"Canada's Communities and
the Hope for Canadian Unity"

Notes for an address to the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities

Calgary, Alberta

June 2, 1996

Too many of the people who believe in Canada are either passive or in despair towards the future of our country. Passivity and despair -- we must free ourselves from these attitudes if we are to save Canada.

After the October 30 referendum, many people throughout Canada hoped that the issue of national unity could simply be wished away, that the problem would disappear on its own. Many hoped that others would address the problem, and that it wouldn't involve them. To combat this passivity, I have travelled across Canada saying how much our country is in danger.

On the other hand, the voices of despair have been saying that the secession of Quebec is inevitable, that there is nothing we can do as governments or citizens to prevent it. To combat this despair, this resignation, I want to say that we must have hope, and that we have good reason to look to the future of Canada with hope.

One of the reasons I want to bring a message of hope today is that this audience gives me hope. You represent the level of government closest to the people in the towns, cities, and regions that make up this country. You speak for the local communities that form the fabric of Canada, where people live, work, and build their dreams together on a daily basis.

This is why I am here to discuss with you how Canada's communities are the hope for Canadian unity.

That is why I am so pleased that you have invited me to talk at this important gathering of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. It is Canada's communities, from the small towns in isolated regions to the large cosmopolitan cities, that are its greatest strength. Federal and provincial politicians can learn much by looking to the strength of our communities.

The Toronto writer Jane Jacobs wrote a famous and insightful book called Cities and the Wealth of Nations. She argued persuasively that the economic strength of a country does not come from its natural resources or the economic policies of the central government. The true source of wealth and growth is the vitality of the cities, towns, and local communities that are at the base of the society and the economy.

It has been said that Canada is a country that works in practice, but not in theory. As Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, I have the difficult task of convincing Canadians that their country can work despite pessimistic theorists. But as mayors, councillors and managers, you are privileged to speak for the grassroots of the Canada that works so well in practice, even in though economic times.

In many ways, the problems that the country faces as a whole are similar to the problems that many of our towns and cities have dealt with successfully for many years.

Our communities in rural and remote regions of Canada have learned how to manage scarce resources and survive in tough economic times. Our large cities have shown us how people of many different backgrounds and languages can live together, reconciling unity with diversity.

These are the two lessons that federal and provincial governments should learn from our municipalities in dealing with the historic challenge to the unity of our country: how to follow a concrete, practical approach to solving problems, and how to bring together diverse communities.

Concrete approaches to problems

There is much the so-called higher governments can learn from you. We must avoid the temptation to try to solve all of our problems by appealing to abstract or technocratic solutions, by putting emotional symbolism above concrete substance, and by seeing constitutional change as the answer to every question. Instead, we must look to the practical wisdom of municipal governments, business, and community groups at the local level across Canada.

It seems to me that this is the approach that our government has taken to respond to the concrete needs of Canada's municipalities. The infrastructure program and the progress this government has made on crime and public safety are examples of the federal government working successfully to address the needs of communities, by responding to initiatives that emerged from the bottom up.

This is the same approach we should adopt in dealing with our national unity problems as well. This is exactly what the Government suggested in the February Throne Speech. Let me illustrate with a concrete example the practical approach we want to follow. In the Throne Speech the government committed to withdrawing from the field of manpower training in order to eliminate overlap and duplication.

Many of the provinces have demanded increased control over labour market training for many years, to integrate federal and provincial job training and job placement programs.

This Thursday, my colleague Doug Young, the Minister of Human Resources Development, sent all the provinces and territories a labour market proposal offering them responsibility for all active employment measures funded through the Employment Insurance fund.

The federal government is offering the provinces control of two billion dollars from the funds the federal government currently spends on active measures.

The provinces, if they choose, will be able to run their own employment measures programs such as wage subsidies, income supplements, and job creation partnerships and labour market services such as employment counselling and job placement.

This is an example of practical, flexible federalism at work. We are expressing our commitment to solidarity with unemployed workers across Canada, while respecting subsidiarity in allowing each province to design local programs to meet local needs.

It is in following your example, by taking a concrete approach, that we will improve our federation. We will have a strong federal government in its jurisdictions, strong provincial governments in their jurisdictions, strong municipal and local governments in their jurisdictions, and a strong partnership between all of them.

It is in following this spirit of concrete and flexible federalism that our federal and provincial Ministers of Environment, in their meeting last Friday, were able to bring about improvements in the field of environmental management.

