Notes of Address by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien at the Verdum Auditorum in Montreal

I am here with you this evening because, like you, as a proud Quebecer and a proud Canadian, I believe with all my soul and with all my heart in our great country. As Prime Minister of Canada, I have a heavy responsibility, indeed a responsibility which we all share.

My friends, our country's future will be decided in less than a week. On Monday, we will have to decide whether the Canada we Quebecers have built together will continue to evolve or will be broken apart. We will have to choose between hope and abandonment, between moving forward and moving out. To stay or to leave: that's the issue of the referendum. Will we still be Canadians? It is a choice that carries heavy consequences. Think it through before you vote.

We are not being asked to choose a government or a premier that we will be able to vote out in four years' time. This is not a popularity contest in which certain individuals are better liked than others.

It is a fundamental and irreversible choice of a country. On the one side, the advocates of separation are proposing a Quebec that rejects Canada. On the other, we are proposing a strong and open Quebec within a united Canada.

For us, everything is possible; we are rejecting one thing only: separation.

Think it through before you vote.

To preserve our country in the days ahead, we will need as much courage and determination as our ancestors had in building it.

We must give the very best of ourselves to make sure that everyone understands the issue and the consequences of this referendum.

Throughout Quebec today, people are thinking: thinking about their future and the future of their children and their families. They are thinking about the crucial importance of the decision they have to make, and they are asking themselves some legitimate questions:

Can we better achieve our hopes and our dreams by building Canada or by destroying it?

Can we better achieve positive and realistic change by building Canada or by destroying it?

There is only one answer to those questions, and that is by continuing to build Canada.

I know that some people are thinking about voting YES in response to a question that is unclear, because they think it's the best way to bring about changes within Canada. They think it would create new leverage.

They think the only thing the separatists want is a mandate to negotiate within Canada. I am telling them that they're making a mistake.

To all those who think they can vote YES and stay in Canada, I ask you to listen closely to Messrs Parizeau and Bouchard.

For them, there is no question of renewing federalism or obtaining recognition of Quebec as a distinct society. What they want is a separate country. The country they are planning is not an improved Canada, it is a separate Quebec. Think it through before you vote.

Since the beginning of this campaign, we have been asking the separatists to tell us what would be gained by breaking up our country.

It will profoundly affect the lives of us all, and the lives of our children and grandchildren.

Responsible people have a duty to talk about it.

How would our standard of living and our quality of life be affected?

What consequences would separation have for jobs and economic growth?

How would the families that depend on those jobs be affected? All those questions have been brushed off. Why? Think it through before you vote.

Economic health is an ongoing concern of governments.

Canadians have every reason to be proud of their country in this regard. But the well-being that Quebecers and other Canadians feel in connection with their country goes far beyond its economic success.

Those who have travelled abroad know what Canadian citizenship means on the international scene. They know that Canada symbolizes peace, prosperity and fraternity.

Think it through, and talk it through with your families and your co-workers. Think of all the experiences in your life with which Canada's name has been associated.

Think it through; it's a country that is at stake, and not just any country. Canada is a country that is unique in the world, the best in the world. And Canada is what it is today because Quebec has a unique place within it.

The break-up of Canada would be the failure of a dream. It would be the end of a country that is the envy of all the world. It would be the failure of a country that is a model for countries in the process of building their own institutions.

Canada is built on values that you know well: tolerance, generosity, respect for differences, social justice, and compassion. Quebecers share those values with all other Canadians.

Next Monday, we will have to decide if we are prepared to give up on the country that embodies those values better than any other country in the world. Think it through before you vote.

Yesterday, I was in New York at the United Nations, where Canada has earned an extraordinary place and role for itself. I had the opportunity to talk with government leaders from around the world.

Not one of them understands why anyone would even think about destroying the country the United Nations ranks number one in terms of quality of life.

My friends, I am a Quebecer proud of my language, my culture and my heritage. And I am also a Canadian who feels at home in every region of the country.

