REMARKS BY PRIME MINISTER JEAN CHRÉTIEN ON THE OCCASION OF THE OPENING OF A GENOMICS EXHIBIT AT THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF NATURE

April 25, 2003
Ottawa, Ontario

It's great to be here today to help launch this impressive exhibition. I am proud to be associated with such an innovative initiative, in so important a field.

Let me also say how delighted I am that we have so many students here this morning! It's appropriate that you should be here because this exhibition is about a future all of you will share. You are part of what we may call the "genomics generation".

Genomics holds the potential to transform our lives, from the drugs we receive to the food we eat.

With each discovery, we open new doors, cross new thresholds, and find answers to many of the mysteries around us. Genomics also makes us pose moral and ethical questions for which we do not yet have all the answers.

I am proud that this exhibit presents the ethical dilemmas of genetic research and invites Canadians to think about the difficult choices we all have to make. I believe we need to acknowledge these concerns honestly, discuss them frankly and explain them clearly, so that Canadians can participate in this important debate. We are entering an uncharted field of human knowledge, where the old road maps don't apply and new issues arise to challenge us. It is critical, therefore, that Canadians be informed, be advised and become engaged.

By taking this exhibition to Canadians where they live - in communities across the country - its sponsors have provided all of us with the opportunity to do just that.

This is an outstanding initiative and I commend the Canadian Museum of Nature, Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for their creativity, their collaboration and their commitment to teaching us all the language of genomics.

This exhibition will play an enormous role in expanding our vocabularies. It will introduce Canadians to the basics of genes and DNA – and do so – as you've already seen – in an entertaining and innovative way.

When I launched the federal government's innovation strategy I said that "innovation is

everybody's business". So too is science. Dr. Henry Friesen, Chair of Genome Canada, put it well when he said : "Genomics is the next internet".

Just as the internet has transformed the way we work, shop and communicate, so genomics will transform our understanding of health and how to improve it, disease and how to prevent it, life and how to enhance it.

Already we see benefits from Canada’s wealth of genomics knowledge. Genome Canada is at the vanguard of science. It is so important at a time like this when Canadians and the whole world are preoccupied with the effects of SARS.

The Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada and the City of Toronto are working very closely together to meet this public health problem.

We are working in close partnership with the United States Centers for Disease Control who are providing advice and service on the ground in Toronto. We are very appreciative of their effort.

Our scientists everywhere in Canada are working overtime on this issue.

The city of Toronto is suffering today. It is also home to fantastic public health care workers, who are doing a remarkable job under very difficult circumstances. They deserve the thanks and gratitude of their fellow citizens.

We all believe that the World Health Organization came to the wrong conclusion. We believe that Toronto is a good place to visit. It is a safe city.

Earlier this week, I spoke to Mayor Lastman and to Premier Eves. We agreed on the importance of a marketing campaign for Toronto and Ontario and indeed for all of Canada. We all agreed to make a contribution. Today I can say that the federal government will contribute 10 million dollars.

But money alone is not the answer. To demonstrate in a very public way, our commitment to the people of Toronto, I am announcing today that the Cabinet will meet on Tuesday in Toronto, instead of Ottawa. And I will be staying at a Toronto hotel on Monday night.

On Thursday, my wife will be coming to Toronto from Ottawa on Air Canada. She will land at Pearson airport. She will spend the day in Toronto, and will be the guest at a dinner on Thursday night.

Canadians have come together before in difficult circumstances. This is another time when Canadians will come together to help those who need help.

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