.
He has given me heavy responsibilities despite my political inexperience. I will
do what I can to merit the confidence he has shown in me.
The federal government is also the government of Quebecers. It is important
that Quebecers continue to bring to it their culture and their talents, because
the truth is that we belong to a federation not only to profit from it, but also
to help it with all our strengths. I am proud to be a Quebecer and a Canadian,
and I will do everything I can to show how these two loyalties can complement
each other well. I know that many of us will do so, through political action or
through other democratic means. Together, we will help to bring about
reconciliation. Quebecers and other Canadians must enter the next century united
and stronger.
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