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Address by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien on the Occasion of
the Calgary Leader's Dinner
September 18, 2002
Calgary, Alberta
This is my first chance to be in Calgary since my announcement at our
National Caucus in Chicoutimi. And while I have a lot of work to do in the next
17 months, I cannot help but reflect with satisfaction on the fact that my
tenure as Leader of the Liberal Party began here in Calgary 12 years ago.
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the people of Calgary for the
incredible job you did on the Kananaskis G8 Summit. You set the standard for
balancing civility and security at major international summits allowing me and
my G8 colleagues, and the world, to focus on the important work we did on behalf
of Africa. You did Calgary and Canada proud.
I have always said that a strong economy is the essence of a strong society.
We have worked very hard as a government since the first day we took office. Who
would have said at that time that today we would be outperforming the United
States.
This is no accident. It is due to the hard work of Canadians.
During the recent global slowdown, our economy experienced only a brief
contraction in the summer of 2000. But the American economy shrank in each of
the first three quarters of 2001. Between the second quarter of 2000 and the end
of 2001, our economy grew at a rate five times faster than the United States.
Between the second quarter of 2000 and the second quarter of this year, our
standard of living, as measured by GDP per capita, rose 3.3 % compared to a drop
of .5 % in the United States. In the first eight months of this year, our
economy created 386,000 net new jobs. Even in absolute numbers, more new jobs
have been created in Canada this year than in the United States.
Our budget remains in balance. The United States budget is in deficit. Our
current account is in surplus. The American current account is in deficit.
Impressive statistics. Hard won gains. Made possible by the support and
sacrifice of our citizens. And by our insistence on rock solid fiscal
discipline. And I want to assure you tonight that our government will never make
commitments that drive Canada back into the red.
We will continue to balance our budgets. And we will keep the debt to GDP
ratio on a firm downward track.
But we also have to make forward-looking strategic investments. Just as
Alberta does. It was Peter Lougheed, for example, who created the Alberta
Heritage Trust Fund to help foster world class research facilities. And the
Alberta government today invests heavily in science, in education, in health.
Albertans are today reaping the benefits of these wise investments. Indeed,
Calgary is not only the oil capital of Canada it has become a magnet for new
economy jobs and investment.
Our government is doing the same thing on a national scale with our emphasis
on innovation, research and development, through the Canada Research Chairs,
through the Canada Foundation of Innovation and through the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research.
But the true test of enduring partnership and public confidence is not the
difference we have made but the difference we will make —that we must make.
Not what we have done together, but what we will do.
And, my friends, we still we have a lot more work to do.
Our agenda for this session of Parliament recognizes that our healthy fiscal
and economic balance sheet will only remain healthy if we continue, as well, to
make strategic, long term investments in our social and economic infrastructure:
in learning, in children and in the environment.
As soon as we began to balance the books, we began to address other pressing
deficits. The social, environmental and infrastructure deficits that are still
very real and are preventing Canada from achieving its full economic and social
potential. In our Throne Speech, and in the coming months, we will make
significant commitments to reduce these crucial deficits even further.
My friends, we will make significant new announcements and progress to
improve the life chances of our First Nations. In general, Western Canada, and
especially Alberta, may be doing well economically. But Aboriginal Canadians are
not. And they are a fast-growing part of the labour force in Western Canada.
They remain an untapped source of skills and economic potential.
You will see significant additional action on children in poverty and
ensuring a good start in life for all.
You will see significant additional action, within our own jurisdiction, to
build an urban infrastructure that makes our cities a magnet for talent and
investment.
Jane Stewart and Allan Rock are engaging all Canadians in building our place
in the knowledge economy, in improving our research and development performance
and in promoting skills and learning development. You will see significant
additional action in this area.
We will introduce a significant public sector ethics package, which will have
transparency as its watchword and which can serve as an example to the private
sector.
Modernizing our health care system remains a major part of our 21st
century agenda.
I appointed Roy Romanow to make recommendations on a high quality public
health care system for all Canadians for the 21st century. He will make
recommendations in November. After that, I will hold a First Ministers Meeting.
And then we will act.
Ralph Klein has always been a positive force in these discussions. Without
him, we would not have achieved a consensus among First Ministers on Health in
September 2000. And I know I will be able to rely on Ralph Klein -- the dean of
the Premiers -- again when we meet in the New Year.
Climate change is a crucial part of our agenda.
I want to address very clearly tonight what our approach to climate change
means. And, equally important, what it does not mean.
