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The Canadian Way in the 21st Century
Countries around the world are grappling with how best, in the 21st century,
to secure economic prosperity in an increasingly globalized society while at the
same time ensuring that no member of their society is left behind. They are
responding to the demands for changes in the traditional roles of government and
the need to engage civil society in modern governance. They are seeking new ways
to promote sustainable economic growth within an international community that
works to ensure a coherent approach to trade, the environment, labour, culture,
health, and education so that all can realize the human purposes and benefits of
globalization.
The leaders of a number of countries who share a commitment to progressive
government have launched an international dialogue to learn from each other
about what has worked and what has not to work together to build progressive
governance in the 21st century. As part of this process,
The success we have achieved as a nation
has come not only from strong growth but from an abiding commitment to
strong values - caring and compassion, an insistence that there be an
equitable sharing of the benefits of economic growth. |
Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of the Federal Republic of Germany has invited 16 heads of government to an informal meeting in Berlin on June 2–3, 2000, to discuss
"Progressive Governance for the 21st Century". At
the same time, experts from participating countries will hold a conference on
governance, civil society, and social and economic policies and will provide
leaders with the results of their deliberations.
This paper is an opportunity, first, to articulate Canada’s strategy to
achieve the highest quality of life for Canadians in the new global economy and
to promote our values internationally; and, second, to raise questions about our
shared challenges and our choices for the future.
The Canadian Way
We have established a distinct Canadian Way, a distinct Canadian model:
Accommodation of cultures. Recognition of diversity. A partnership between
citizens and state. A balance that promotes individual freedom and economic
prosperity while at the same time sharing risks and benefits. An understanding
that government can be an instrument of collective action — a means of serving
the broader public interest. The success we have achieved as a nation has come
not only from strong growth but from an abiding commitment to strong values —
caring and compassion, an insistence that there be an equitable sharing of the
benefits of economic growth.
These values are very much at the centre of more recent approaches to
governance that some call the "Third Way". As described by world
leaders such as Prime Minister Blair, President Clinton, and Chancellor
Canadians are, by virtue of history and
necessity, open to the world. |
Schröder, the Third Way is an approach to governance that stresses
technological innovation, a mixed economy, and education and learning as the keys to economic
opportunity and security. It represents a rediscovery of the
human purpose of the economy and a commitment to transform government to look
outward, to focus on results, to be centred on citizens.
We use the term, the Canadian Way, because Canada’s approach to these
issues can be traced to our origins and history. Canada’s founders made the
deliberate choice not to try to forge a single nation with one language but
instead created a framework of accommodation among French, English, and
Aboriginal peoples, joined by immigrants from all parts of the world. Canada has
become a post-national, multicultural society. It contains the globe within its
borders, and Canadians have learned that their two international languages and
their diversity are a comparative advantage and a source of continuing
creativity and innovation. Canadians are, by virtue of history and necessity,
open to the world.
Canada’s relatively small population dispersed across a vast and diverse
Canada’s legal framework and
history — its mixed economy, strong communities, bilingualism
and diversity, social safety net and system of medicare, and
recognition of global interdependence — contain the seeds of
what we and our friends are calling the Third Way. |
geography has forced us to be more self-conscious about community and
connections, from our early efforts to build a national transcontinental railway
to more recent innovations in satellite and Internet communications. Canada’s
frontier history, in which communities often faced challenging terrain and
climate, has no doubt fuelled its commitment to the environment, individual
initiative, social justice, and mutual responsibility. Canadians have always
preferred principled pragmatism over ideology.
Sharing a border and friendship with the world’s leading economic power
means that Canada has added incentive to strive to be at the leading edge of
economic innovation and to be equally innovative in preserving its distinctly
Canadian path, reflective of its values and diversity. This means the pursuit of
excellence in commerce, science and technology but also in the arts and
humanities.
Canada’s Constitution enshrines the values of "peace, order and good
government", capturing the traditions of accommodation, peaceful resolution
of conflict, the rule of law and democracy. Canada’s legal framework and
history — its mixed economy, strong communities, bilingualism and diversity,
social safety net and system of medicare, and recognition of global
interdependence — contain the seeds of what we and our friends are calling the
Third Way.
The Canadian Strategy
In the last decade of the 20th Century, Canada faced challenges
similar to many other countries. The government had to restore fiscal
sovereignty in order to regain the capacity to make choices for the future; it
had to revalidate government as a force for good while realigning government
functions to match fiscal capacity and the new realities of globalization and
social change; and it had to rebuild trust and confidence in government.
Increasingly, success in the global economy depends on human talent — our
ability to learn, to act and adapt quickly to new opportunities, to develop new
ideas, to make new discoveries. A comprehensive strategy seeks to ensure that
all citizens are included. A comprehensive strategy requires a commitment to
opportunity, diversity and inclusion; and equally to creativity, innovation and
the entrepreneurial spirit.
