Jean Chrétien at the Conference on Trade with China

Since we took office 16 months ago, the number one priority of my government has been Jobs and Growth.

The results have been very encouraging. Our economy led the industrialized world in 1994, with 4.3% growth. And according to the OECD, Canada will continue to lead the industrialized world in growth over the next two years.

The economy has created more than 430,000 jobs since we took office. And unemployment is down below 10% for the first time in four years.

But for a country like Canada, jobs and growth mean trade. They mean opening up new markets for Canadian goods and services. And expanding existing markets.

That is why this government has focused so strongly on trade. And on aggressively selling Canadian goods and services -- and Canadian know-how -- abroad.

Last November, I had the honour of leading the Team Canada Trade Mission to China. It was the largest and most successful trade mission ever fielded by Canada.

We had more than 400 senior representatives of Canadian business -- large and small. Some are here today.

Nine provincial premiers helped lead the group. We were hoping for all ten but, unfortunately, M. Parizeau could not join us - he was too busy planning his trip to Paris.

The Team Canada mission was a dynamic, modern approach to federalism. It showed we can work together as a country to create jobs and opportunities for all Canadians.

And just two weeks ago, I led the largest ever Canadian trade mission to Latin America, with over 250 business people from across the country.

Together, these represent the most ambitious, most successful trade initiatives ever mounted by Canada. And that is something that should make us all proud. Because they were not the work of one government or one sector.

They brought together efforts of Canada's provincial governments and companies large and small across Canada.

And those efforts more than paid off.

Combined, the trade missions to China and Latin America brought home more than $10 billion in new business for Canadian companies.

And that does not take into account the long-term benefits of these missions. In China, for example, more than $100 million in additional deals have been signed for Canadian companies since our visit.

That means growth for Canada. And jobs for Canadians.

Every $1 billion in Canadian exports supports almost 12,000 jobs in Canada. Jobs for the future, in fast-growing markets where many are lining up, but only the best are breaking through. Secure Canadian footholds in the markets of the future.

As Prime Minister, I can tell you, I would rather sign contracts abroad than golden books. I will choose jobs for Canadians over red carpet receptions any day of the week.

Just look at case by case results of these trade missions.

Here, in Quebec, firms like Bombardier have signed joint ventures with Chinese counterparts. SR Telecom and Dominion Bridge are involved in major projects to build modern China. When the CANDU sale goes ahead, companies in Quebec will earn hundreds of millions of dollars as suppliers.

SNC-Lavalin teamed up with Monenco-Agra and Acres International of Ontario to form Canada-China Power Incorporated: by joining up, they took on the massive heavyweights from the USA., Japan, Germany -- and they won. On their own, competing against each other as well as against foreign companies, success would have been much more elusive. Together, they beat the world. That is what Team Canada is all about. That is how it works for every region of Canada.

Watching our firms in action, seeing companies from Quebec team up with those from all across this country to take on the world, filled me with confidence in our future.

I was proud to be a Quebecer and a Canadian.

In Latin America two weeks ago, Quebec companies enjoyed the same success: Le Groupe S.M. and QuébecTél in Brazil; Kantech and Metafix in Chile; Tecsult and Harris Farinon in Argentina.

These companies, and others like them -- large and small -- are doing the work in Latin America that Canada must do if we are to succeed in tough international markets.

These missions to China and Latin America carried dramatic messages for Canada. If we are to break open new markets for Canadian companies, we will have to draw on all our assets; we will have to marshall all our forces, wisely and effectively.

I want to take the opportunity to thank the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canada China Business Council for the example they have provided in this team work. They played key roles in our trade missions.

But the job isn't finished when our trade mission comes home. That is why the seminars like the one today that the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and the Canada China Business Council are holding across Canada are so important. And that is also why in conjunction with the private sector, the government has put together a working group to follow up on the trade missions. To ensure that the deals we started on our trade missions are fully realized. And to ensure that we can build on those agreements with new initiatives.

Team Canada had an enormous impact because the countries we visited were impressed by the cooperation between business and government. They were impressed by the way in which different levels of government worked together to further the national interest. In China, provincial premiers were, of course, focused on companies from their own provinces.

But that didn't stop them from supporting companies from other provinces. We are all Canadians. We all support Canada equally.

This is not simple patriotism, though our companies make us all very proud.

It is also smart economics. Our companies work well together. Dessau International of Laval leads a consortium that includes BC Hydro International and Hydro-Quebec International; they signed a letter of agreement in China that could generate sales of up to $500 million in Canadian goods and $50 million in services.

The goods and services would be provided by companies in Quebec, British Columbia and elsewhere.

