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Notes for an address at the
"Celebration of Canada Stampede Breakfast"
Calgary, Alberta
July 6, 1996
I am very happy to be with you here in Calgary at this Celebration of Canada
Stampede Breakfast. For anybody who grew up reading comic books like Lucky Luke,
the man whose shot is quicker than his shadow, being at the Calgary Stampede is
like a childhood dream.
It is a dream come true for a Quebec City kid especially, because we share
with Calgarians a love of a carnival atmosphere. I'm sure that many Calgary kids
are dreaming of coming to Quebec City in the winter for the "Carnaval
d'hiver". This is why it is so appropriate that Calgary and Quebec City are
twin cities, and that each year a Quebec City delegation visits the Stampede,
and a Calgary delegation visits Carnaval.
I understand that Prince Charles while on a trip to Alberta when he was
younger said he was tired of receiving cowboy hats as gifts. Well, I'm not tired
of getting them, as I don't have one yet. I'm still hoping to get my first.
When I was in Calgary last month at the Canadian Federation of Municipalities
conference, the Prime Minister was given a cowboy hat, and I was thinking I'd
get one too. They gave me a very nice back pack instead. I didn't offer to trade
with Mr. Chrétien on the way back! But with a hat or without, I'd like to thank
Pat Raymaker and Tony Friend for inviting me to share with you my views on the
future of our country.
Last January, a few days before I left the university to become a minister,
in response to the Prime Minister's request to me to join his team and help keep
Canada together, I was here in Alberta giving speeches in Lethbridge and Calgary
about the referendum. At that time, and each time I have come to Alberta and the
West, I have been very moved by the strong support I have heard for our fight
for a united Canada.
I know that there is a strong will here to find reconciliation. Everywhere in
Canada, there are voices of jealousy and anger. But while they are vocal, they
are a minority. We will not give up on Canada.
I am optimistic because I know that all together, with the good will of all
of us who believe in our country, we cannot fail.
There is no question that Canadians are too shy about their country. We do
not find it easy to be emotional or patriotic about Canada.
To me, this is a virtue. I dislike countries that display excessive
chauvinism and mindless patriotism. But we must be unafraid to celebrate Canada
and what we have in common as Canadians.
We all know that Sir Wilfrid Laurier said that the 20th century would belong
to Canada. Usually, we think of this as a joke -- Laurier said the century would
belong to us, but instead it has belonged to the United States, most people say.
But think about it -- perhaps Laurier was right, after all. A hundred years ago,
Canada had almost no industry and a very small population, thinly spread across
the continent.
Friedrich Engels, the German philosopher and partner of Karl Marx -- who
probably doesn't get quoted a lot in Calgary -- wrote that Canada was a railway
looking for a country. Well, if you look around in one of those original railway
towns like Calgary, today this railway has found its country.
This country is consistently rated number 1 or 2 in the world by the United
Nations and the World Bank for its quality of life and its economic potential.
When you compare us to the other countries of the world, the citizens of very
few other countries can expect to live such long and healthy lives. We have the
second lowest rate of infant mortality in the world.
We have a solid democracy and a judicial system which is envied by most
countries on earth.
Canada is one of the top five countries in the OECD in terms of per capita
income and per capita GDP.
From 1960 to 1990 Canada was number two in the G-7 in terms of economic
growth and number one in terms of job creation.
Our successes in arts, culture, and sports are known throughout the world. We
will all cheer our athletes on this summer in Atlanta. Calgary symbolizes
Canada's achievements in these areas, having hosted the Winter Olympics in 1988,
and now looking forward to holding a world's fair with Expo 2005.
Yes, we still have too high a rate of poverty and unemployment, but around
the world, our country is seen as a promised land, an unfinished country full of
opportunity.
We see this admiration for Canada whenever we travel abroad. In fact, we can
even hear it in the expressions other people use involving Canada.
In Brazil, when somebody wants to turn on a light switch, they say "turn
on the Canada." In Poland, a financial success is called "having a
Canada."