This is the path we will follow in the upcoming First Ministers meeting, in order to show Quebecers and other Canadians that federalism is a powerful tool to improve their well being.

Reconciling Diverse Communities

So our first lesson we learn from Canada's municipalities is the benefit of a concrete and practical approach. The second is how we can reconcile diverse groups within a single dynamic community.

Let me start with this simple question: why does Canada deserve to survive?

It is not only our economy and our wealth, although we all know that the United Nations and the World Bank consistently rate Canada as one of the most fortunate countries in the world.

It is not because our flag is the most attractive, although it is well recognized and well regarded around the world. It is not because of the beauty and immensity of our land or the Rocky Mountains near here in Calgary, although it is hard not to be moved by all this natural beauty.

The reason we are so fortunate to be Canadians is not even what makes this country distinctive and particular, which would be cause enough to be proud.

No, the most important reason we have to make sure this country survives is that it has realized universal human ideals the rest of mankind can only dream of.

Canada is the best example of what the world must become in terms of tolerance, openness, and harmony between different communities.

Canada is perhaps the country where human beings, no matter where they come from, have the best chance of being treated as human beings. That, more than anything, is why I love this country, and why I don't want to see it torn apart.

As the Prime Minister said in his speech to the House on February 28, "...we have seen that when the world looks at Canada, what they see is the future. Or rather the best hope for the future of the world. Together, let's build that model of hope for the future of the world. Together, let's build that model of hope and confidence. That model for all mankind".

We have built a country that recognizes and celebrates linguistic duality, a country that recognizes the virtues of multiculturalism and the power of diversity, a country that recognizes the supremacy of individual rights but also the importance of protecting minorities.

And where do we see this tolerance, this openness, this diversity expressed more than in Canada's cities? Cities like Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver have all become rich cultural mosaics where people from many societies and many languages live together. Visitors from the United States and Europe are constantly amazed at the success of our cities in reconciling diversity.

Canadians are proud of their great cities, proud of the harmony that can still be found there, and are rightly calling on their municipal, provincial and federal elected officials to protect them from the spectre of discord and intolerance that has disfigured so many other beautiful cities throughout the world.

We must keep our cities safe and harmonious. We will succeed in doing so by relying on the great universal values of sharing, tolerance and hospitality. For nowhere on earth have those beautiful values been more effectively integrated into the collective culture than in Canada.

This is exactly what I said last February in my first speech as a Minister. I was in Vancouver, Canada's second most beautiful city -- and I think almost every mayor here will agree that Vancouver is Canada's second most beautiful city after their own. What has been achieved in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland is a unique human accomplishment.

The encounter between Asian and European civilization has been troubled and war torn in history, and these cultures have often failed to understand each other. As Kipling said "East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet".

But where else on earth but in those communities of Vancouver, and Richmond, and Surrey, is there such a wonderful chance to prove Kipling wrong? Where else do we see Asian and European cultures working together to create an even richer society.

It is much more because of this great human achievement than because of the Rocky Mountains that I want to leave British Columbia to my eight year old daughter as part of her country.

And that is why Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and all the municipalities you represent, despite the immense geographic distances that separate them, are so close in spirit, and must remain in the same country, so that they can help one another always to pursue the same human ideal together.

Speaking of Montreal, let me tell you about that great metropolis where I live with my family. Every day, I see how much its citizens, whether Anglophones, Francophones, or Allophones, cooperate in community life and common projects in our city.

We share a love of Montreal's cultural life, its heritage, its parks and public spaces. We also share a common vision of Montreal's economic future. And within community organizations of all kinds, different cultural groups cooperate in close harmony.

Unfortunately, the threat of secession is hurting the vitality of Montreal. Montreal's economy is in decline. Too many Montrealers are leaving or thinking about leaving the city, all with sorrow and regret.

Recently, my colleagues Paul Martin and Martin Cauchon reached an agreement with Serge Ménard, Quebec's Minister responsible for Montreal, to adopt a common front in dealing with the economic problems of the city.

That is good news, because we all serve the same fellow citizens. And yet, despite all our efforts, it is indisputable that, until Quebecers and other Canadians have firmly decided to stay together within a united Canada, the social and economic health of Montreal will always be weakened by a harmful and unnecessary political uncertainty.

Montreal and Quebec as a whole form an admirable society of which all Canadians can be proud. And, apart from the problem of secession, it would be impossible to find a single issue that divides Quebec society by pitting Francophones against non-Francophones. Even the language issue no longer does that, despite recent efforts by a few radical elements.

