Address by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on the Occasion of the Vancouver Leader's Dinner

December 4, 2002
Vancouver, British Columbia

I am delighted to be here tonight in Vancouver. Accompanied by Ministers, Members of Parliament and Senators from British Columbia. I want to review for a few minutes tonight where we are as a country more than nine years after we first formed the government.

But most important, I want to talk about some of the big issues on our agenda. Issues like the economy. Kids. Cities. Ratifying Kyoto and protecting the environment. Renewing Medicare.

When I first became the Prime Minister, Canada was a far different country than it is today. More fragile. Less united. Less self confident.

Well, what a difference nine years make.

The Canadian economy in 2002 is creating jobs faster than it has for decades. Almost 450,000 new jobs in Canada in the first nine months of this year including 87,000 in British Columbia.

Interest rates and mortgage rates are very low. Personal disposable income has been rising for five years in a row. The number of children living in low income families has dropped by 25 percent from 16.7% in 1996 to 12.5% in 2000.

The unity of the country is stronger than ever. We have become a very strong, very confident country.

During the recent global slowdown, our economy experienced only a brief contraction. But the American economy shrank in each of the first three quarters of 2001.

Not long after I became Prime Minister, the Wall Street Journal called Canada a candidate for Third World status. I admit to feeling very proud last week, when the International Monetary Fund released a report on Canada.

It said: "On the heels of exceptional macroeconomic performance since the mid-1990s, the Canadian economy has remained remarkably resilient in the face of the global downturn. The economy’s strong performance owes much to the sound policy framework and its skillful implementation. Canada’s macroeconomic prospects continue to be favorable".

It is due in no small measure to our insistence on rock solid fiscal discipline. We have reduced taxes, paid down debt and balanced the books.

And we remain firmly committed to fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets.

But our Liberal agenda recognizes that this healthy balance sheet will only remain healthy if we continue to invest in our society: in learning, in health, in children and in the environment.

The true test of enduring public confidence is not the difference we have made, but the difference we will still make – that we must make.

Because, my friends, we have a lot more work to do.

There are still too many poor families and poor kids. Who need a good start in life. They need the government to help.

Investment in people is both good economic policy and good social policy. Our future depends on providing the best possible opportunities for our children.

This is why we have committed in the last Throne Speech to further increase the National Child Benefit for low-income families, building on our reinvestments in recent years. And we will do so in our next budget.

The National Child Benefit is the product of federal-provincial co-operation. In fact, it was first proposed in 1996 at a meeting of Western Premiers. It is an example of what governments can do together.

And using the National Child Benefit as an example of co-operation, I am sure federal and provincial governments can work together on health and on climate change.

Just as federal and provincial governments can work together on an urban strategy. To ensure that cities like Vancouver play an important role in our nation’s economic development.

Today, Premier Campbell and I announced that our governments will invest in the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre project.

This involves constructing new facilities on the Burrard Landing Site, west of Canada Place; the renovation of existing leased facilities within Canada Place; and the linking of the two sites to form an integrated convention and exhibition centre.

This is the first investment made through the Canada Strategy Infrastructure Fund in Western Canada. The project, targeted at $495 million, will be a significant contribution to the tourism industry which creates so many jobs and so much economic activity in this province. And we are working closely with Premier Campbell to prepare new agreements over the 10-year life of our strategic infrastructure program.

Let me turn now to an issue of great importance to the future. The House of Commons is now debating the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. And tonight I want to thank David Anderson for a job very well done.

In the interests of future generations, it falls to this generation of Canadians to confront the issue. And it is a challenge that Canadians are prepared to take.

I spoke in detail about this issue last night in Edmonton. I made it very clear that now that everyone recognizes that the Accord will be ratified, our attention must be focused on how to make it work in the best interest of Canada. That is something industry and governments are working on together.

We have put forward the outline of a plan to move Canada towards its target. We have begun working with stakeholders and provinces to flesh out the details to ensure that it can be implemented in a way that meets the key criteria required for continued strong economic growth.

I have spoken to Premier Campbell. While he may have wanted us to proceed differently, we now both agree that we must work together. That we can work together. That we will work together. To ensure that British Columbia and all of Canada benefits from our commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We have ten years to meet our obligations under the treaty. We can make progress together. We will ratify Kyoto and implement our obligations with a made-in-Canada plan.

There are many good ideas: from industry, and from provincial governments. That will take us a long way. Technology will take us further.

Working together, seizing opportunities, putting aside the rhetoric. I am confident that Canadians can rise to the challenge.

We will meet our targets – responsibly – in the best interests of the economy, the environment and future generations.

My friends, let me address now an issue which is of fundamental importance to Canadians. Health care.

Last week, Roy Romanow released the report of the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care. A very important milestone on the way to reform and long term sustainability of public medicare in Canada.

I want here tonight to congratulate Mr. Romanow on a job very well done. Not simply because he was on time and on budget. But because of the quality of his work, the breadth of his consultations, and the thoughtfulness of his recommendations.

We are studying the report carefully. Reading it in the context of other reports. Listening to stakeholders. And I am talking to the Minister of Finance as well!

The Romanow Report sets out a comprehensive blueprint for public medicare for the 21^st Century. And I like much of what I see so far. It builds on the September 2000 health agreement of all First Ministers.

New investments have to focus on change. And results. Like assuring Canadians access to quality health care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

That is what is meant by primary care reform. Like targeted home care for patients who have just been released from hospital.

Like more and better diagnostic equipment. Like improved services for Canadians in rural and remote areas. Like addressing the cost of drugs. Like more accountability and transparency.

I can make one promise here tonight. The Romanow Report will not gather dust on a shelf. We will move quickly.

Mr. Romanow’s report as well as the Senate Committee Report, and various provincial reports, will help governments develop a national approach for addressing Canada’s health care needs.

Our government will do its part. We will devote our energies to work with the provinces over the next few weeks to develop a federal-provincial approach. Canadians expect all their governments to co-operate in achieving a plan for health care reform. They can be assured of my full co-operation.

This is not a matter for partisan politics. It is no place to score political points.

Everyone knows that money alone will not solve our health care problems.

Everyone also agrees that a concrete action plan to modernize medicare and bring about significant long term change will require money.

If there is a plan to produce significant long term change, and if all governments agree on the plan, I can assure Canadians tonight, the necessary federal dollars will be there as well.

There will be a First Ministers Meeting in late January to agree on a comprehensive plan to modernize medicare. The meeting must be successful. It will be successful. Canadians won’t allow their leaders to do anything less. The political price for any leader who blocks a successful meeting on health will be very high indeed.

And I can assure Canadians that after a successful meeting, we will be there with the federal share of the money to finance that long term plan.

Before I close, there is another issue I want to address. And that is softwood lumber. I know how difficult this is for British Columbia. For industry. And most important for workers and families. I cannot tell you that a solution is in sight. But I can tell you that we continue to work very hard to convince the government of the United States that it is in everyone’s interest to reach a long term solution.

I have raised the issue in every meeting I have had with President Bush. Ministers raise the issue with each of their American counterparts. Parliamentarians raise the issue with their Congressional counterparts. And the provincial government works hand-in-glove with the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

I am confident that if industry, the provincial governments and the federal government continue to

co-operate with a united Canadian position, we will achieve a successful outcome. I just cannot predict how long it will take.

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