Prime Minister Harper Addresses BC Legislature
February 18, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Prime Minister Stephen Harper made the following remarks today at the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia:
“Mr. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, The Honourable Bill Barisoff; Premier of the Province of British Columbia, The Honourable Gordon Campbell; Leader of the Opposition, The Honourable Carole James; Distinguished Members of the Legislative Assembly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is an enormous pleasure to be here with you today, at this moment of great celebration for your province and our country. I’ve often said that the best thing about being Prime Minister is the unparalleled opportunity I have to travel the length and breadth of this land and to meet the wonderful people who call it home.
“Today, in these travels, I am undertaking a first. In all the years since 1871 when British Columbia made that momentous decision to join the new Dominion and truly make it a country from sea to sea, no Prime Minister has ever formally addressed this great Assembly. And I want to thank the Speaker of the house for providing me with this special opportunity. All of you do me, and your country, a great honour.
“So here we are in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. British Columbia. Canadians from coast to coast to coast have known you for decades by the slogan on your licence plates: ‘Beautiful British Columbia.’ It is no exaggeration. The natural beauty is almost always the first thing people notice about this province when they arrive.
“The famous Canadian historian and essayist, Stephen Leacock, put it rather well a long time ago. Describing his maiden trip to B.C. in his book, My Discovery of the West, he recounted a question that had been posed to him at a Canadian Club function in Vancouver: ‘[I was asked] why I had never visited the province before. I [said] that, like so many other people, I had never come to it because I didn’t realize how wonderful it was. If I had known what it was like I wouldn’t have been content with a mere visit. I would have been born here.’
“B.C.’s unmatched beauty and its promise of a better life have never lost its power to enchant and to enthrall and to draw ever more newcomers to its sparkling Pacific shore. It began with the myriad nations of our First Peoples whose spirit has animated this land for thousands of years. It continued with the great explorers:
John Finley, Simon Fraser, Alexander Mackenzie, David Thompson – those who sought to connect it to the wider economic forces of the continent.
“It captured the imagination of the generation of adventurers who travelled enormous distances when gold was discovered on the Fraser River. And it was in Craigellachie where the last spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway – the single most important nation-building project in the history of our country was driven. And, ladies and gentlemen, British Columbia is still calling out, now to all the peoples of the world.
“From a sparsely populated outpost of our country, B.C. has become the third-largest province boasting one of the most cosmopolitan and liveable cities on Earth, still growing fast and leading Canada’s way into a new century that will be defined by the opportunities in the Asia-Pacific, for which British Columbia is Canada’s Gateway.
“How the generation of 1871, John Foster Mccreight, Amor de Cosmos and all the rest, must marvel at the British Columbia of 2010 – the British Columbia with the talent and the energy and the capability to host huge, world-class events like the Olympic Games that will be opened tomorrow. Events like these have a significance beyond themselves. They serve as historic markers of where a community is going, of how its people see themselves.
“For instance, to visit British Columbia and Vancouver even now is to be reminded of Expo ’86. Most of you will recall that World’s Fair and what it meant at a time when Asia was beginning to demonstrate its capacity to become a future economic powerhouse. That event put your province and our country on the map of the Pacific. That World’s Fair showcased this part of our country and we all remember the surge in investment and population that followed.
“But, it also changed British Columbia. British Columbia became bolder, stronger, possessed of the shining confidence that is the consequence of success, and so necessary to scale even higher summits. Now, you are calling the world back once again and in even more spectacular fashion. During the Olympic and Paralympic Games, sixty-eight hundred athletes and team officials, ten thousand reporters and a quarter-million spectators will gather in Vancouver and Whistler. By any measure, these are remarkable gatherings. Yet, a mere recitation of the numbers hardly does them justice. The 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games have been an unparalleled organizational and logistical undertaking. They will be simply the most ambitious sporting event ever held on Canadian soil.
“The work of the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee, in conjunction with its partners at all levels of government, is itself a feat worthy of the ancient Olympiads that these Games honour. Like the earlier Expo, this is a tremendous accomplishment. And also like it, we cannot yet know how these Games will change us all or what their legacy will be. But we do know this, ladies and gentlemen: British Columbia has made enormous strides in the early years of the 21st century. It has grown exponentially, gathered economic strength and become more important in Confederation than at any time in our history.
“And it is not hard to predict that, in some distant year, when British Columbians reflect upon these Games, you will see them as an affirmation of what you have achieved and as your point of departure into a new and exciting era. On behalf of the Government of Canada – and indeed all Canadians – I’d like to thank everyone involved in the organization of the 2010 Olympic Games and those who have supported them, including you right here in this Chamber, for a job well done – For a job very well done!
