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THE HONOURABLE STÉPHANE DION STATES THAT CANADA'S
DECENTRALIZED NATURE IS AN ASSET
IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION
OTTAWA, ONTARIO, April 22, 1999
– The Honourable Stéphane Dion, President of the Privy Council and Minister
of Intergovernmental Affairs, stated today that "our decentralized
federation, based on solidarity of its citizens and cooperation among its
governments, is perfectly equipped to take on the issues of globalization."
Referring to a poll, the Minister
indicated that Canadians in all provinces, including Quebec, prefer closer
cooperation between governments rather than major decentralization to the
provinces or major centralization to the federal government. The Minister
asserted that intergovernmental cooperation is the path being taken by the
Government of Canada, together with the provincial governments, to improve our
federation even more.
The Minister refuted arguments in
favour of centralization, which depict the power of the provincial governments
as excessive. "In the 1960s, in the heyday of the Keynesian movement,"
he noted, "it was said that provincial autonomy was preventing rational
economic planning." Today, he continued, globalization is the concept in
fashion fuelling calls for Canada to centralize.
The Minister referred in passing to
the striking parallel between the thinking of Mr. Jacques Parizeau, an
advocate of Quebec independence, and that of the pro-Canada advocates of
centralization, who mistakenly see the strength of our provincial governments as
a hindrance to rational governance.
But these arguments in favour of centralization
will be proved as wrong in the future as they have been in the past, the
Minister stated, before describing the measures adopted by the Government of
Canada to enhance intergovernmental cooperation further, while respecting the
constitutional jurisdictions of each order of government.
In the last two Martin budgets, for
example, the first targets for reinvestment have been transfers to the
provincial governments, Mr. Dion noted. The Minister showed how the Government
has implemented flexible policies that make it possible to pursue Canada-wide
objectives while taking into account the diversity of the country, as evidenced
by a variety of measures, such as the Infrastructure Program, the National Child
Benefit, and job training agreements.
The Minister highlighted the great
potential of the social union framework agreement in terms of intergovernmental
cooperation. The agreement, he stated, "represents a new and promising way
to manage interdependence."
The Minister also described the
active cooperation by governments in matters of foreign policy, pointing out
that it has yielded excellent results, including protection for our cultural
industries: "The way Canada manages to express its rich diversity with a
single voice is the winning formula as we face what we refer to as
globalization."
We must not reject the decentralized
nature of our federation. On the contrary, Mr. Dion stated, "we must build
on our exceptional capacity to pursue common objectives, at home and abroad,
strengthened by the diversity of our experiences."
"Globalization is yet another
argument in favour of cooperation between governments, in favour of governance
the Canadian way," the Minister concluded.
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For information:
André Lamarre
Press Secretary
(613) 943-1838
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