I know that some might suggest that the chill in this room produced by the
mere mention of the word Kyoto is powerful enough by itself to reduce global
warming. But in all seriousness let me start with some fundamentals with which
we all agree.
First, we all agree that the health and well being of future generations
requires the world to collectively address the issue of climate change. How we
address it may be open to debate. But not whether we address it.
Second, we all agree that it will take effort and resources to be successful
and that without a strong economy and a proper climate for investment those
resources will simply not be available. So we cannot, must not and will not,
put our economic prospects and future at risk
Third, as Canadians, we all agree that we must act in Canada in a manner that
is responsible and equitable. That distributes the burden and the risk equitably
across sectors of the economy and across regions of the country: between
producers and consumers; between individuals and businesses; between citizens
and governments.
Fourth, we all agree that the technologies required to successfully address
climate change bring with them fantastic economic opportunities. We should
maximize for Canada the benefits of developing new environmental technologies.
Let me now turn to some of your concerns in Alberta.
There is a lot of rhetoric that Kyoto is a dagger aimed at the heart of the
Alberta economy. That is simply not true. I know that the so-called heavy
emitters in the energy sectors -- in the utilities and in manufacturing -- have
expressed very serious and legitimate concerns.
I brought some of the most senior officials in the government with me today
from Ottawa to be part of a meeting I had this afternoon in Calgary some of the
leaders of industry to hear their concerns. I assured them that our
consultations with them over the next several weeks, led by the Deputy Minister
of Natural Resources, will be intense, real and productive. I reaffirmed that we
can -- and must -- work together in good faith. These consultations will have a
major impact in the plan we produce before the vote in Parliament later this
year.
Let me speak personally for a moment.
I take great pride in the economic achievements of Canada since I became
Prime Minister. I will not put them at risk. I take great pride in my personal
participation both as a Minister in the 1970s. And as Prime Minister in the
development of the Oil Sands. I will not put that at risk. I take great pride in
seeing a dynamic and growing Alberta economy which is of benefit to all of
Canada. I will not put that at risk.
I know that how we approach the implementation of our Kyoto obligations must
take into account the importance of the natural resource sector for the Canadian
economy. And it must take into account our place in the North American economy.
We, as a country, have chosen a multi-lateral approach for addressing climate
change. I strongly believe that in this, as in other areas, the world is less
well served by unilateralism. I regret the decision of the United States not to
ratify Kyoto. But the fact that the United States is not ratifying Kyoto does
not mean that the United States is doing nothing. It does not mean that we
should do nothing. The Americans are acting nationally and at the state level.
In many respects, California is leading the world in addressing climate change.
I do not pretend that achieving our climate change objectives will be easy.
It will not be. We have ten years to meet our obligations under the treaty. But
we can make progress together. There are many good ideas: from industry, from
provincial governments including the government of Alberta. That will take us a
long way toward meeting our obligations. Technology will take us further.
We are working very hard to put in place the plan I referred to earlier. A
plan that will reduce uncertainty for business and for investors. A plan that
will meet our environmental responsibilities while taking into account the views
of the most affected industries.
The plan may not answer every single question. No plan can do that. It will
be adjusted if necessary as we learn and work together. No business in a market
economy operates in a completely risk free environment. I recognize that our
Kyoto obligations add to the uncertainty you face. Our job is to work with you
to minimize that uncertainty.
That we will do. We will give assurances as to how much cost and risk each
sector of society will be asked to bear. And we will also address some fears by
giving assurances of what actions we will never take.
My friends, let me draw an analogy with the development of the Oil Sands. The
Oil Sands would never have gone ahead if their developers had been pre-occupied
only by immediate quarterly earnings. They had the vision and confidence to look
ten, twenty and thirty years ahead. They were prepared to take risks. They
gambled that new technologies would be developed to extract oil profitably.
Technologies that did not exist when they began.
Companies developing the Oils Sands have become world leaders in
environmental technologies. They have made great progress in reducing carbon
emissions. And they know they can, and will, do better.
The Oil Sands are a Canadian success story because their developers took
risks, dreamed large and believed in their responsibility for future
generations. And they succeeded beyond their wildest expectations. What has been
achieved in Alberta in Oil Sands production, Canada can achieve in climate
change reduction.
Working together, expanding our horizons, putting aside the rhetoric, I am
confident that Canadians can rise to the challenge. We will meet our targets --
responsibly -- in the best interests of the economy, the environment and future
generations.
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