In 1994, the federal government announced its blueprint for change, "An
Agenda for Growth and Jobs", to bring the Canadian Way into the 21st
Century. It was and is an ambitious agenda. It is based on a clear recognition
of the challenges of globalization: polarization, marginalization and exclusion;
social fragmentation; environmental degradation; cultural homogenization; and
public disaffection with government. It is also based on a recognition of the
opportunities for those countries ready to seize them: enhanced trade and
investment, the potential of powerful new technologies, new partnerships, and
the global flow of information and knowledge to help us realize what we most
value.
The strategy reflects a clear vision of Canada, building on its strengths and
embracing the future. A society of excellence with a commitment to success.
Where prosperity is not limited to the few, but is shared by the many and where
every child gets the right start in life. Where young people have a chance to
grow and to be the best at whatever they choose to do. Where citizens have
access to the skills and knowledge they need to excel. Where citizens,
regardless of income, receive quality health services. Where families enjoy safe
communities and a clean environment. Where Canadians work together and with
other countries to promote peace, cultural diversity and the human purpose, and
the benefits of the new global economy.
Four documents released by the government in 1994 — "Creating a
Healthy Fiscal Climate", "Building a More Innovative Economy",
"A New Framework for Economic Policy", and "Improving
Social Security in Canada" — set out specific elements of the
strategy to enable Canadians and their governments, working together, to begin
to turn this vision into reality.
Over the past six years, the government has pursued this strategy, developing
and testing new ways to create and share opportunity, promote mutual
responsibility and modernize governance. Canada has taken major steps; much remains to be done. The strategy draws no artificial
A society of excellence with a commitment to
success. Where prosperity is not limited to the few, but is shared by the
many and where every child gets the right start in life. |
boundaries between social
and economic policy or, for that matter, between domestic and foreign policy.
Rather it is based on a commitment to realizing the human purpose of the
economy, domestically and internationally.
To address the challenges and seize the opportunities, we believe that
private economic growth has to be complemented by public investment. Governments
have to go beyond traditional welfare supports and provide active assistance to
help break the cycle of poverty and dependence. Governments have to recognize
the inevitability of interdependence domestically and internationally and turn
it to advantage. Governments have to find new ways to engage citizens.
Governments need to form coalitions to expand international trade and investment
in a coherent agenda that brings together financial, social, cultural, labour
and environmental issues.
The remainder of this paper describes the key elements of this evolving
strategy, what Canada is doing, and the challenges and choices for the future.
Shared Opportunity
Providing the Foundation for Economic Growth
Canada’s economic strategy is based on the premise that the purpose of
economic growth is to enhance the well-being of all Canadians. Without growth we
cannot realize this purpose. A strong economy is the indispensable foundation to
achieve the Canadian vision. The blueprint recognizes that the sequencing of
government action is crucial. The first priority had to be to achieve fiscal
health and begin to create the climate for sustained growth. On this foundation, through continued
fiscal responsibility and strategic investment in people and technology, the
government can help accelerate transition to the knowledge economy and ensure
that all Canadians have the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from economic growth.
By 1993, after decades of deficit budgets, service charges on Canada’s debt
It was clear to all Canadians that the first
priority was to establish a healthy fiscal climate. This had become an
imperative. |
were strangling government while the deficit was continuing to grow. High interest and inflation rates had discouraged investment and had harmed the
quality of life of Canadians. It was clear to all Canadians that the first
priority was to establish a healthy fiscal climate. This had become an
imperative.
By 1997, the federal deficit had been eliminated. Today, almost all provinces
have eliminated their deficits as well. The economy is now growing strongly and
Canada’s business environment is rated third in the world by the World
Economic Forum. Unemployment is lower than it has been in more than two decades
and the economy is creating jobs at an unprecedented rate. The net public debt
has been reduced from a peak of 71.2 percent of gross domestic product in
1997 to about 61 percent in 1999. It is projected at 50 percent by
2004 and will continue to drop. Most important, on a national accounts basis,
which is the measure used for international fiscal comparisons by the OECD and
the International Monetary Fund, Canada’s debt is now below 50 percent of
GDP and is continuing to drop. Canadians are more optimistic about the economy
and their own individual prospects today than they have been for a long time.
Canada’s success in eliminating its deficit can be attributed to three
major factors:
The result has been a massive transformation of the federal government.
Canada calls it "Getting Government Right"; others call it
"Reinventing Government". New partnerships are being
established, recognizing that no government can meet the challenges of the
future alone. Programs have been eliminated or devolved and new, separate
service agencies are being established so that the government can focus on
setting a new course. The government transferred its delivery of transportation
services to the private sector so that the government could focus on its
regulatory and policy role. It transferred labour market programs to the
provinces so that they could be more easily adapted to local conditions. An
extensive regulatory reform is reducing red tape and costs to business and to
citizens; regulations are being cut, self-regulatory models are being applied
and, where feasible and where accelerated services are required by business,
costs are being borne directly by the users rather than burdening all citizens.
Sound Public Finances
Restoring fiscal sovereignty and modernizing government were not achieved
Deficit elimination and debt reduction are not by themselves a vision for a country's future but without a firm
commitment to sound public finances and low inflation no such vision is possible.
