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MINISTER DION OUTLINES HIS VISION OF CANADA
LÉVIS, QUEBEC, February 26, 1997 – Speaking to an audience of the
Chambre de commerce de la Rive-Sud, the President of the Privy Council and
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Stéphane Dion, explained what makes
Canada an extraordinary country. "The true greatness of Canada is its human
potential," he said, adding that "different populations can accomplish
great things when they decide to be together."
Mr. Dion emphasized that "Quebec as it stands today, our majority
Francophone society that stands out in a majority Anglophone continent, is also
part of Canada’s success." "Canada’s success is Quebec’s
success, and vice versa" stated the Minister.
In response to the Premier of Quebec, who suggested recently that Quebecers are
not Canadians, the Minister stressed that "no one should feel obliged to
choose between Quebec and Canada [...]. Together, the Quebec identity and the
Canadian identity form a remarkable complementarity. It is a mistake to see them
as being opposed to each other, especially at the dawn of a century in which
plural identities will be a strength more than ever before." "I say on
the contrary that being born both a Quebecer and a Canadian is a remarkable
opportunity," he added.
The Minister also noted that "we Quebecers have contributed too strongly to
Canada to give it up." He pointed out that "the OECD forecasts that
Canada will be number one among G7 countries over the next two years not only in
terms of balancing its budget, but also in terms of economic and job growth. We
owe this achievement, of course, to the discipline shown by all Canadians, but,
in particular, to the determination of three federal ministers from Quebec: Jean
Chrétien, Paul Martin and Marcel Massé. They have enabled all of Canada to
benefit from Quebec know-how."
In that connection, the Minister emphasized that "the budget tabled by
Canada’s Finance Minister last week is a further illustration of the
advantages of our federation and its capacity for ongoing renewal."
Responding to Minister Bernard Landry, who criticized the federal budget by
saying it is further proof of the so-called centralized nature of the Canadian
federation, the Minister pointed out that "the federal government’s own
spending accounts for only 38% of total public spending (26% if we exclude debt
servicing)."
In response to accusations by the Bloc québécois and the Parti québécois
that "Quebec doesn’t get its share", Mr. Dion noted that Quebec,
"which accounts for one quarter of the Canadian population, receives 31% of
federal spending on transfers, of which 46% is equalization payments. That’s
not bad for a federal system that Mr. Landry describes as ‘predatory’,"
the Minister observed.
"Everyone knows full well that we have the best chances to succeed within a
union of all Canadians, not in the tumult of secession," the Minister
stated. "Secession would do more than weaken us economically. It would
weaken the strong ties of solidarity that unite Quebecers, beyond our linguistic
and ethnic differences, as well as those equally strong ties that unite
Quebecers with their fellow citizens in the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, Western
Canada and Northern Canada."
"The fact is that Canada is a success, and will be an even greater success
once Quebecers and other Canadians have resolutely decided to stay
together," the Minister noted, adding that he is "not against
secession because I believe that we Quebecers are incapable of running our own
independent state. I feel that we are called to a greater ideal: that of
continuing to improve the wonderful economic and social success that is Canada;
of fighting the scourges of unemployment and poverty alongside our fellow
citizens in the other provinces."
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For information:
André Lamarre
Press Secretary
(613) 943-1838
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