In Yemen, people make their bread with "Canada", as Canada is used
as a word for wheat in their language. And in France, when somebody wants to buy
apples, they often ask for "Canadas" -- their word for MacIntosh --
and when they want to put out forest fires, they refer to the water bombers as
"Canadairs." And I am sure that our "Canadarm" on the
Space Shuttle will give the alien creatures from Independence Day a good
Canadian expression in the future!
How did we come to hold this place of honour in so many spheres of human and
economic achievement? How did we come to be so admired around the world?
The land and the weather of Canada were hardships for the original settlers,
but those pioneers who built our country turned them into assets.
We were blessed with rich soil for farming, and rich earth that has yielded
gold and oil. But we didn't sleep on it. We didn't simply count on our natural
resources: we developed our human capacities.
After Finland and Switzerland, Canada spends the highest amount of any
country on education. Today we have the highest rate of university graduates in
the world.
This nation of hewers of wood and drawers of water has come to lead the world
in fields as diverse as civil engineering, fibre optic communications, public
transportation, and advanced medical research.
When I consider all of our accomplishments, I cannot believe that our
political institutions had nothing to do with it.
We are lucky to be a federation, for federations, especially Canada, have the
ability to combine the strengths of national solidarity and respect for local
autonomy.
We are lucky to have two international languages as our official languages --
this gives us two windows to the international world, and is a real asset for
Canada.
We are fortunate that our spirit of tolerance and generosity has allowed our
immigrants to give their best to this country.
Canada has received a lot from the rest of the world, and in return we have
been a good citizen of the world. We can proudly say that in this century,
Canada has never sent troops abroad in aggression, only to stop aggression or to
preserve peace. Canada does not make war, Canada helps build peace.
I don't know if Canada is the best country in the world, but it may well be
the country where all human beings have the best chance to be treated as human
beings.
Yet with all of our advantages and blessings, we still face a crisis of
confidence in our country. It is tragic to think that a country with so much to
offer would even think of breaking itself in two. Why is this? Sadly, our long
and bitter debates over national unity and the Constitution have soured our
national mood and made us prone to exaggerate our problems and complaints. We
all know that Canada is a wonderful country, but it is time for us to say this
out loud.
I have said that Canada is a country that works in practice, but not in
theory. If enough Canadians get to understand the hopes and fears, dreams and
aspirations of each other, and rediscover how well this country works and how
much we have in common in practice, there will be such a national consensus that
the first ministers will be able to find the formal words necessary to put this
in the Constitution in thirty minutes.
We can't just blame our politicians for our national problems. And I am not
just saying this because I am now a politician myself! No, we all have to
contribute something, starting with saying the truth and coming to understand
each other.
One of the reasons I came into politics was to tell the truth about Canada as
I see it, even if some people don't want to hear it. The fact is, Quebecers must
recognize the value of our Canadian federation, and other Canadians must
recognize the value of Quebec's distinctiveness as a fundamental characteristic
of their country.
To Quebecers, I have said, and will say again, that despite what they have
heard from their media and separatist politicians, it is not true that Canada is
an overly centralized federation.
It is not true that Canada cannot change -- look at the changes we have made
in the past six months on environmental management, manpower training, or the
federal spending power. It is not true that Quebec gets less than its fair
share. It is not true that leaving Canada would be painless and simple.
But to other Canadians I must say, it is not only in Quebec that attitudes
have to change. We must all recognize the efforts Quebec is making to preserve a
vibrant French-speaking society in North America.
Most bilingual or multilingual countries have special legal means to
recognize different linguistic needs. In Canada, we already have the Official
Languages Act and bilingualism in the Constitution, and the distinct society
clause is only meant to reinforce this respect for our linguistic duality.
