"ATLANTIC PROVINCES HAVE A KEY ROLE
TO PLAY IN THE UNITY OF CANADA"
NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS ST. MARY'S UNIVERSITY
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
NOVEMBER 12, 1997
As you probably all know by now, I entered politics to fight against secession.
So I'm particularly glad to be here in Nova Scotia again, as it is the cradle of
responsible government in Canada. It was the first province that understood that
secession is not the way to go. In 1868, Joseph Howe crossed the Atlantic,
taking a petition about Nova Scotia's wish to secede from Confederation to
London, where it was rejected. Mr. Howe then set aside his secessionist
ambitions and came to work at the Privy Council -- in my job! Almost 130 years
later, Premier Bouchard crossed the Atlantic, hoping for a resounding
endorsement of Quebec secession in Paris. He didn't get it either.
I should tell you that, when my nine-year-old daughter Jeanne asks me when I'm going to go back to teaching so that she can see me more often, I tell her it depends on Mr. Bouchard. That means it may be a long time before I go back to academia, as there is little chance that Mr. Bouchard will keep following in the steps of Mr. Howe! Joking aside, one reason why I want Quebec to remain in Canada is that I want to keep Nova Scotia and the other Atlantic provinces as part of my country. I want my daughter to grow up with your region still a part of her future. Every time I visit the Atlantic provinces, I am struck by the beauty of your scenery. But it is not the scenery that most makes me want to keep Nova Scotia as part of my country, it is you, my fellow citizens, the people of Nova Scotia.
Today, I want to encourage each and every one of you to take part in the public consultations on the Calgary Declaration. I think the principles the premiers have drawn up are an important step in both keeping our country together and defining where we want Canada to go in the 21st century. But before I discuss the Calgary Declaration, I want to talk briefly about Nova Scotia and your neighbouring Atlantic provinces. I want to talk about the important role you play in our remarkable country and the future you deserve. Atlantic Canada: taking steps towards a brighter future
Atlantic Canada has a long and rich history. Centuries before Samuel de Champlain built Port Royal, Viking sailors landed on your shores. And, of course, the Mi'kmaq nation has been here for thousands of years. Since the arrival of the first European settlers, your region has been synonymous with ocean-going pursuits. But it is not just your seafaring tradition and natural resources that draw national attention. Your people do too. Atlantic politicians like Frank McKenna and Senator Peggy Butts show Canadians the true meaning of public service. Internationally famous performers like Rita MacNeil and Ashley MacIsaac bring warmth and vitality to our music scene. And what would federal politicians do on Monday nights in Ottawa without "This Hour Has 22 Minutes"? I finally felt that I had arrived in politics when they poked fun at me for talking about Canada stretching from Vancouver to Halifax, rather than Victoria to St. John's!
As Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, I have been following the changes taking place in Atlantic Canada. And I can assure you that I spent a lot longer on Newfoundland's proposed school amendment in recent months than I did writing letters to the secessionist government in Quebec City! The more I find out, the more I am convinced that your provinces have a future as bright as your history is rich. However, there is no doubt that today your provinces are dealing with a number of challenges. Some Atlantic Canadians are concerned about losing traditional livelihoods. Others are seeing their young people leave the region to find jobs in their fields. However, I should point out that some are starting to come back, including Premier McLellan! Like my province, Quebec, the four Atlantic provinces presently form a less economically advantaged region of Canada. Both levels of government have had to take difficult decisions, which have brought about many sacrifices on the part of Atlantic Canadians. However, as Prime Minister Jean Chrétien told the Atlantic Vision conference, these changes were necessary "both to get the fiscal house in order and to prepare the economy of Atlantic Canada and all of Canada for the 21st century."
Your governments and people have responded to fiscal constraint with innovation and determination. And I am confident that Atlantic Canadians will be well-positioned to reap the dividends that come from a growing modern economy. There are more and more reasons for confidence.
For starters, a number of your industries are performing strongly, providing evidence of a dynamic economy, able to compete globally and attract investment. You are pulling together to build a brighter future for your region, as the Atlantic Vision conference showed. Your economic growth in 1998 is forecast to be 3.1%, which is higher than the national rate. And new projects like Hibernia, Voisey's Bay, and Sable Island gas here in Nova Scotia, are potential engines of future growth. As the Governor of Maine recently quipped in Moncton, "we're going to be Texas without the rattlesnakes."
