To the Institute for International Political Studies

Five hundred years ago Giovanni Caboto landed in present-day Newfoundland. Beginning the great journey of discovery that resulted in the birth of Canada.

Just over a century ago, thousands upon thousands of Italians began their own journey of discovery. From places like L'Aquila in the beautiful Abruzzo, which I will have the pleasure to visit tomorrow -- and thousands of other towns and villages across Italy. A voyage of discovery that lasted the better part of a century. To a young country, an ocean away. To make a new start in a new land.

This visit is another voyage of discovery. For Canada and Italy to each discover the present day reality of the other nation. To look beyond the cliches and stereotypes to the reality of two dynamic, growing countries, two engaged, committed world citizens, two nations poised on the threshold of an exciting new millennium.

This voyage of mutual discovery is long overdue. For the fact is that while our countries admire and love each other, we don't really know each other.

Canadians know the Renaissance art, the cuisine, the high fashion. But how many Canadians know that Italy is the fifth largest economy in the world? How many know that this city and this region are the heart of one of the most successful high tech areas not just in Europe -- but in the world?

Italians know the Mounties in red tunics, the Rocky mountains, the lakes and wide open spaces. But how many Italians know that the third largest manufacturer of aircraft in the world, after Boeing and Airbus, is Bombardier in Montreal? And how many know that the fourth largest maker of telecommunications equipment is Nortel of Brantford, Ontario?

How many people in either of our countries know how much -- how very much -- we have in common? On the international stage, not only are we often at the same tables, we usually share the same world views.

When it comes to peacekeeping or peacemaking in war zones around the world, Canada and Italy are there. When it comes to fighting efforts that undermine sovereignty, like the U.S. Helms-Burton Act -- Canada and Italy are there. When it comes to promoting freer trade all over the world -- the engine of prosperity for the coming century -- Canada and Italy are there.

And, of course, our similarities do not end there. We are also two countries that are emerging from deep valleys of long economic decline into a bright daylight of new hope and optimism. We are countries committed to change. Not fearing the future, as only a few years ago each of us did, but embracing it, and all its promise.

Not long ago, Canada looked to the world like a nation that would not measure up to these challenges. We were adrift. Caught in a downward spiral that we lacked the confidence to reverse.

When our government first took office four-and-a-half years ago, our deficit stood at $42 billion -- the highest in our history, and growing. Even worse, it measured in at 6 per cent of our GDP, and growing. And we were heavily dependent on foreign borrowing to finance our debt.

Our national unemployment rate was 11.4 per cent at the beginning of 1994. Our interest rates were stuck above those of our largest economic partner, the United States. In 1994, the World Economic Forum rated Canada number 16 in terms of international competitiveness, down from its number 5 position several years earlier.

And as if all that was not bad enough, the Wall Street Journal was saying that our fiscal and economic performance made Canada a candidate for membership in the Third World.

Now, fast-forward from 1993 to 1998.

In February, our government delivered a balanced budget -- the first in almost 30 years -- and the only balanced budget of any G-7 nation. And we announced that the next two budgets will be balanced -- the first time a Canadian government will have accomplished three consecutive balanced budgets in almost 50 years.

Our debt to GDP ratio is now on a permanent downward track. And we have implemented a plan to pay down the debt -- year after year after year.

In 1997, economic growth in Canada led the G-7. And forecasters say we will lead the G-7 again in 1998. More than one million jobs have been created since our government first took office in 1993. Our unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in almost eight years.

For the first time ever, our short and long term interest rates are lower than in the United States. In 1997, our competitiveness shot back up to number 4 on the World Economic Forum rating. And the Economist Intelligence unit now ranks Canada number three out of nearly 60 countries as a place to invest over the next four years.

We have fundamentally restructured government. We are taking a new approach. One of building partnerships. Partnerships with the provinces, with the private sector, and with non-government organizations, on everything from trade promotion to environmental standards. And these partnerships are working for Canadians.

Today, the international media is no longer consigning us to the Third World. Instead they use words like the "Maple Leaf Miracle" as Business Week did recently. Or "fiscal virtuoso," from The Economist. Or "Top Dog" in the G-7, a title The Financial Times of London awarded Canada just last week.