It is not a way to give Quebec more money, or special powers. It is simply an
interpretive clause that will help the courts take into account Quebec's
distinctiveness in an Anglophone North America, and it is a way of showing
Quebecers that all Canadians support their efforts to keep their language and
culture alive and flourishing. One famous Western Canadian, former Chief
Justice Brian Dickson, said in Winnipeg last week exactly what I have been
saying to Quebecers and all Canadians. To Quebecers: the importance of
respecting the rule of law as the basis of a democracy, especially when
considering a grave matter like the secession of a province. To other Canadians:
that recognizing Quebec in the Constitution would not be used by the courts as a
way to create more powers for Quebec, but as an assurance that the courts would
continue to take into account Quebec's distinctive role in protecting and
promoting its Francophone character.
Let me share with you a story that illustrates this need for a mutual
recognition of Quebecers and other Canadians. On a trip to Halifax I met a woman
named Joan. Joan told me how on a trip to Florida, she had met a Francophone
woman from Quebec -- and that is one of our problems right there, it is ironic
that Canadians from other provinces rarely meet except perhaps in Florida or
Hawaii. This Quebec woman was named Joanne, a name which is the same as Joan in
English.
Joanne said to Joan, "You are not part of my country any more. You are
like an American to me." This upset Joan very deeply, and she felt strongly
rejected by Joanne. When Joan told me this story, she had tears in her eyes, and
asked me why Joanne would feel this way.
I replied to Joan that the sad thing is that Joanne felt that it was Joan who
had rejected her. Joanne does not believe any more that English-speaking
Canadians, all the Joans in Canada, accept and support the Joannes of Quebec in
their effort to live in a French-speaking society.
In 1985, most Quebecers felt confident in their identity within Canada, and
support for separatism had fallen below thirty percent. But after ten years of
bitter constitutional disputes, Quebecers like Joanne fear that Joan dreams of
an English-speaking Canada from coast to coast. Perhaps with a few quaint
French-speaking villages here and there, but not a strong, dynamic French
society at the heart of Canada.
I know that Canadians from outside Quebec have made many efforts to help send
the message that they support our linguistic duality -- the strong support for
bilingualism, even in Western Canada, the large number of children in French
immersion schools.
I know these efforts are important, and many people feel that it is already
enough. But let me repeat an analogy that I have used before. Imagine if Alberta
was the only English-speaking province in a continent of 300 million
Francophones, and if French was the international language of business and the
media. Wouldn't a simple recognition of Alberta's effort to preserve its English
heritage be the least you would want from your fellow Canadians?
Today we must find a way for Canadians from outside Quebec to say to
Francophone Quebecers, "Yes, we support and admire you in your effort to
build a French-speaking society. We recognize and value your
distinctiveness."
Joan and Joanne deserve to feel reconciled to each other, not rejected by
each other. And their children deserve to be part of the same country facing the
21st century together. Both of them must make a step towards each other, instead
of saying it is only the other one's fault.
One thing I am asked everywhere I go is "what can I do to help?"
There is tremendous good will in Canada, and a tremendous desire by citizens
from all walks of life to help keep this country together. What you can do is to
speak to your friends and neighbours about national unity, challenge negative
attitudes about Quebec, write to the newspapers and call the open lines. Don't
be shy! And tell your political leaders to show courage for the unity of their
country.
We have seen our leaders, federally and provincially, challenge the status
quo to get our fiscal house in order, so we know they can take risks for what
they think is the common good. All politicians want to be known in history as
great statesmen. Tell them that for the unity of Canada, history is now.
The Calgary Stampede is a symbol of courage. We all admire and cheer for the
cowboy trying to hold on to that bronco for eight heart-stopping seconds. But
the political leaders of this country sometimes fear that if they start talking
about reconciling Quebec and the rest of Canada, they won't face cheers, but
jeers.
You can tell your political leaders that they can and must talk about
reconciling Quebec and the rest of Canada, and even putting it in writing in the
Constitution. And you can tell them that if they do this, you will stand behind
them against the voices of negativism and division.
This is the challenge we all face together as Canadians. And it will require
the courage of the Calgary Stampede to accomplish it. The Canadian people have
faced adversity in the past, and have made the 20th century belong to Canada. We
will not fail to make the 21st century ours as well.
Check against delivery.
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