Our ancestors, yours and mine, built a country in which the French language, culture and identity have been able to develop and assert themselves.

They built a country in which Quebecers, regardless of any past injustices, now have the tools and the power to fulfil themselves.

It's true that this great country is not perfect.

It's true that it's a country that must continue to adapt to modern reality; a country that can and must improve further -- that is true. But it is a country worth fighting for, worth doing the impossible to preserve.

Can you think of a single valid reason that would justify turning our backs on it? Think it through before you vote.

For those who are looking for good reasons to say NO to the unknown, just look around you. Look at what you are. Look at what you will have after a NO vote.

You will have the assurance of a sovereign country with Canadian citizenship, the Canadian passport and the Canadian dollar. A country that provides an instant guarantee of an economic and political partnership giving us an influence in the Atlantic and the Pacific.

A concrete, tangible country that we have known for a long time, whose main constant throughout its history has been change.

I have listened to my fellow Quebecers throughout this campaign saying that they are deeply attached to Canada.

But they've also been saying that they want to see this country change and evolve toward their aspirations.

They want to see Quebec recognized as a distinct society within Canada by virtue of its language, culture and institutions.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I agree. I have supported that position in the past, I support it today, and I will support it in the future, whatever the circumstances.

In 1960, there was an extraordinary desire for change in Quebec. The Quiet Revolution ushered in 35 years of continual change in Quebec. And all that was achieved in a context of continuity, without breaking up, without tearing apart, and within Canada.

As the 21st century dawns, in Canada as throughout the world, unprecedented changes are emerging on the horizon.

Economic changes stemming from market globalization, and political changes stemming from a desire by citizens to exert more power at the local level.

All Canadians want to see their country change profoundly, in response to their aspirations. In fact, Canada is moving and changing to maintain and improve the quality of life of its citizens.

That's why we are making changes to stimulate job creation and economic growth;

changes to put our public finances in order and protect our social programs for future generations;

changes to ensure that this country, which was built on the principles of fairness and social justice, continues in the future to protect those in our society who have the greatest need;

changes to promote international trade, which creates jobs for Canadians;

changes to promote investment, which also creates jobs for Canadians;

and changes to make our federation more flexible and to forge effective cooperation among governments.

Everywhere in the industrialized world, people are expressing a desire to exert greater influence on decisions that affect their everyday lives. All levels of government must find the means to bring decision-making closer to citizens.

This desire by the people for greater decentralization is a challenge that our federal and provincial governments must address.

This reality is even more urgent because of government budgetary constraints. We must see whether services are being provided at the right government level. We must also assess whether some services would not be better delivered by the private sector.

I also hope that, on the day after the referendum, Mr. Parizeau's government will finally agree to sit down with us to work on eliminating overlap and duplication in our services. Quebec is the only one of the ten provinces that has refused to move on this exercise, that is necessary to cut out waste.

No means are off limits to bring about change and modernization within Canada. What is important is that those changes be realistic and in keeping with what our citizens want.

By voting NO we are rejecting the option of separation. A NO does not mean giving up any position whatsoever with regard to Canada's constitution.

We will be keeping open all the other paths for change, including the administrative and constitutional paths. Any changes in constitutional jurisdiction for Quebec will only be made with the consent of Quebecers.

The important thing is that we will be able to achieve our aspirations for today and those of future generations, in a practical, realistic way.

We can devote all our energy to continuing to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow within Canada as we know it, where Quebec has an essential place: that's the path of hope.

Or, we can focus our efforts on breaking up a country that is one of the largest and most advanced industrial powers in the modern world. And I say that's the path of no hope. Think it through before you vote.

I think it is very clear that a NO vote means one thing only: a rejection of the separatist proposal and the break-up of Canada, a proposal that has incalculable consequences.

And I repeat with pride the words used 15 years ago by Jean Lesage, the father of the Quiet Revolution: "Canada is my country, Quebec is my homeland."