MINISTER STÉPHANE DION STATES THAT THE TRUE GENIUS OF FEDERALISM IS ITS ABILITY TO
RECONCILE UNITY AND DIVERSITY

PUEBLA, MEXICO, September 30, 1999 – Speaking today to an audience at the 4th International Congress of the Americas entitled "The Americas in transition: challenges of a new millenium", the Honourable Stéphane Dion, President of the Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, stated that federalism is one of the best means to "foster and promote the values of tolerance and solidarity" in an increasingly diverse world.

Mr. Dion identified the coexistence of different populations within a single country as one of the major challenges facing the Americas and the world as a whole during the next century. The federal form of government, he argued, can help address these challenges as it "enables peoples with their own identities to work together to achieve common objectives within a single state."

The Minister outlined the main principles that guide the Canadian way of seeking unity in diversity. "The Canadian system is founded, above all, on individual rights," noted Mr. Dion. "That being said, individuals maintain or develop affinities through sharing common traits. Some of these affinities (...) are translated into collective identities (...) The Canadian ideal consists in seeing these differences between groups of citizens as the very opposite of a problem, as a strength which, rather than separating citizens, enables them to pursue together the pluralist quest for what is right and good." He added that "the promotion of collective identities or affinities in Canada does not mean the negation of individual rights."

Mr. Dion touched briefly on the historical forces that helped shape Canada's cultural diversity. He noted particularly the "opportunity, the privilege and the obligation" that Canada inherited from its history "to promote the French language and French-speaking cultures in Quebec, throughout Canada and around the world."

Mr. Dion focussed on the issue of collective identities in Canada, paying particular attention to Quebec's specificity and the quest for enhanced autonomy for Canada's Aboriginal peoples. He pointed to these examples to illustrate how individual rights and collective identities can be reconciled.

The Minister then turned his attention to the flexibility of the Canadian federal system. He explained that the Canadian Constitution provides a great deal of latitude to the provinces to pursue common objectives in ways best suited to their individual circumstances. "We can see that the provinces' equal status is not to be confused with uniformity," he noted.

"The ideal pursued by our country, through its federative form, its democratic institutions, its charters of rights, its bilingualism and its multiculturalism, is to enable each of its citizens to thrive in freedom, taking account of the context in which they are evolving, while respecting their collective allegiances," the Minister stated. "The pursuit of that ideal is the key to strengthening our unity."

In concluding, the Minister dismissed the idea that the existence of a separatist movement in Quebec is evidence of the failure of Canadian federalism: "Canada is undeniably a country that works, that offers its citizens one of the best qualities of life in the world. That quality of life stems a good deal from a tolerance, an openness of spirit, a mutual trust among different populations."

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