"MORE THAN A BALANCE SHEET"

NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS
AT THE CANADA CONFERENCE `99

ST.JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND

MARCH 31, 1999

As the federal minister responsible for relations with provinces and territories with heavy responsibility for the unity of our country, sometimes I am asked to speak about Newfoundland’s entry into Canada. But I am rarely asked to discuss it on its own merits. More often than not, people want me to discuss it in a different context – in the context of another province and another time.

I am often compelled to respond to a strange argument: the argument that the same majority that brought Newfoundland into Confederation should be sufficient to take another province out of Confederation.

This argument is peculiar because it ignores certain facts. It ignores the fact that it is customary in a democracy to insist on more stringent rules for leaving a union than for entering that union. It also ignores the fact that the provisional status that bound Newfoundland to the United Kingdom was by no means of the same nature as the status that binds a province to Canada.

So, you will appreciate how much I look forward to putting this argument aside and focusing, instead, on the extraordinary event of Newfoundland's entry into Canada. I want to focus not so much on the way that this event came about, but rather on its consequences for the people of Newfoundland and for the whole of Canada.

This anniversary soiree is a splendid celebration. But it is also a time of reflection, of appraisal. Undoubtedly Newfoundland's confederation with Canada has been a good thing for Newfoundlanders and all Canadians. It has been a win-win situation.

Although I was born after 1949, I am - as a Quebecer and a Canadian - a partner in the continuing relationship between Canada and Newfoundland. We might say that you and I live together in the same house. Therefore I hope that you will permit me to offer some of my own thoughts about how beneficial Newfoundland’s confederation with Canada has been.

***

As we know, the 1948 referendums whereby Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada were wrenching, emotional, divisive affairs.

The people of this province understand, all too well, how painful and how bitter such plebiscites can be. You understand, all too well, that many years can pass before the scars of these divisions are healed.

But why were people so divided, so emotional?

It is fair to say - most of you I hope will agree - that people were emotional because they were afraid. But what exactly was it they feared?

I believe that they feared the loss of their identity. They were afraid of losing their sense of who they were. They feared an uncertain future, feared being cut off from their own long and proud history.

The Caboto 500 celebrations that happened in 1997 and next year's Viking Millennium remind us that Newfoundland's experience with Canada is only a tiny fraction of this territory's rich history. This history began, of course, not with those European visitors, but thousands of years earlier, with the many different Aboriginal peoples who populated Newfoundland and Labrador.

In 1949, Newfoundlanders were fearful of becoming disconnected from their own sense of history, their own sense of place, their sense of community. They were fearful, in other words, of losing their idea of home.

"Home" is a powerful word. It is powerful in English. «Son chez-soi» is powerful in French. It is powerful in any language. It is a strong word that brings to mind other strong words: sanctuary, asylum, shelter, fireside, family.

Some people might say that home is nothing more than "that place where I have lived as long as I can remember".

But other people - and especially Newfoundlanders who have established themselves in other parts of Canada - might say that home is this: "that special place where I will always wish to return".

After March 31st 1949, after Newfoundland became a province of Canada, what happened to this proud society and to its idea of itself? What happened to your idea of home?

Fifty years ago you moved into a bigger house with many others. Some of these others speak a different language, or come from a different background, or experience different challenges. How did this change affect your notion of who you are?

In many parts of the world, technological development has diluted cultures and weakened identities. When people have access to new means of transportation and communication, when their view of the world is formed by the mass media, their boundaries expand. They no longer live just in their own place, their own locality. They live, in a sense, in every place. So - tragically - they may come to feel that they no longer truly belong anywhere at all.

Have things turned out this way in Newfoundland and Labrador?

To answer this question, we can be coldly scientific. We can examine the opinion polls.

In 1996, an Angus Reid survey asked Canadians whether they agreed with the statement "I feel profoundly attached to my province". In Newfoundland and Labrador, 83% of respondents said they strongly agree.

This is a higher figure than reported in any other province, including Quebec. Other polls report similar findings: Newfoundlanders feel a stronger sense of attachment to their own place than does any other provincial population in Canada.

