Address by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien On the Occasion of the Edmonton Leader's Dinner

December 3, 2002
Edmonton, Alberta

I am delighted to be here tonight in Edmonton. Accompanied by Anne McLellan and David Kilgour. I want to review for a few minutes tonight where we are as a country more than nine years after we first formed the government. But most important, I want to talk about our agenda. And in particular, health care and climate change.

The Canadian economy in 2002 is creating jobs faster than it has for decades. Interest rates and mortgage rates are very low. Personal disposable income has been rising for five years in a row.

The number of children living in low income families has dropped by 25 percent from 16.7% in 1996 to 12.5% in 2000.

The unity of the country is stronger than ever. We have become a very strong, very confident country.

During the recent global slowdown, our economy experienced only a brief contraction. But the American economy shrank in each of the first three quarters of 2001.

Not long after I became Prime Minister, the Wall Street Journal called Canada a candidate for Third World status. I admit to feeling very proud, one week ago today when the International Monetary Fund released a report on Canada.

It said: "On the heels of exceptional macroeconomic performance since the mid-1990s, the Canadian economy has remained remarkably resilient in the face of the global downturn. The economy's strong performance owes much to the sound policy framework and its skillful implementation. Canada's macroeconomic prospects continue to be favorable".

It is due in no small measure to our insistence on rock solid fiscal discipline. We have reduced taxes, paid down debt and balanced the books.

And we remain firmly committed to fiscal responsibility and balanced budgets.

But our Liberal agenda recognizes that this healthy balance sheet will only remain healthy if we continue to invest in our society: in learning, in health, in children and in the environment.

But the true test of enduring public confidence is not the difference we have made, but the difference we will still make - that we must make.

Because, my friends, we have a lot more work to do.

There are still too many poor families and poor kids. Who need a good start in life. They need the government to help.

Investment in people is both good economic policy and good social policy. Our future depends on providing the best possible opportunities for our children.

This is why we have committed in the last Throne Speech to further increase the National Child Benefit for low-income families, building on our reinvestments in recent years. And we will do so in our next budget.

The National Child Benefit is the product of federal-provincial co-operation. In fact, it was first proposed in 1996 at a meeting of Western Premiers. It is an example of what governments can do together.

And using the National Child Benefit as an example of co-operation, I am sure federal and provincial governments can work together on health and on climate change.

My friends, let me address now an issue which is of fundamental importance to Canadians. Health care. The first thing I want to say is how fortunate we all are that this issue is the responsibility of Anne McLellan. She has a well-deserved reputation of being able to work co-operatively with the provinces to achieve real results.

Ralph Klein has always been a positive force in these discussions. He has a style all his own. I guess I do too. And we work well together. Without Ralph Klein, we would not have been able to achieve 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.

Last week, Roy Romanow released the report of the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care. A very important milestone on the way to reform and long term sustainability of public medicare in Canada.

I want here tonight to congratulate Mr. Romanow on a job very well done. Not simply because he was on time and on budget. But because of the quality of his work, the breadth of his consultations, and the thoughtfulness of his recommendations.

We are studying the Report carefully. Reading it in the context of other reports. Anne McLellan is meeting with provincial health ministers this week. We are listening to stakeholders. And, I guess, I have to talk to the Minister of Finance as well!

But I can say that the Romanow Report sets out a comprehensive blueprint for public medicare for the 21st century. And I like much of what I see so far. It builds on the September 2000 health agreement of all First Ministers.

New investments have to focus on change. And results. Like assuring Canadians access to quality health care 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

That is what is meant by primary care reform. Like targeted home care for patients who have just been released from hospital. Like more and better diagnostic equipment. Like improved services for Canadians in rural and remote areas. Like addressing the cost of drugs. Like more accountability and transparency. And Alberta has been a leader in accountability.

I can make one promise here tonight. The Romanow Report will not gather dust on a shelf. We will move quickly.

Mr. Romanow's report, as well as the Senate Committee Report, the Mazankowski Report and various other provincial reports, will help governments develop a national approach for addressing Canada's health care needs.

Our government will do its part. We will devote our energies to work with the provinces over the next few weeks to develop a federal-provincial approach.

This is not a matter for partisan politics. It is no place to score political points.

Everyone knows that money alone will not solve our health care problems.

Everyone also agrees that a concrete action plan to modernize medicare and bring about significant long term change will require money.

If there is a plan to produce significant long term change, and if all governments agree on the plan, I can assure Canadians tonight, the necessary federal dollars will be there as well.

There will be a First Ministers Meeting in late January to agree on a comprehensive plan to modernize medicare. The meeting must be successful. It will be successful. Canadians won't allow their leaders to do anything less. The political price for any leader who blocks a successful meeting on health will be very high indeed.

And I can assure Canadians that after a successful meeting, we will be there with the federal share of the money to finance that long term plan.

Let me turn now to an issue of great importance to the future. The House of Commons is now debating the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

I know how difficult this issue has been in Alberta. But I also know that in the interests of future generations, it falls to this generation of Canadians to confront the issue. And it is a challenge that Canadians and Albertans are prepared to take.

Everyone recognizes now that the Accord will be ratified. What we have to do is make it work. And that is something industry and governments are working on together.

A made-in-Canada plan to achieve our Kyoto targets will only work if we have prospering, growing industries that will develop and apply the more efficient and lower emission technologies needed by the whole world to address climate change.

We will not sacrifice the Canadian economy and we will not put any undue burden on any region or sector of the economy in order to meet our target.

We have put forward the outline of a plan to move Canada towards its target. We have begun working with stakeholders and provinces to flesh out the details to ensure that it can be implemented in a way that meets the key criteria required for continued strong economic growth.

I came to Alberta in September. I listened to the oil and gas industry. I was told in no uncertain terms that investors and Boards of Directors need certainty about price and volume. We will give that certainty. And we will do so quickly.

We have already set out that the so-called heavy emitters will be responsible for no more than 55 megatonnes. Above 55 will be the responsibility of government. I hope that is clear enough.

The issue remains as to the best way to achieve compliance with the target. There are really two approaches. One that is more bureaucratic and better for lawyers and accountants. And another that is simpler for companies and projects. We are working with the industry to achieve the simplest possible solution. We will ensure that the effort sought from industry is effective, achievable, affordable and certain. And I believe that we can do this quickly.

We also have to achieve certainty on the price risk to cover any gap between actual emissions and the reduction target.

We have to establish the carbon price below which the industry assumes responsibility. And above which government assumes responsibility. Our plan commits to establishing that price certainty. In a manner that is affordable to industry and that is responsible for all Canadians.

We know that we have to finish our work quickly with the heavy emitters sector so that investors have the confidence they need to continue building the Alberta and Canadian economies. I am confident that trust and good faith on both sides will make this possible.

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 collaboration with Anne McLellan when she was Minister of Natural Resources 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. And I will not put the oil sands at risk. They are too important not only for Alberta but for all of Canada.

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 oil 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, seizing opportunities, putting aside the rhetoric. I am confident that Canadians can rise to the challenge.

- 30 -