The Dessau project has, for me, symbolic importance as well. A consortium joining companies owned by the provinces of B.C. and Quebec wins a project in China with federal government support -- it is hard to get more Canadian than that.

That is the great strength of Canada. Different regions, different perspectives that contribute to the good of the entire country.

We will continue building on the team approach - that every part of this country, every level of activity -- public and private -- can benefit best when we benefit together. That is really what "Team Canada" is all about.

I wish that today I could focus completely on all the things we are doing to promote trade and jobs and growth. Because after all, that is the number one priority of all Canadians. Unfortunately it is not the number one priority for M. Parizeau.

Now, as you know, we have entered what M. Parizeau calls his "third period". And the last thing he wants is for Team Canada to score.

And that is too bad. Because at a time when our major competitors are single-mindedly pursuing their economic interests, M. Parizeau has embroiled us in yet another debate over separation.

While Quebec business joined forces with companies from all across this country to bring home jobs from Latin America, M. Parizeau was pursuing his agenda of separation in Paris.

The good news is this debate should be over before the summer.

And the really good news is that Quebecers will overwhelmingly choose Canada.

Then we will all be able to focus 100% on creating jobs and economic growth.

Until then we will put the burden of proof directly on the advocates of separation.

Since I have been talking about trade today, I think it is important to ask the advocates of separation to explain the consequences of their option with respect to trade.

Two weeks ago the American Ambassador to Canada said that a separate Quebec would not automatically belong to NAFTA. And that a separate negotiation would be long and complicated.

It will be for the advocates of separation to show how Quebec gains by having to negotiate a separate accession to NAFTA.

It will be for the advocates of separation to show how Quebec companies gain if a separate Quebec signs onto national procurement codes under NAFTA and the GATT. Under NAFTA and the GATT, Quebec firms now have significant opportunities to bid on government procurement contracts in the U.S. and Europe.

Yet no provincial department or agency is currently subject to any such international disciplines. They apply only to national government entities.

It will be for the advocates of separation to show how a separate Quebec gains culturally by putting policies to protect cultural industries on the table. And they will have to. American industries are angry that Canada negotiated an exemption for cultural industries; they will do their best to make sure that a separate Quebec doesn't win similar treatment.

It will be up to the advocates of separation to explain to international markets and our trade partners what M. Campeau means when he says a separate Quebec would not pay its debts.

Last Sunday, M. Parizeau described a NO vote as a vote for "nothing". What is M. Parizeau's definition of "nothing"?

Is APEC nothing? Last November, in Indonesia, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) committed to a free trade zone across the Pacific by the year 2020. It will be the largest and most dynamic free trade zone in the world.

It is because they are part of Canada -- a Pacific country -- that Quebecers will be able to be part of that zone. Is that nothing?

Is the G-7 nothing? In fact it is the world's most exclusive economic club. And as part of Canada, Quebec is a member. Is that nothing? This year, Canada will host the Summit of G-7 leaders. As the global economy becomes more interdependent, our G-7 membership becomes more critical in helping to shape the international policies that increasingly affect us -- each and every Canadian.

Is NAFTA nothing? NAFTA is currently the world's largest free trade area, and getting larger.

As a unified country, we were able to negotiate a deal that promotes the broadest possible range of Canadian interests. Is that nothing?

We won access for a broad range of Canadian goods and services, while maintaining protection for key areas such as dairy production, cultural industries and procurement by provincial government departments and agencies like Hydro-Quebec. Is that nothing?

M. Parizeau says Quebecers should not vote for "nothing". I say Quebecers should settle for

nothing less.

Nothing less than a stable, growing economy. Nothing less than a quality of life the United Nations says is the best in the world. Nothing less than a society that has preserved and fostered the growth of the French language and culture - including for the one million francophones outside Quebec. Nothing less, my friends, than Canada, the best country in the world.

I have spoken today of my travels on behalf of Canada and jobs for Canadians. But I would like to leave you with an experience from my most recent trip to Latin America that has nothing to do with trade - but everything to do with what Canada is all about.

The last day of my mission to Latin America was spent in Costa Rica. The President of that country paid Canadians a great honour, when he brought together a special meeting between the presidents of the seven Central American nations and the Prime Minister of Canada.

These leaders are all bravely leading their region into a new era of democracy and peace. After decades of war, hundreds and thousands of deaths, and immense suffering of their people.

These are people for whom democracy is not a luxury.

Nor social justice or prosperity for their people a given.

In one voice, these seven leaders told me Canada holds a very special meaning for them. As a society that respects differences. That brings people and regions together in peace and prosperity. As a beacon of hope for them and a model they aspire to.

That isn't nothing. It is something. It is something very special. It is something Quebecers and all Canadians have built and will continue to build, together.