ISRAEL, June 28, 1998 – As the keynote speaker at the Jerusalem Conference in Canadian Studies at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the President of the Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Honourable Stéphane Dion, talked about the reasons he has chosen Canadian unity and about the important place that Quebec occupies among those reasons.

He began with a quotation from a former president of Israel, Chaim Herzog, who told Canadians: "You are an outstanding model of coexistence between individuals of different cultures and backgrounds who live here in a climate of mutual tolerance and respect for their original identity."

The Intergovernmental Affairs Minister stated that Canada has no meaning if it does not continually come closer to that model of tolerance with which President Herzog and many other observers have associated it. "It is that quest that is Canada’s true greatness," the Minister said, adding that "the main reason I believe that Canada must stay united has more to do with the universal than with the specific."

The Minister listed some of Canada’s achievements in connection with universal human rights:

• Canada, which is celebrating 150 years of responsible government this year, has been a pioneer of democracy.

• Canada has never had an empire and has never sent troops abroad in the 20th century for reasons other than defending democracy and peace. In fact, during the Suez crisis in 1956, Canada proposed the United Nations peacekeeping force.

• Canada has been faithful to its original ideal of uniting populations of different languages and religions around common objectives. It has also maintained its Francophone character in a North America dominated by English, despite the wind of assimilation that has been blowing in the world at a time when, for the first time in the history of humanity, the number of languages spoken has decreased rather than increased.

• Canada has managed to contain racism, as evidenced by the tolerance that characterizes relations among the many different ethnic communities in its major cities.

Minister Dion then noted the active contribution of Canada’s Jewish community to the quest for the Canadian ideal, pointing out that it was in Trois-Rivières that a Jew was elected to Parliament for the first time in the entire British Commonwealth, as early as 1807.

The Minister continued by showing how Quebec shares the same universal values and participates in the same culture of tolerance as the other parts of Canada. Mr. Dion also defended the language laws in force in Quebec, which he believes are more liberal and respectful of the minority linguistic community than those passed by other multilingual democracies.

The Minister stated that he is very optimistic about Canadian unity, noting that Quebecers and other Canadians are increasingly discovering how much being together helps them to advance ever further their ideal of peace, harmony and prosperity.

Mr. Dion concluded by saying he hopes the debate on Canadian unity is conducted clearly and frankly, respecting the law and promoting dialogue, never exclusion. 

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