REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER JEAN CHRÉTIEN ON CANADA DAY

July 1, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

My friends, it is with great emotion that I share this Canada Day with you. For ten years I have had the great privilege to be here as Prime Minister and take part in the great party that is Canada Day. We are not usually a nation given to loud affirmations about who we are and why we are great – but today is an exception. Today is the one day of the year when we all seem to fully realize – and enjoy – our nationhood.

Today we celebrate our country. Today we celebrate each other. Today we celebrate the road we have travelled together since Confederation. And today we celebrate the journey we still have ahead. For Canadians understand that an essential part of our democracy, a central part of being Canadian, is working together to make our nation even better. By improving our environment, by making our communities safer and more secure, by improving our health care system, by keeping our economy strong and robust, we forge a common bond. A bond that commits us to making our country the best it can be – with each one of us living up to our potential. With each one of us giving to each other, to our communities, and to our country.

Our citizenship is defined by common values. Values such as freedom, tolerance, sharing and compassion. These values guide us and unite us. They have been the foundation of our history and the nation we are today. These values are like a beacon of light that shine throughout the world and bring newcomers to our country – new Canadians to share the journey of nation-building. Together we are making Canada the best country in the world to live in. A country that is rich in its diversity and blessed with resources.

These values help us share the opportunities and the great natural wealth that we find from coast to coast to coast. They also help us meet challenges together. Our values guided us as we contributed toward security, reconciliation, peace, and reconstruction in the face of war. They guided us as we ratified the Kyoto Protocol and joined an international effort to combat climate change. Here at home, our values helped us improve our health care system to make it stronger and sustainable for generations to come.

Our economy remains robust – one of the strongest of the G-8. We have a secure financial base that allows us to make investments – to make our economy more innovative and to improve the quality of life for families and children, so that each one of us has a greater opportunity to achieve our dreams.

My friends, we have so much to be proud of. As we celebrate today, let us renew our commitment to work together so that we can continue to realize Canada's full potential in the world and in history. Our values will not mislead us and our hopes and dreams will nourish us.

Thank you all for letting me be a part of this journey.

Vive le Canada.

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