I have the honour to represent a riding in the Montreal region, St-Laurent/Cartierville, where some fifty communities from all over the world live together in harmony. That mini-United Nations, as I refer to it, is fully integrated into Quebec society and intends to stay in Canada.

In the House of Commons recently, a Bloc Québécois MP stated I had been elected, and I quote, "by the side door". He boasted that he had been elected by "the people", in a majority Francophone riding. In the Montreal and the Quebec that we love, that we admire throughout Canada, there are no side-door voters. We're all front-door citizens.

Quebecers share those great values of solidarity and openness with other Canadians. For those values, above all, they will take on the substantial challenges of the 21st century, together, within a united Canada.

To recap -- a concrete, practical approach -- reconciling different communities -- these are the lessons I want to take from our municipalities to help solve our unity challenge. It will help make the federation work better, and it will also make us realize the importance of recognizing the different communities that make up our country, including recognizing the reality of Quebec.

Canadians from all provinces must not only accept, but celebrate Quebec's admirable effort to preserve its Francophone society within an Anglophone North America. They must say to Quebecers that they will support them, because the Francophone reality is part of the Canadian ideal.

Again, let us look at what we can learn from Canada's communities. In most cities and towns across Canada, there are areas that have been shaped by a particular cultural group. There are Italian or Portuguese areas in Toronto, Chinese areas in Vancouver, African-Canadian areas in Halifax. There are communities in Cape Breton that have a Gaelic identity and towns in Alberta with French or Ukrainian roots.

Often, the city councils of these communities will take special measures to recognize these historic cultural contributions, so you might see street signs in Portuguese in Toronto or Ukrainian community centres in Alberta.

Taking these measures not only helps to preserve the cultural heritage of an area, they can also be a great help to business and tourism in these communities by creating a unique and vibrant character in these towns or neighbourhoods.

Now nobody complains that in doing these things, these cities are undermining the rights of other groups, or that citizens from different cultural backgrounds would not be welcome in these communities. It is a recognition of a cultural heritage that is intended to improve the vitality of the entire community.

On a pan-Canadian level, this is exactly what recognizing Quebec's distinctiveness would do: it would recognize the historic cultural character of Quebec, unique by its French language, its culture, and civil law, and it would help preserve and promote a vibrant, dynamic identity to allow Quebecers to participate more confidently in Canada.

Recognizing Quebec is not a dangerous constitutional abstraction, nor a symbol that should divide the nation. It is a practical step which builds on the Canadian political tradition and the reality of the community in Quebec.

Conclusion

So here, then, is what we can learn from you in the process of national reconciliation. It is not a dramatic strategy, it is not a complete rewriting of the constitution.

It is a pragmatic approach, the same kind of approach you take as mayors and councilors.

Our Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien, probably knows more about this country than anyone else. His approach to questions of unity is not one of abstract constitutional visions, but one of pragmatic, concrete reform. He is open to almost any suggestion, if you can demonstrate that it is practical and workable, and will improve the lives of Canadians.

And I think on these practical questions we will find much common ground between all Canadians, whether French or English, easterners or westerners, aboriginals or recent immigrants.

In our towns and cities, we Canadians, better than so many others, have been able to reconcile our differences and work together on common initiatives. And if we bring that same wisdom to the larger Canadian community, we will succeed.

So please, participate in the debate in the coming months, help us through activities in your own communities to develop practical solutions that will allow us to improve and strengthen our federation. We need your voice as mayors, as councilors, as local officials, as people who are used to bringing your local communities together, as we try to bring our larger Canadian community together.

Tell us how you have achieved success in building unity in diversity in your own communities. Tell us the practical ideas and examples that have worked in your own towns and cities that could be applied by federal and provincial governments. Encourage your citizens to reach out and get to know their neighbours across Canada through such measures as twin cities and youth exchange programs.

We need your help to reconcile Quebecers and other Canadians. Ask your provincial and federal representatives to take risks for their country. All politicians want to leave their mark in history -- tell them that history is now!

Canadian unity cannot be imposed from above. A deal among eleven first ministers on the constitution will not bring this country together. We cannot be reconciled on a piece of paper -- we must be reconciled in our hearts. It is the communities of Canada that are at its heart, and unity must begin there.

Together, we can renew and restore our federal system. Together, we can save Canada, this model for all mankind. Ensembles, nous sauverons le Canada, ce modèle pour l'humanité tout entière.

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