However, the absence of these reptiles is far from being your region's only attraction. Four of your cities -- St. John's, Halifax, Charlottetown and Moncton -- came out on top of a recent KPMG international study of competitiveness in business costs. So companies looking for a beachhead in NAFTA will doubtless be drawn to what you have to offer, not only economically, but also in terms of quality of life. After all, the Atlantic provinces have always been known for their warm welcome -- indeed, North America's oldest social group, the Order of Good Cheer, was founded by the original Francophone settlers of Nova Scotia.
Already, industries such as tourism, information technology, telecommunications, aquaculture and oceanographic research are providing signs of vitality and promise in the Atlantic economy. Frankly, anyone who thinks that the Atlantic provinces are economic backwaters should take a look at the way Atlantic governments and businesspeople are turning the region's economy around.
We must all work together to build a stronger Atlantic region and a stronger Canada. The Atlantic provinces have a bright future within Canada. I want to share that future by keeping Nova Scotia and its neighbours as part of my country. Even though Atlantic politicians and people have been very busy in the last few years working to get your fiscal house in order, you should be commended for never neglecting the work of keeping our country together. In fact, you have been leaders on this front. And my message to you today, as the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and as a Canadian, is please keep up the good work!
The Calgary Declaration
At the close of his emotional, final speech as Premier of New Brunswick, Frank McKenna described our country in the following words. He said:
"it's a country that's been able to embrace within its bosom two founding cultures, française et anglaise, and to live together in respect and in harmony and to enrich ourselves from each other's culture. This is a joy and a blessing that few nations in the world have ever experienced. . . . It's a country that has the civility to be able to deal with the most difficult issues in the most peaceful way imaginable. . . . It's a country where we've been able to produce a world-quality free health care system as a mark of our generosity."
If I'd been trying to capture the spirit and values behind the Calgary Declaration in words, I could not have put it better myself -- certainly not in English!
I want to congratulate Premiers MacLellan, McKenna, Tobin and Binns for the important roles they have played in bringing about this declaration of principles. And I want to pay tribute to the Opposition leaders in the Atlantic provinces who have put aside party politics to play a positive role.
I am very optimistic about the Calgary Declaration because, for once, the values we share as Canadians were the first thing to be put on the table. The premiers did not cobble together a compromise and ask Canadians to swallow it, even if it tasted bad. Instead, they have tried to put together a declaration of principles with which all Canadians can identify. I'm not saying the Calgary Declaration is perfect. But the premiers have provided us with a fine starting point for defining our future together as Canadians.
Today, I want to talk about some key points in the Declaration: how it reconciles equality with diversity; how it recognizes the uniqueness of Quebec; and the importance of public consultation in the process it has started. Balancing equality with diversity The principle that all Canadians are equal -- both as human beings and as citizens -- is fundamental to the idea of democracy. It is recognized explicitly in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, especially in Section 15, which guarantees all Canadians the right to equality before and under the law. So there is no problem in recognizing, as the Calgary Declaration does, that the equality of citizens is a basic Canadian value. Equality is not a Reform or Liberal principle, or a Tory or NDP one -- it is a principle to which all Canadians are committed.
I am also very comfortable with the equality of status of our provinces. There is only one status for provinces in Canada -- either you are a province, or you are not. All ten Canadian provinces have the same legal powers and the same relationship with their citizens and the federal government. And if one or more provinces should acquire powers not foreseen in 1867, it is entirely natural that they be offered to all the other provinces as well. Some provinces may decide not to exercise them, but they should have the option.
We must also be clear about what the equality of provinces would not mean. Equality does not mean homogeneity or uniformity. Recognizing that the provinces have equal legal status does not mean ignoring that they have different needs. It would not mean, for example, that the Atlantic region would cease to benefit from the frigate program or the support provided by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to the region's industries. Nor would it undermine Canada's equalization program. The principle of equalization is enshrined in section 36 of the Constitution "to ensure that provincial governments have sufficient revenues to provide reasonably comparable levels of public services at reasonably comparable levels of taxation." And equal status for the provinces would not take away PEI's guaranteed minimum number of MPs, as some in that province have feared. As Premier Tobin put it in September, Canadians "recognize that PEI needs a minimum amount of representation to have an effective voice in Parliament."