Of course, we do not need to take a public opinion poll in order to know this. We can feel it in the streets, on the roadways everywhere in this province. We can hear it in the voices of the people.

How has this situation come about? How have you managed to retain such a strong sense of who you are, a strong sense of belonging?

One reason, obviously, is the richness and depth of your heritage. The English, Irish, French, and other groups that make up your population are long established here. This is a rooted culture, a well-grounded culture - a culture with staying power.

People refer in an affectionate way to Newfoundland and Labrador as The Rock. If this term refers to the landscape, well, I disagree with that. Anyone who has traveled this province will know that there is no shortage of trees. Your stirring anthem, the Ode to Newfoundland, has got it exactly right: this is a "smiling land". But if the term The Rock refers to the solidity of the people, to the endurance, the tenacity of their culture, then I do agree with that.

Another reason Newfoundland’s culture survives - and, what's more, thrives - is this: Canada makes it possible.

Canada's federal character - its dynamic, flexible system - encourages different peoples, different languages, different cultures, to live together and to prosper together.

Our federal system is the product of the values that Canadians share: solidarity, generosity and tolerance. At the same time, it promotes and nurtures those values. Federalism is about accommodation and mutual respect. This is the ideal that we are working toward and we have a lot of work to do, together, in order to come closer to achieving it.

That is why, provincehood does not insist on a surrender of identity. On the contrary: provincehood favours diversity.

You can be both Newfoundlanders and Canadians. You can enjoy the benefits of a dual identity. Joey Smallwood put it well: "We're proud to be Canadians. We're Newfoundland Canadians, or if you like, Canadian Newfoundlanders."

When I use words like "thrive" and "prosper" and "flourish" I do not mean to describe cultural matters only. I'm not talking only about language or identity. I mean to say also that the Canadian federal system provides the framework - the partnership - that will foster all-round economic progress.

Needless to say, I do not need to inform a Newfoundland audience about the many difficulties that this province has faced, before Confederation, and since Confederation. But one thing seems clear, being a part of the Canadian federation has helped Newfoundland to face the many challenges along the way. You have certainly read in the newspapers in recent days about the data that make up the balance sheet. In terms of GDP per capita, Newfoundland was at 44% of the Canadian average in 1949 and had reached 73% in 1998. In terms of real personal income, Newfoundlanders were at 51% of the Canadian average in 1949 and had reached 80% in 1998. The percentage of Newfoundland’s population over 15 years old with less than nine years of formal education was 69% in 1949 and had gone down to under 18% in 1998. Its percentage of population over 15 years old with a university degree was .5% in 1949 and was over 8% in 1998. New roads were built at three times the rate they were before Newfoundland joined Confederation and the number of cars on those roads grew ninefold.

But I would submit that it is due to more than just this positive balance sheet that, according to polls, an overwhelming majority (76%) of Newfoundlanders consider Confederation a good thing overall for the province. It is because Newfoundlanders made the ideals of Canada their ideals.

By joining Confederation, Newfoundlanders agreed that they wanted to be part of a federation that tries to combine the social solidarity of the best European countries with the economic vitality and freedom of opportunity of the United States. By adopting the best of the European and American ideals, Canada has become a country with one of the highest standards of living around the world.

By joining Confederation, Newfoundlanders agreed that they wanted to be part of a federation that valued the principles of mutual support and assistance. These are the principles at the heart of our country and the principles that are reflected in our social programs. In fact, since 1982, these principles have been ensconced concretely in our Constitution.

There can be no doubt that Newfoundlanders have benefitted from these programs. When Newfoundlanders joined Confederation in 1949, they gained access to an old age pension program, family allowances and unemployment insurance. Newfoundlanders, like all Canadians, can now rely on programs like the Canada Pension Plan, the National Child Benefit, as well as quality health care, post-secondary education and other social programs. Newfoundlanders, like the residents of many other provinces, have also benefitted from equalization payments that have helped ensure a higher quality of life.