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without costs to Canadians. Getting the fiscal house in order required difficult
and sometimes painful decisions. It required the deferral of actions in areas of importance.
But it restored the capacity of government to play an active and
positive role in helping to build the new economy and create shared opportunity.
Deficit elimination and debt reduction are not by themselves a vision for a
country's future but without a firm commitment to sound public finances and low
inflation no such vision is possible.
Sound public finances are necessary if we are to realize our values. But the
Canadian Way requires that sound fiscal management also be achieved in a manner
that respects those values. In this context, Canada’s governments made a clear
commitment to preserve their public system of earnings-related pensions, the
Canada Pension Plan, and make it sustainable for future generations without reducing benefits for current recipients. The financial foundation is being solidified
by shifting from pay-as-you-go to partial funding. Contribution rates
are rising more rapidly over six years than previously scheduled to prevent them
from having to rise even further in the long term.
A comprehensive strategy seeks not only to
create opportunity but to ensure that it is widely shared.
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The larger Canada Pension
Plan surplus fund that will result is being prudently invested in a diversified
portfolio of securities in the best interest of plan members by an independent
investment board at arm’s length from governments. In addition, a number of
changes have been made to the way benefits are administered and calculated to
moderate escalating costs.
Budgetary surpluses also create difficult choices, in particular, choices
about the right balance among debt reduction, tax reduction and social and
economic investment. Such choices are now faced by many countries. The choices
made necessarily reflect the values of a government and a country. The
Government of Canada has chosen a balanced approach, committing half of its
fiscal dividend to debt and tax relief and half to economic and social
investment for the future. A comprehensive, balanced strategy requires
investment, both public and private, in people, in knowledge and in technology.
A comprehensive strategy seeks not only to create opportunity but to ensure that
it is widely shared.
Tax Reductions
Lower taxes are an essential part of an economic strategy to provide jobs,
growth, rising incomes and a higher quality of life. In its tax reduction
measures, the government affirmed its commitment to a progressive income tax
system and chose to focus first on low- and middle-income Canadians. During the
years of deficit reduction, the government reduced Employment Insurance premiums
for employers and working Canadians and introduced targeted tax reductions to
increase real incomes for low-income Canadians and take large numbers of these
Canadians off the tax rolls. With the deficit eliminated, and debt coming down, the government
These and future tax measures will empower
Canadians to invest in their future and Canadian businesses will be better
able to compete in the global knowledge-based economy. But tax reduction
is only one part of the equation. |
this year introduced a five-year, broad-based tax
reduction plan. By the end of the fifth year of the plan, personal income taxes will have been
reduced by 22 percent and up to 30 percent for families with children.
Canadians will enjoy the full benefit of these reductions because of the
reintroduction of full indexation for inflation.
The tax plan also introduced measures to provide incentives for investment,
entrepreneurship and innovation and to help attract and retain the talent Canada
needs: reducing the corporate income tax rate for the highest taxed sectors,
reducing the tax rate on capital gains, allowing a tax-free rollover for capital
gains on small-business investments, and allowing the deferral of the taxation
of benefits from employee stock options.
These and future tax measures will empower Canadians to invest in their
future and Canadian businesses will be better able to compete in the global
knowledge-based economy. But tax reduction is only one part of the equation.
Accelerating the Transition to a Knowledge-Based Economy
In a global knowledge-based economy, market forces create both opportunities
and new disparities. Canada’s commitment to an inclusive society requires that
all citizens be able to participate, that none be excluded from opportunity. The
Canadian Way has four key elements: "Connecting Canadians" to the
information highway; investing in access to education and promoting excellence
in post-secondary education; investing in children and their families; and
developing active measures to help Canadians find and keep work.
Investments in the Information Highway
Marshall McLuhan, a Canadian, coined the phrase "global village"
before he could have possibly imagined how the Internet would indeed make the
world, a "wired village". The digital revolution will profoundly
affect business, government, society and citizen participation. It will
revolutionize the marketplace and society in ways that we can only dimly
perceive.
Canada has been investing in the information highway since 1994 and is
putting in place the legislative framework to protect intellectual property
rights and enable secure commerce. The goal of the Connecting Canadians
initiative is to make the information highway available to all Canadians — for
learning, for commerce, for creative expression and for communication.
As a key part of this initiative, the government is building a modern
communications infrastructure for schools. SchoolNet brings the Internet to
students and into the classroom as a vital learning tool. Computers for Schools,
a key to this strategy, is a partnership through which governments and
businesses make computers available to schools at no cost. Canada is the first country to have connected each one of its schools and libraries. Our next
objective is to ensure that each classroom is connected.In addition to connecting schools and libraries, the government is helping
the voluntary sector extend its reach through new technology. Through its Smart
Community project, the government is testing how access to the information
highway can enrich community life. The Community Access Program
is bringing rural Canada on-line by establishing Internet access sites in Canada’s rural
Getting Canadians connected — to each
other, to schools and libraries, to their diverse stories and voices, to
government, to the marketplace and to the world — is one of the keys to
establishing Canada as a world-leading economy, a country of opportunity
and excitement. |
and remote communities. Canada has set as its goal an inclusive approach to the
information highway so that all Canadians have access. Canada has also set as a
goal that Canadian businesses will have five percent of the world’s
e-commerce by 2003. The information highway holds real promise too for improving
government services to Canadians and for engaging Canadians in government. The
federal government has therefore committed to have all government services
on-line by 2004.
