Reception at the Hôtel de ville de Paris

It is a great honour for us this morning to be able to begin our official visit to France at the City Hall in Paris.

Over the years, we have built a history together, a history of cooperation that has greatly contributed to the growth of our two peoples. Our cities, our institutions, our countries are facing new challenges which call for a reorganization of our resources, new efforts, and, above all, creativity and imagination.

Mr Mayor, the unique ties that history has forged between our citizens are clear to see. Because of that deep-rooted attachment, many networks have been developed over the years in all areas of human activity. Those networks will be very useful for dealing with the many challenges we face today.

Of those challenges, employment, especially among young people, is certainly one of the main concerns that we share.

Part of the solution lies in our ability to expand our economic and trade cooperation. This is an important theme, which I will have the opportunity to talk about on several occasions during my visit. I have just completed, with a great deal of enthusiasm, the third Team Canada tour to Asia. This was the largest economic mission in Canada's history, involving almost all the premiers and some 450 businesspeople. Asia is a region of the world that is currently experiencing rapid economic growth, and where French and Canadians may work together.

During my visit to Paris in December 1994, I used the forum provided to me by the Senate to promote a strengthening of the economic and trade ties that unite us. At that time, I proposed that we look together at ways of boosting trade between our countries and liberalizing trade between Europe and Asia.

My proposals were initially received with some scepticism, but have since made headway and received solid support in France, elsewhere in Europe, and in the United States. In fact, I am pleased to note that our governments have set the objective of increasing, and indeed doubling, bilateral trade by the year 2000. Liberalizing trade and eliminating tariff and non-tariff barriers is a key part of the Action Plan Canada signed, with France's support, with the European Union on December 17.

We must remember, however, that economic development must also be environmentally friendly. That is another challenge that we must take on with determination. This is especially true for our major cities, which must ensure their citizens' quality of life. I know that you share that concern, Mr Mayor. At a time of often drastic budget cutting, our major centres, such as Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Lyon and Vancouver, are experiencing difficulties in cleaning up the environment.

How can we reconcile environmental protection with boosting urban economic activity, which is often a source of pollution but also of prosperity for our citizens? How can we ensure high-quality services at a reasonable cost to taxpayers? How can we ensure collective well-being while respecting individual freedoms? The answers to these questions are not easy, but they increasingly lie in less polluting technological innovations. We owe it to our municipalities and rural communities to encourage increased cooperation between Canadian and French researchers and companies to form strategic alliances to ensure sustainable. Cooperation is already occurring but needs encouragement at the political level.

Another challenge we face is urban safety. More and more, large cities are facing an escalation in gratuitous violence, and, in some cases, the horrors of indiscriminate terrorism. A painful example is the recent attack in the Paris subway. Innocent people were wounded and lives were lost, including Canadian lives. That tragedy well illustrates the fragility of our community life in large cities, the fragility of liberty and fate. Together, we must find solutions to ensure the safety of the global village, without turning it into an armed camp. The freedom and pleasure of strolling along the banks of the Seine or shopping on St. Catherine Street in Montreal are part of that quality of life that we must preserve.

With respect to international cooperation, it is noteworthy that your predecessor, Mr Jacques Chirac, and the former mayor of Quebec City, Mr Jean Pelletier, jointly founded in 1979 the Association internationale des Maires francophones (A.I.M.F.). The Association has since gone on to become a very effective decentralized network for cooperation.

A.I.M.F. provides a framework for rich and poor cities to help one another, share their expertise and pool their resources. I am pleased to note that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is involved in urban cooperation projects in the southern hemisphere, particularly in Africa.

The Francophonie is another example of productive international cooperation. In May, Montreal will host a major Francophone conference on the information highway. And, after Hanoi, we hope to see Moncton host the next Francophone Summit in 1999. Canada and the participating governments of Quebec and New Brunswick are strongly committed to the Francophonie, and we are pleased with the more political role the organization will be called on to play in the future.

Mr Mayor, your city is an example of co-existence, tolerance, and generous openness to the world. Paris has always been an international benchmark in many areas of human activity, such as art, science, architecture and gastronomy. It is also a beacon of respect for individuals and their basic values. It is the cradle of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and still embodies that ideal of humanity.

In conclusion, Mr Mayor, and in keeping with tradition, allow me on behalf of Canada to pay homage to Paris and its leaders.