Today, Canada is poised on a new golden age of prosperity. Once again, we are a confident, constructive player in the community of nations and the global economy.

The credit for this turnaround belongs to the Canadian people, alone. To their courage. To their discipline. They insisted that we make the hard choices that were needed to put our fiscal house in order. To see the job through. And they are the ones who feel the deep pride of accomplishment. The sense that now, after that historic struggle, anything is possible. They are feeling a new confidence, a new optimism, and a rock-solid commitment to build on our fiscal and economic success. To ensure that never, ever again will we let our finances or our economy get out of control.

Our new priorities at home are a sign of that new confidence. And of our determination to ensure increasing standards of living for all Canadians as we enter a new century.

That is why, three months ago, we established the Millennium Scholarship Fund, which will help 100,000 Canadians a year attend universities, community colleges and vocational schools. That is why we established the SchoolNet program, which is linking every one our schools and public libraries to the Internet and to each other. When it is completed next year, Canada will be the first major industrialized country in the world to achieve a nation-wide school network. Cementing our world leadership in telecommunications.

Another key priority is trade. In Canada, 40 per cent of our GDP depends on exports -- more than any other industrialized country in the world.

Trade is vital to our jobs and our economic well being. And increased trade is essential to more jobs and greater prosperity. That is why we have been at the forefront of efforts to bring down trade barriers around the world. In the Americas and in the Pacific region, we have taken the lead in the drive for liberalized trade.

And we have been the first to call for a trade link between NAFTA and the European Union. An idea whose time may not quite have come. But which I believe will happen and must happen.

Canada is aggressively promoting trade in markets around the world. The Team Canada Trade Missions, which I have led with premiers of all of Canada's provinces and business people, have brought home billions in business agreements and helped create thousands of new jobs.

The trade mission we have brought to Italy this week, is another example of our commitment to increasing trade between our two countries.

The fact is that Canada and Italy should be doing more business together -- a lot more business. Two way trade between our countries is only $5 billion a year -- the same amount we do with the United States in just five days. Just not enough for the fifth and seventh largest economies in the world. The companies we have brought with us spotlight some of the areas of where Canadian know-how complements Italian needs.

In telecommunications. We have brought some of the best -- and some of the biggest -- telecommunications experts in the world. By linking Canada -- a huge country with a small population -- they have engineered and perfected the cutting edge of data and voice communications.

Our aerospace sector is also well represented. And it too represents tremendous opportunity. Not just to support and supply its dynamic counterparts here in Italy. But also to work together -- in partnerships and joint ventures -- to export and break into new markets in third countries. Combining our strengths. And bringing home new jobs and opportunities for people in both Canada and Italy.

We have also come to Italy with a hidden advantage. The 1.5 million Italian-Canadian community. Large, vital, and at the very centre of our national life.

The proof of that is in the 14 Members of Parliament of Italian descent or birth who have accompanied us on this trip. They include two ministers, Sergio Marchi, who is, appropriately, Minister of Trade, and the Minister of Public Works, Alfonso Gagliano. These parliamentarians are proof of the tremendous success story of Italian-Canadians -- a success unrivalled by Italian communities in any other nation.

But, along with the many Italian-Canadian business people in the trade mission, they are also representative of a new generation in Canada. A generation that you in Italy should know about. Their origins are Italian -- but they are firmly North American. With a North American attitude, with North American operations, with North American know-how. Many of them speak Italian. They understand Italy. They are a hidden asset we will not hesitate to use time and again to bring our countries -- and our economies -- closer together.

Ladies and gentlemen, I began my remarks this evening by speaking about our voyage of mutual discovery. I want to end them by talking about another voyage. One on which we have both embarked. The voyage into the unknown of a new Millennium.

I believe it is one voyage both our nations are ideally suited to go on together. As major economies. As middle powers. As countries joined by millions of personal links. And a history of shared experiences and values.

A voyage, ladies and gentlemen, as important as that voyage of Giovanni Caboto 500 years ago.