Canada has made significant progress towards its goal of being the most
connected country in the world.
Improving Education and Learning
The standard of living and quality of life of Canadians will depend directly
on our success in fostering knowledge creation and innovation and in maximizing
educational opportunity. This requires a commitment to inclusive access to
learning and to excellence in knowledge, research, and institutions of higher
education. How a government proceeds on this agenda will reflect its values and
will, to a large extent, shape the future of the country. Canada has made
considerable progress and much remains to be done.
The Canadian Way is to make education and learning a top priority,
recognizing their importance for opportunity and for citizenship. For its part,
the federal government is implementing measures to make it easier for families
to save from birth for their children’s post-secondary education. It has
introduced a sheltered education savings plan and is now providing grants to
families who invest in the plan. The government has also increased its support
for students in need to ensure that neither income nor family circumstance is a
barrier to access. It increased its education loans and grants for students in
need and those with young children. It is working with the provinces to
harmonize student aid programs and to ensure that aid is fully portable. And it
is implementing measures to help graduates manage the debt they may have
accumulated as students.
Recently the Government of Canada launched the Millennium Scholarship Fund,
establishing and endowing an agency which will, beginning this year, provide
100,000 scholarships per year to recognize and reward excellence and encourage
the brightest and the best to fulfil their potential. While a good start has
been made, student debt continues to be a problem and more must be done to
ensure fair and equitable access for all.
The government is also implementing a range of measures to encourage lifelong
learning for all Canadians, helping Canadians upgrade their skills throughout
their working lives by allowing tax-free withdrawals from tax-sheltered
retirement savings plans for lifelong learning and extending tax assistance for
education to part-time students.
Canada has the largest proportion of people with post-secondary education in
the world, but the demands of the knowledge economy are placing an increasing
premium on quality, not just the number of degrees but the quality of those
degrees. The future will demand access to education of the highest quality,
access
to excellence. And just as Canadian industries are in competition with
the world, so too are our researchers, universities, and colleges.
The government is therefore taking steps to promote excellence in education
and research. It has been implementing a plan to build a modern infrastructure
The future will demand access to education
of the highest quality, access to excellence. |
of universities and laboratories, to increase the amount and quality of
research, and to attract and retain the brightest and best scholars and
researchers. To these ends, it established and continues to build the Canada
Foundation for Innovation, which levers significant additional resources from
the private sector to build a modern research infrastructure in colleges,
universities and teaching hospitals.
The government is encouraging research in the sciences and humanities through
large increases to the Granting Councils, which provide the major support for
research in Canada’s post-secondary institutions. It has created the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research and doubled its funding for health research to
help Canada to become a world leader in this area. It has increased investment
in biotechnology and related scientific research. It has created and extended
networks of Centres of Excellence to ensure that knowledge and skills are
shared.
And, the government is now establishing 2000 Canada Research Chairs over the
next five years at degree-granting institutions across Canada to help them
compete for the brightest and best in an increasingly global market.
Investing in Children and Families
Inclusiveness does not begin at the post-secondary school level. One of the
challenges all countries must grapple with is ensuring that all children get a
good start in life and that families are given the support they need for the
healthy development of their children, so that they are ready to learn and to seize opportunity later in life.
Some argue that large,
While parents and families have the primary
role in raising children, governments have a responsibility to ensure that
the necessary supports are also in place. |
across-the-board tax cuts are sufficient. The Government of Canada has chosen a different path. While
parents and families have the primary role in raising children, governments have
a responsibility to ensure that the necessary supports are also in place.
The federal and provincial governments, therefore, established and continue
to strengthen the National Child Benefit, designed to combat child poverty by
helping to protect benefits for low-income parents who enter and stay in the
workforce. Under the previous set of uncoordinated welfare and federal child
benefits, parents could face a significant drop in benefits when deciding to
accept a job and leave welfare. The benefit strengthens and equalizes income
support to low-income families with children, while at the same time extending
improvements to the majority of families.
This important reform is allowing provinces to redirect welfare spending for
children to invest in more effective and active programs to help low-income
families break the welfare trap; for example, child care, supplementary health
benefits, early childhood services, and enhanced income support. The National
Child Benefit embodies several key characteristics of the Canadian Way: active
instead of passive income support; broad based, inclusive social programs that
serve low-income and non-poor Canadians together, rather than marginalizing the
most vulnerable; integration of income programs and a range of supporting
services; and reforms planned and implemented through federal-provincial
joint action.
Canada’s governments have agreed to build on this ground-breaking
initiative. In 1999, they released a framework to guide the efforts of all
sectors of Canadian society — Canadians, communities, employers and
governments — to better meet the needs of children. The framework focuses on
six priority areas: strengthening the family, early childhood development,
economic security, readiness to learn, adolescent development and supportive
communities.