Again, this is more than a balance sheet. Newfoundlanders know that they are entitled to these programs as a member of the Canadian family. These programs have evolved over the last five decades, and Newfoundland has helped steer this evolution. It will continue to add an important voice to national deliberations. The provincial government recently signed an agreement with the Government of Canada and other provincial and territorial governments on a Framework to Improve the Social Union for Canadians. I believe this will mark a new era of cooperation between the federal and provincial governments across this country that will help them deliver the best possible services to their citizens.

I look forward to the day when Newfoundland sends equalization payments to other provinces! Even wealthy Alberta received support from the other provinces in the 1930s, and now is in a position to assist the provinces that once assisted her. This is the beauty of the Canadian federation. It is good to know that you have the support of millions of fellow citizens, whatever may happen.

***

As you know, Newfoundland and Labrador has incredible economic potential.

Hibernia, and Terra Nova, and other mega-projects in the energy sector are boosting confidence in Newfoundland's long-term development. I’m well aware that you’ve all heard talk of mega-projects before and the reality didn’t quite live up to the dream. But these new projects are very promising, and there is good reason to believe that with hard work and dedication, these new opportunities will prove fruitful.

The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council anticipates that almost $19 billion will be spent on such projects during the next ten years. These huge investments will contribute to significant growth for the province - and for Canada. In about five years, approximately one third of Canada’s conventional light crude oil production will take place in Newfoundland.

While Newfoundland's economy relies heavily on natural resources, its potential is increasingly based on technology, on information, on education, on innovation.

Some people will be surprised to learn that Newfoundland is home to some 200 information technology firms. This means that these companies do business not just in Newfoundland, not just in Canada, but also around the globe and the cutting-edge technology developed here in Newfoundland is used all over the world. These companies generate half a billion dollars for the provincial economy.

It is no surprise, therefore, that economists from the Conference Board of Canada and several of Canada’s largest banks are forecasting the province's growth to be above the national average for the next several years.

***

Growth and development do not happen in a vacuum. Newfoundland's economy is part of an economic partnership, is based on mutual support.

Canada has also benefitted from its relationship with Newfoundland. And again, the benefits for Canada are much more than a balance sheet.

***

Earlier, I used a strong word, "home". I want to close now by speaking about another strong word: voice.

The organizers of this Soiree have wisely chosen to make the arts a central theme of the celebration. After all, a renaissance has been happening among this province's writers, dramatists and actors, musicians, dancers, film makers, and painters. Many of these people have achieved recognition not just in Newfoundland and Labrador, but across Canada, and abroad too.

Over the last fifty years, people from this province have sought new opportunities elsewhere in Canada. Communities across the country have been enriched by their presence. But wherever these Newfoundlanders have settled, in whatever province or territory, they have maintained their sense of who they are and celebrated where they have come from.

It is the nature of Canada that makes this possible. Canada provides a haven - a safe harbour - where different peoples and varied cultures can prosper and grow. The Canadian system safeguards identity and preserves heritage.

At the same time, this country's tradition of mutual reinforcement, of mutual assistance, makes it possible for your Newfoundland identity, your natural voice, to be heard everywhere across the land - and what's more, to become part of the Canadian idiom, part of the Canadian voice itself.

So you see, Canada was enriched in 1949. And it is not only because Labrador came back into my country when Newfoundland joined Canada. And it is not only because now my country is less than one hour by ferry from France. It is because the soul of Newfoundland became mine as well.

***

Your decision to join Canada has benefitted not just Newfoundland and all Newfoundlanders: it has benefitted Canada and all Canadians. Your decision to enhance the Canadian federation - to add your identity to ours - produced a win-win outcome for everybody. So let us stop arguing over who won the most - Canada or Newfoundland. We all won!

Newfoundland is still your home and Canada is your home too. Canada is our home, a country where every human being, whatever his or her background, must be treated as a human being, with dignity and respect.

During the next 50 years of your confederation - I should say, of our confederation - we will work together to make our country into a better home, a home in the best sense of the word: that special place where we will always wish to return.

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