Canadians like the flexibility of our federation and are very comfortable with its diversity. Indeed, Canadian pride and identity are perhaps unique in the world in that, on top of being very discreet, it is based upon the celebration of diversity and difference. That is why diversity has been included as another key principle of the Calgary Declaration.
For who could deny that Canada is a diverse country? It is obvious that Nova Scotia is different from British Columbia and from Newfoundland. It is obvious that the First Nations and Inuit, the French and British settlers, and more recent generations of immigrants from every corner of the globe, have given our country an amazingly rich and diverse cultural fabric. As Canadians, we respect the fact that each province, each of our cultural communities has its own way of being Canadian. And in a world where countries are being torn apart by cultural differences, this ability to live with diversity is a great Canadian strength and an example to the international community. The Calgary Declaration's recognition and celebration of the diversity of Canada is both fitting and positive. It is within this context -- the context of equality and diversity -- that the Calgary Declaration recognizes the uniqueness of Quebec.
The unique character of Quebec The unique character of Quebec is one aspect of Canada's diversity that almost all Canadians believe is fundamental to Canadian identity. Quebec is the only majority-Francophone province, the only majority-Francophone jurisdiction in an overwhelmingly English-speaking North America. Quebec's language, culture and civil law are definitely unique elements of our country. This is an obvious sociological fact that nobody denies. But when it comes to formally recognizing this fact, particularly within the Constitution, there is some hesitation. Some fear that recognizing what is unique about one province would undermine the principles of equality of citizens and provinces to which we are committed. They think it might imply special status for Quebec.
I think that is why the Calgary Declaration has appealed to people all across Canada: because it puts recognition of Quebec's unique character within a broader commitment to equality and diversity. At the same time, as Premier Binns said, the Declaration "sends a positive signal to Quebec." An Angus Reid poll taken right after it was released showed that 70% of Canadians, including 79% of the residents of the Atlantic provinces and 62% of Quebecers, said that the Declaration was a step in the right direction. And a recent Environics poll showed that 27% of Quebecers who presently support secession would change their minds if all nine provinces passed resolutions recognizing the unique character of Quebec.
Consultation with Canadians With broad public consultations on the principles of the Calgary Declaration, the provinces may come up with resolutions to be passed in legislatures across the country. These resolutions would be a strong signal to all governments about the basic values Canadians share, and a strong signal to Quebecers that among these values is an acceptance of Quebec's unique reality. Such resolutions would be important in themselves.
But it must be emphasized that the Declaration is not a constitutional amendment. It is, instead, a statement of principles about the kind of Canada we want for the 21st century. With the current secessionist government in Quebec, it would be pointless to propose a constitutional amendment along these lines. The secessionist leaders want to break up our country, not reaffirm its basic values. As Premier MacLellan put it this September, "constitutional change will only come when Quebec has a government interested in talking about the Constitution."
It is possible that, in the future, a federalist Quebec government may be interested in putting an amendment based on the Calgary Declaration into our Constitution. But, in the meantime, I encourage all Atlantic Canadians to continue your provinces' sterling contribution to national unity by taking part in the consultations on the Calgary Declaration, in whatever forum your province is proposing: town halls, the Internet, making a submission to a legislative committee or simply writing to your representative in the provincial legislature. As Premier MacLellan said, "the people want to be heard." I encourage you to make sure that the voices of Nova Scotia and your Atlantic neighbours are heard from coast to coast to coast.
Conclusion
To conclude, I would like to thank all the people at St. Mary's University who have worked so hard to give me this opportunity to speak with you. To paraphrase John Crosbie, you can tell who the people from Nova Scotia are in Heaven, they're all the ones who want to go home. And I would add that in Heaven you can also tell who the people are who have visited Nova Scotia, because they wouldn't mind the chance to go back either!
There are three main points I wanted to make today. First, that Nova Scotia and the Atlantic provinces have a bright future -- a future that I want to continue to share with you as a fellow Canadian. Second, that the principles of the Calgary Declaration are based on Canadian values, and the people of the Atlantic provinces can support them without reservation. And third, that public consultations are a key part of the process, and I encourage you to participate in them. By discussing what we have in common as Nova Scotians, as Quebecers and, above all, as Canadians, I am convinced that we will realize that we share the same basic values, the same hopes for our future. And once we realize that we share our deepest beliefs, we will all decide that we want to build that future together, in this remarkable country.
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