For its part, the federal government launched a major new initiative to
double parental leave from its current 26 weeks to a full year to enable working
parents to choose to be with their young children. This will come into effect in
2001 and will have major and enduring benefits for children and their families.
Investment in Active Measures
A particular challenge for all countries is to find new and better ways to
bring the poor and marginalized into the mainstream. An inclusive approach
requires that all individuals and all regions have the opportunity to
participate, to share opportunity. Governments have an important role but they
must go beyond the traditional "welfare" approaches;
A particular challenge for all countries is
to find new and better ways to bring the poor and marginalized into the
mainstream. |
they must find new and better ways, new approaches that put greater emphasis on creating
opportunity, promoting responsibility and avoiding dependency.
The Government of Canada has reformed and continues to adapt the Employment
Insurance system, shifting emphasis to active measures to help the unemployed
acquire the skills and tools they need; and it is testing similar programs for
people with disabilities, youth at risk and Aboriginal people.
At the same time, Canada’s governments continue to provide support, through
welfare, employment insurance and other programs, to ensure that basic needs are
met. Through its progressive tax system, active measures and social safety net,
Canada has curtailed income polarization and marginalization and has therefore
avoided the worst social and economic costs of social exclusion. More must and
can be done, particularly with respect to Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, who do
not participate equally in Canada’s social and economic development. New and
better ways must be found both to promote opportunity and to ensure that the
basic needs of all are met.
Canada is therefore modifying its approach
to regional development, focusing on innovation, on excellence, on
private-public partnership, on infrastructure, and on youth. In the
knowledge-based economy, geography need not be a barrier to opportunity. |
In Canada, as in many other countries, disparities exist not only among
individuals but also among regions. There have been many different approaches to
regional development. None have been fully successful. Some approaches may
actually deepen dependency and inhibit structural reform. Canada is therefore
modifying its approach to regional development, focusing on innovation, on
excellence, on private-public partnership, on infrastructure, and on youth. In
the knowledge-based economy, geography need not be a barrier to opportunity.
Quality of life
The purpose of Canada’s economic strategy is to provide Canadians with a
high quality of life. But quality of life is not simply defined by opportunities
in the market. It also requires safe communities where people wish to live and
raise their families, where they can receive the health care they need, where
they can live without fear of crime or violence, where they can enjoy the
benefits of clean air and water and green spaces, where they can participate in
amateur sport, cultural activities and the arts, and where people of diverse
backgrounds and cultures participate and contribute together.
Investments in Health
Whatever their system of health, countries throughout the world are having to
deal with the rising costs of health care in the face of demographic change, new
technologies, advances in medical science and changing expectations.
Canadians attach great value to and take great pride in their public health
care system. Canada’s system of medicare guarantees access to essential health
services regardless of income or place of residence. It is part of Canada’s competitive advantage and essential to quality
of life. Canada’s governments
are therefore increasing their investment in core health services. They are also
taking steps to modernize the system and make it sustainable by investing in
health information systems, research and innovation, and particularly preventive
approaches. Preventive initiatives are building on efforts to improve prenatal
nutrition, food safety and the control of toxic substances. Steps are being
taken to foster innovation in rural and community health; to improve Aboriginal
health services; and to combat diabetes, the incidence of which is
particularly high in Aboriginal communities.
Canadians want assurances that their health
care system will be there for them and for their children. Canada’s
governments have no greater obligation than to work together with an
uncompromising commitment to universal access to essential medical
services of high quality; to develop common goals and objectives to bring
medicare into the 21st century; and to measure results, report
to Canadians on progress, learn from one another what works best and
invest for the future.
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Canadians want assurances that their health care system will be there for
them and for their children. Canada’s governments have no greater obligation
than to work together with an uncompromising commitment to universal access to
essential medical services of high quality; to develop common goals and
objectives to bring medicare into the 21st century; and to measure
results, report to Canadians on progress, learn from one another what works best
and invest for the future. Increasing global mobility, the spread of disease and
the emergence of new viruses will require international solutions as well.
A Healthy Environment
A healthy environment and a high quality of life go hand in hand. The
environment is of importance to all Canadians, but particularly to young
Canadians. Our generation will be judged on the environmental legacy we leave to
our children and grandchildren. This is a matter of very high priority for
Canada’s governments.
Legislation has been introduced to protect species at risk and their critical
habitat. The Government of Canada is extending Canada’s national parks system
and taking steps to ensure the ecological integrity of its parks and the
protection of its wilderness areas. And it is cleaning up contaminated sites to
protect the health of Canadians.
Our generation will be
judged on the environmental legacy we leave to our children and grandchildren.
This is a matter of very high priority for Canada’s governments. |
Canada is adapting existing technologies aggressively,
developing new
technologies strategically and exporting its technical products to contribute to
the health of the global environment and to contribute to economic growth in
Canada. Canada has set itself the goal of being a world leader in environmental
technology and science.
