To the Closing Joint Plenary Session of the Americas Business Forum and Free Trade Area of the Americas Ministerial Meeting

This idea heralds the positive affirmation of ownership and identity. A proclamation of distinctiveness. One that a good neighbour respects. For much of the history of the world, marking and maintaining boundaries has been a defining hallmark of statecraft. And it is true that protecting unique identities and values will always be an essential function of governments.

But in our increasingly "wired world." With the rise of a truly global economy and a global village. At the dawn of the 21st century, it is clear that good bridges make good neighbours.

This principle is at the heart of the process of mutual engagement that -- as never before -- is bringing the Americas together. Not just as a community of nations but as good neighbours. And with the theme – Connecting the Americas – the Fifth Americas Business Forum is very much in tune with the times.

Business people from across the hemisphere have come together to renew old friendships, make new contacts, exchange views and share insights with each other and with their Ministers of Trade. And for the first time, the Forum is considering the views of those outside the traditional business community. By staging a panel devoted to commerce and civil society for the new millennium.

This is an important innovation. I hope it becomes standard practice at future Forums.

In order to provide a hearing for the views of non-governmental organizations, academics and other members of civil society, Canada has also supported a parallel Civil Society Forum here in Toronto.

I was equally pleased to see that so many women entrepreneurs took part in the Forum. Bringing their unique perspectives to the issues on the agenda here. Canada strongly supports gender equality in the Americas and around the world. And we believe that we have a shared obligation to enhance the capacity of women to participate fully in political and economic decision-making.

I hope that future Forums will take their cue from this year's. And become even more inclusive. We could, for example, look for ways to tap into the energy and abilities of indigenous peoples and youth.

I am especially proud, as Prime Minister of Canada and a citizen of the Americas, that both the Business Forum and the Ministerial Meeting reflect the rich diversity that is a defining quality of my country and our hemisphere.

We must work together to protect this diversity. Recognizing that cultural goods and services are much more than mere commodities for sale. They touch on something more fundamental and intangible. Our identity

For this reason, Canada believes that all nations would benefit from rules that would permit them to maintain policies that preserve and promote cultural diversity. While, at the same time, respecting the rules governing the international trading system and ensuring markets for cultural exports. And it is our intention to pursue the idea of a new international instrument that would set out such rules.

I would like to thank Minister Pettigrew's cultural advisory group on international trade for their work on our proposal. Although it is still too early to tell what such an instrument will look like, we look forward to working with them, with other members of our cultural community, and with like-minded countries, to make this idea a reality.

Ladies and gentlemen, the ABF is but one aspect of a broader coming together of Canada and the Americas. That began with our joining the OAS in 1990. We look forward to celebrating the tenth anniversary of that decision when we host the OAS General Assembly in Windsor next June. We have been active in shaping the Summits of the Americas process. And I am looking forward to welcoming the democratically elected leaders of the hemisphere to Quebec City in 2001. As host of the first Summit of the new millennium.

Canada has truly become a nation not just in -- but of -- the Americas. Just as the Americas have affirmed a common and active identity.

During the past ten years, the embrace of democracy and free markets has transformed our hemisphere. As these values have taken deeper root, we have left behind the idea that we are connected only by geography. But are a community. A neighbourhood. United by shared values and common goals.

At the Santiago Summit, we pledged to work together to consolidate democracy, to promote and protect human rights and the rule of law and to address social inequity. We also re-affirmed that greater shared prosperity is an essential part of our vision. And with that in mind, we agreed to work towards a Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005.

Canada is proud to have been entrusted with the job of chairing the first round of negotiations. We have brought to it a belief in the social and economic benefits of freer trade that is firmly based on our own experience as a nation. We owe much of our prosperity and high standard of living to trade. Nearly forty percent of our GDP depends on it. So we know how vital it is to keep markets open. And we understand that access to markets must be backed up by regimes that are fair and transparent.

That is why we joined NAFTA . With our two other North American amigos, the United States and Mexico. It is why we have a free trade agreement with Chile. And why we invest such importance in the launch of a new round of global negotiations in Seattle later this month.

But we also value freer trade not as an end in itself. But as a means to a much more important end. That of building a better quality of life for our people. Of building instruments and making investments that enable them to realize their potential.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is both our vision and challenge. To improve the lives not just of the few, but of the many. To create conditions in which economies, held back by protectionism, can develop the capacity to produce, compete and prosper. We are also working together to strengthen democratic institutions and provide for the well-being of our fellow citizens.

Consolidating democracy. Improving the quality and the availability of social services. Protecting the environment. Ensuring access to education. These are challenges we all face. And challenges we must meet. As host of the next Summit of the Americas, Canada is keenly aware that we will be expected to provide leadership. And we will.

But even though we have been given the honour of leading the way, we know that we cannot go forward alone. This means we must build bridges and share experiences throughout the "gran familia" of the Americas.

We must all do our part. And as I look around me. I am very confident that we all understand the challenges we face over the next five years.

When we launched the FTAA negotiations last year in Santiago, we called for concrete progress by the end of the century. And we have started well. The business facilitation measures that should be approved tomorrow will produce real benefits throughout the region.

But it is only a start. There is still a lot of hard work to do.

The FTAA remains a cornerstone of our overall agenda of hemispheric stability and growth. When leaders gather in Quebec City, the basic features of an Agreement should already have taken shape. So that we can make any decisions needed to guide the process through the home stretch. For that to happen, our Trade Ministers must make clear their directions and expectations for the next 18 months of the negotiations.

As Canada now prepares to hand over the FTAA chairmanship to Argentina, I am sure that we will succeed. But I would also like offer a few words of advice to guide our thinking as we move ahead.

To reach our common goal, the process must be as transparent as possible. We must marshal broader support not just from experts, but from civil society. We must also allow all of the economies in the Americas to be full partners and beneficiaries. And take steps to provide the smaller economies with the tools they need to grow and prosper.

These challenges are not unique to the Americas. Indeed, what is true for the FTAA process must also be true for the next round of WTO negotiations. We must ensure that those negotiations also take place in a more transparent manner than has been the case in the past. We must reach out. And engage our citizens in what we are doing and why we are doing it. And governments and businesses have to ensure that the benefits of freer trade are better communicated to those who fear it will lower rather than raise their living standards.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a tall order. But I am convinced that the governments and the peoples of the Americas are up to it.

In the Summits of the Americas process, we have undertaken a project in which promise and ambition are well matched. I am confident not only that we will achieve an FTAA. But that we will continue to grow closer. In prosperity, democracy, diversity and security.

And that as good neighbours we will build good bridges.