In collaboration with the provinces and municipalities, the government is
investing in green infrastructure to improve water and air quality. Canada is
adopting sustainable practices and encouraging our trading partners to do the
same. And the Government of Canada is leading a national effort — public,
private, federal and provincial — to meet its commitment to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, and it will work to achieve concerted international action on
climate change.
In the new global economy, not only are people connected more than ever
before, not only do businesses compete around the world as never before, but the
quality of our environment — the air we breathe, the water we drink —
depends not only on what we do in this country but also on factors beyond our
borders. Environmental quality is both a local and a global challenge; it
requires both national action and international partnerships.
Strong and Safe Communities
Strong communities and good government require engaged citizens, citizens who
take responsibility not only for themselves but for one another. Canada has
always benefited from a high level of community action, and Canadians take great
pride in their reputation for mutual tolerance, mutual respect, and mutual
responsibility. Indeed, Canada has been called a "public enterprise"
society because of its traditions of social responsibility. Its strong civic
base is reflected in relatively low and decreasing rates of crime and violence,
high rates of voluntarism and charitable giving, and a strong and active
voluntary sector. In times of rapid and persistent change, however, these bonds
among citizens and between them and their governments may become strained or
weakened at precisely the time that public enterprise must be resilient and
inventive.
Canada’s governments are working together to ensure that their communities
continue to be safe and that Canadians do not live in fear of crime. The
Canadian Way is a balanced approach in which offenders are held accountable for
their crimes; serious offenders receive
serious sentences; less serious
offenders, particularly young offenders, are helped to reintegrate into their communities; and prisons are a punishment of last resort.
Strong communities and good government
require engaged citizens, citizens who take responsibility not only for
themselves but for one another.
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Canada’s governments have intensified their efforts at prevention and
diversion to reduce the social and economic
costs of crime. Canada’s firearms
controls are among the most stringent in the world and new measures are being
implemented to control firearms, to ensure their safe handling and to prohibit
those most dangerous. Canada is also intensifying its community-based crime
prevention, tailoring programs to the specific needs of urban and rural
communities and engaging youth to help other young people at risk.
Globalization, however, has meant new threats to security — such as
computer crime; smuggling of people, arms and drugs; and exploitation of
immigrants and refugees. Recent events have shown the global consequences that
can arise from local mischief on the Internet. These issues will require
international solutions.
The most effective domestic approaches to crime prevention and strengthening
the quality of life in communities are those that focus on social development
and inclusion, engaging those at risk or on the margins of community life,
providing them with social and market skills and opportunities to contribute.
Canada’s voluntary sector plays a crucial role in reaching out to those that
government programs may too often miss.
Through a series of joint roundtables, the
government and the voluntary sector have set out a shared vision of how
this partnership can most effectively contribute to serve Canadians,
encourage charitable giving and promote volunteerism and citizen
engagement in public enterprise.
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The Government of Canada is therefore strengthening its partnership with the
voluntary sector. Through a series of joint roundtables, the government and the
voluntary sector have set out a shared vision of how this partnership can most
effectively contribute to serve Canadians, encourage charitable giving and
promote volunteerism and citizen engagement in public enterprise. The federal
government and the voluntary sector are developing an accord which will bring
this relationship into the 21st century.
Canada is also increasing support for participation in amateur sport,
cultural activities and the arts, and the preservation for future generations of
its rich cultural heritage. Sport, artistic and cultural activities are
important for connecting Canadians to their society and to one another. These
activities inspire creativity and a sense of humanity and citizenship and
provide some bearings in these global and changing times. The government is
introducing measures to promote creative expression across all media and to
bring historical and cultural content on-line.
In particular, it is taking steps to encourage youth to express themselves,
develop their creativity, participate in domestic and international exchanges,
and be exposed to excellence in the arts, humanities and sport. Young people are
typically at ease in the global, wired world, and can play a major role in
driving innovation. Canada is increasingly turning to young people to help
citizens and businesses learn how to access and effectively use new technologies
and the Internet. Governments will have to find new ways to engage young people
and place them at the centre of the action.
In a world where human development, quality
of life and economic prosperity are increasingly driven by knowledge and
creativity, who better to lead the way than our artists, writers, and
performers. And who better to lead the way than our youth, many of whom
are already more at ease than their elders with the rapidly
self-transforming world in which we all live. |
The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that Canadians have
Canadian choices. To help connect our people to the diverse Canadian experience
and to support and promote our rich talent. Canada has an unprecedented
opportunity to ensure that its creative artists have new avenues for expression.
That all Canadians have access to diverse Canadian stories, voices and images.
In a world where human development, quality of life and economic prosperity
are increasingly driven by knowledge and creativity, who better to lead the way
than our artists, writers, and performers. And who better to lead the way than
our youth, many of whom are already more at ease than their elders with the
rapidly self-transforming world in which we all live.
Modern Government
The Canadian Way of governing requires that all citizens have the opportunity
to help shape government priorities and directions. The Government of Canada has
recognized that the legitimacy of public institutions, the quality of public
policy, and the responsiveness of public services will require new and better
mechanisms for engaging citizens and civil society in governance. For example,
the government has used citizen juries to achieve a consensus declaration on
climate change. It has used study circles to bring citizens and decision-makers
together to recommend action in immigration and health policy. The government
also recognizes the need to engage citizens in distant communities and, in 1998,
launched the Canadian Rural Dialogue, which resulted in a long-term action plan which will address the
special needs of
A challenge for all governments is to find
innovative ways to put citizens at the centre of the governing process, to
engage youth in public enterprise, and to give voice to those who find
themselves on the margins.
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citizens living in rural and remote
communities. A challenge for all governments is to find innovative ways to put
citizens at the centre of the governing process, to engage youth in public
enterprise, and to give voice to those who find themselves on the margins.
Key to reconnecting governments to their citizens is greater transparency and
accountability in how government operates. All of Canada’s governments are
developing new ways to measure and report on performance and results. The
Government of Canada is introducing new approaches to performance measurement
and results reporting across all departments and agencies. Performance reports
are provided to Parliament and made public to ensure that citizens can make
informed judgments about the performance of their government. Performance
information is also crucial to help governments to learn and to adapt and modify
their policies in the light of the evidence on what works and what does not.
The federal and provincial governments are also adopting new citizen-centred
approaches to service, publicly setting out service standards, providing
mechanisms for complaint and redress, and using new technologies to make
services available in a way that is relevant to citizens. The Government of
Canada made its commitment to have its services on-line by 2004 so that citizens
will be able to access its services at a time and place of their choosing.
Canada’s governments are working together to strengthen their federal
system, to find effective ways to manage interdependence in the interest of
citizens, to work together whenever this makes sense and to identify new ways to
be more transparent and accountable. Initiatives such as the National Child
Benefit demonstrate the strength of the federal system, which allows governments
to bring their different strengths together in common purpose while also
affording the flexibility to tailor programs and services to meet provincial or
local needs.
Canada’s system of federalism provides an increasing advantage in the
global economy, allowing the interaction of global and local issues,
accommodating diversity and providing a natural laboratory for testing new ideas
and bringing those that work best to all Canadians. In 1999, Canada’s
governments agreed to adopt a more collaborative approach to federalism, making
the commitment that, in areas of shared responsibility or interest, they would
jointly develop objectives and indicators to measure and publicly report on
progress, exchange best practices and learn from one another. The key to this
new agreement is the commitment of all governments to report to
Canadians on
their
Initiatives such as the National Child
Benefit demonstrate the strength of the federal system, which allows
governments to bring their different strengths together in common purpose
while also affording the flexibility to tailor programs and services to
meet provincial or local needs.
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performance, to allow Canadians to make informed judgments and to
participate more fully in the federal-provincial dialogue.
The future will increasingly demand excellence in government policy,
administration and services. Governments too will have to attract and retain the
brightest and best in an increasingly competitive market, and they will have to
be representative of the increasingly diverse population they serve. Attracting
and retaining the talent they need will be a significant challenge for all
governments.
The government is taking concrete steps to build its policy capacity, to
strengthen its ability to discern broad trends, to develop long term scenarios
and options, and to identify innovative approaches and solutions. The
government's Policy Research Initiative devotes resources to long term policy,
to help build policy capacity in government departments and to encourage
academics and think tanks to help government define its challenges and choices
for the future. The Government of Canada has also put added emphasis on
restoring pride in public service and on recruitment, retention and learning to
ensure that the public service continues to attract, keep, and develop people
who can provide excellence in government.
Governments will also have to find new approaches to strengthen
private-public partnerships and to promote corporate responsibility domestically
and internationally. Mutual responsibility requires that all sectors of society
contribute to the betterment of quality of life.
Global Opportunity
Canada’s international voice draws on its distinct advantage as a
multi-cultural society where people have roots in virtually every country in the
world. Canada is surrounded by three oceans and is therefore an Atlantic,
Pacific and Arctic country. Canada belongs both to the Commonwealth and La
Francophonie and Canada speaks in two international languages. Canada is a
trading nation, a vigorous promoter of investment. And Canada speaks to the
world through the values that can be traced to our origins of "peace, order
and good government". Canada’s foreign policy is the mirror image of its
domestic policy. In the post Cold War world, foreign policy can more easily
look beyond relations
Canada’s international voice draws on its
distinct advantage as a multi-cultural society where people have roots in
virtually every country in the world.
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between states to the needs of people, needs that
transcend borders — addressing the human side of globalization, human
security, cultural diversity and human rights.
Canada continues to play a disproportionate role in conflict avoidance,
peacekeeping and peacebuilding, largely because Canadians understand readily
that the more people are safe and secure in their countries, the more Canadians
too are safe and secure. Canada continues to work with international
non-governmental organizations to promote human security, human rights and
peace, building on the landmark convention banning anti-personnel mines. Similar
approaches will be necessary to control the spread of small arms and migrant
smuggling. Canada and its partners in the United Nations recently achieved new
rules preventing the recruitment of child soldiers, and Canada continues to
advocate the International Criminal Court so that perpetrators of atrocities are
held to account.
Canada is also promoting a more inclusive and coherent rules-based approach
to free trade, anchored in the WTO, as perhaps the major vehicle to achieve
shared opportunity globally. Trade and investment are essential for a strong
Canadian economy.
The trading relationship with the United States is the most important element
of Canada’s international economic relations. NAFTA has extended this
relationship to Mexico.
Through its membership in APEC and its leadership role in the Summit of the
Americas, Canada is committed to expanding free trade as an essential means of
building greater prosperity in a global economy.
Globalization means increased wealth, expanded opportunity and improved
well-being for Canadians and the citizens of other developed countries. Some are
not so fortunate — indeed, there has been little improvement in the absolute
number of world citizens living in dire poverty. If developed countries want to
continue to secure the advantages of globalization for themselves, they must
help those that are excluded to benefit as well. That is the challenge for all
of those who believe in progressive governance.
If developed countries want to continue to
secure the advantages of globalization for themselves, they must help
those that are excluded to benefit as well. That is the challenge for all
of those who believe in progressive governance. |
For its part, Canada is committed to promoting sustainable growth for all
nations through enhanced trade. This requires reducing debt and freeing up
funding for productive expenditures, ensuring appropriate regulatory structures, and developing the capacity to benefit fully from the trading system. Canada is
a driving force to reduce the oppressive debt burdens of the poorest nations, in
concert with the international financial institutions, and is a prime mover in
the work of the G20 to promote international financial stability and greater
transparency.
But financial order is insufficient to allow developing nations to benefit
from globalization. Canada is, particularly through the G8, encouraging the
development of social policies to protect the vulnerable in economic hard times.
To this end, it is promoting greater coordination, among the WTO, international
financial institutions and UN agencies, to provide debt relief to allow
countries to concentrate on productive expenditures, develop social safety nets
and better integrate trade into development. It is also tailoring development
assistance programs to help build developing-country capacity for economic and
social development, as well as to respond to urgent humanitarian needs.
Canada’s approach is to
support greater policy coherence at the international level, to address
not only the economic, but also the social, environmental, health, and
cultural consequences of globalization. |
Canada’s approach is to support greater policy coherence at the
international level, to address not only the economic, but also the social,
environmental, health, and cultural consequences of globalization. All governments will have to meet the challenge of building an international agenda that is coherent and governance structures that are more transparent and that
engage civil society domestically and internationally.
Challenges and Choices for the Future
Taking the Canadian Way into the 21st Century will require
innovation and excellence in government, partnerships of common purpose and a
focus on citizens at home and throughout the world. The federal government is
proposing for Canada and Canadians clear goals and a vision of a modern Canada
in which:
- Canada is the most inclusive country in the world, where
opportunity is shared among all Canadians and all regions;
- All children get a good start in life so that they will be ready to
learn and seize opportunity later in life;
- Canada’s economy is growing strongly and all sectors of the
economy are harnessing the power of new technologies and global trade and
investment;
- Canada is the most connected country in the world, a leader in the
knowledge economy, and has five percent of the world’s e-commerce
by 2003;
- All Canadian classrooms are connected to the Internet;
- All Canadians have equitable and affordable access to an education
of the highest standards of excellence;
- Canada is the world leader in research and science in key strategic
areas;
- Canada’s poor have the tools they need to enter the mainstream
and the basic needs of all Canadians are met;
- Canada’s Aboriginal peoples have the tools to participate in
Canada’s economic growth;
- All Canadians have access to essential medical services of high
quality, and Canada is a world leader in health research and information;
- Canadian citizens continue to enjoy clean air and water and green
spaces, and Canada’s rich wilderness and habitats are preserved;
- Canada is a world leader in environmental technology and science;
- All Canadians can participate fully in Canada’s economy and in
its diverse and culturally rich communities without fear of crime or
violence, prejudice or hate;
- Young Canadians have the tools and can seize the opportunity to
drive innovation and growth;
- Canada’s artists and creators have the opportunity to express
themselves, and Canadians have access to Canadian choices;
- Government services are available to Canadians on-line, Canada’s governments are collaborating in the interests of all Canadians openly and
transparently, and citizens are at the centre of governance; and
- Canada and other liked-minded countries build a coherent
international agenda of shared opportunity and inclusion.
It is a plan for people, for
opportunity, for excellence, for success, for a high quality of
life, for mutual responsibility and mutual respect, for creativity
and innovation — an ambitious vision for an ambitious country. |
Sharing Opportunity
This is a modern project for a modern society, the project of a
forward-looking country. Not old solutions to the problems of today, but new
plans to meet new opportunities; to ensure that the opportunities of all of
Canada are available to all Canadians; to ensure that Canadians shape their
future in the Canadian Way. It is a plan for people, for opportunity, for
excellence, for success, for a high quality of life, for mutual responsibility
and mutual respect, for creativity and innovation — an ambitious vision for an
ambitious country.
Canadians’ way of living together, their way of working out problems, of
respecting and taking responsibility for each other — this Canadian Way — is
the way ahead for this even smaller globe in the century ahead.
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