“I also want to tell you that all Canadians are proud to be partners in these Games. Be it in the form of venue infrastructure, legacy funds, cultural events or the essential security arrangements, all Canadians – through the Government of Canada – have made the investments needed to ensure a world-class event.
“Because while Vancouver and Whistler may be the staging grounds of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, let there be no doubt, as Premier Campbell said himself in December when we welcomed the Olympic Flame to Parliament Hill – ‘these Games are Canada’s Games.’ For, ladies and gentlemen, while British Columbia will have on display during these Games everything of which you are so proud, the thing most visible, once our national teams and athletes appear on the stage will be B.C.’s greatest attribute and its great asset, that is, that British Columbia is part of Canada.
“It is all of Canada that will be cheering our athletes on. It is all Canadians, from Cape Race to Nootka Sound, to the men and women standing on guard at Alert in Nunavut, who will be glued to their television sets, not just cheering for our athletes but feeling with them every step of the way.
“In this great striving among the nations that is no less serious or determined for being undertaken in a spirit of goodwill, Canadian athletes will create the yesterdays that we shall all savour in our tomorrows, the stories of which we shall remind each other, the feats of courage, commitment and fair play that we shall offer to our children and our children’s children as examples when they ask: ‘what does it mean to be Canadian?’ And then we shall feel that warm glow of pride, as we should, as Canadians.
“Patriotism, ladies and gentlemen, patriotism as Canadians should not make us feel the least bit shy or embarrassed. I know that thoughts of grandeur and boisterous displays of nationalism we tend to associate with others. And, over the centuries, things have been done around the world in the name of national pride or love of country that would have been better left undone. Yet, we should never cast aside our pride in a country so wonderful in a land we are so fortunate to call home, merely because the notion has sometimes been abused.
“There is nothing wrong, and there is much that is right, in celebrating together when our fellow citizens, perceiving some splendid star high above us willingly pay the cost and take the chance to stretch forth their hands to try to touch it for that one shining moment. For, no good thing is without risk, no ideal can be reached without sacrifice. Ask any Olympian who wears the Maple Leaf. But that Maple Leaf, we must remember, symbolizes more than just the athletes who wear it symbolizes the country we love.
“It symbolizes the Canada, our Canada that has shown during this global recession and will show during these Games that it can compete and win against the very best. The Canada – our Canada – where those other citizens who wear the Maple Leaf – our Armed Forces – serve, never for conquest and advantage, but simply to spread our gifts of freedom, democracy and justice to make the world a little safer and a little better; as they are doing in Afghanistan, and to give some hope to others and to rescue our fellow citizens; and as they have done so spectacularly in Haiti. That Canada – our Canada – that has given so generously to Haiti, not because we think we will gain some power or some return, but because our country is at its heart compassionate and generous, not only with our fellow citizens, but with our fellow human beings as well.
“And we recognize this, not to claim that our Canada is perfect, but when we have done wrong, and we truly have on occasion – the Chinese head tax and the Indian residential schools – we have tried to learn from those wrongs and to make amends. And, that, my fellow Canadians, learning from our history, we have discovered is the better way to build our country. It has made us history’s benefactors instead of its prisoners.
“Canada, our magnificent land, to which we are welcoming the world, not just for the Olympic Games, but as part of our very identity. Because all nations, when they come here will already find their brothers and sisters among us – Canadians who have arrived from every corner of the planet and continue to come to put aside old quarrels and to embrace a common future together.
And so, when we, in our national anthem, ask God to keep our land glorious and free, we mean all of us – all men and women who choose to be Canadians of equal worth, not just in his eyes, but in each other’s. Canada, our Canada is truly worthy of our pride and our patriotism.
“So let us hold our flag high at our embassies and our aid bases, our outposts and our vessels, our stadiums and our venues, even our homes, during these Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Games. But not just for these Games, also for the G-8, the G-20, the North American Leaders’ Summit, the visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and any other great occasion, not only as a symbol of how appreciative we are for all we have, but also as a sign of welcome to the world.
“Let it be a cheerful red and white reminder of a quiet and humble patriotism that, while making no claims on its neighbours, is ever ready to stand on guard for itself.
We will ask the world to forgive us this uncharacteristic outburst of patriotism, of our pride, to be part of a country that is strong, confident and tall among the nations.
“And we will let our flag wave here in British Columbia – Beautiful British Columbia – over the podium of the 2010 Winter Games. This truly is British Columbia’s Golden Moment. And it is also Canada’s time to shine.
“Thank you, and God bless Canada.”
Prime Minister Harper Addresses BC Legislature
More than a Job: The essential role of the trades in building Canada’s future prosperity
February 2, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you, Senator Fabian Manning, for your warm introduction, and for all you do everyday on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. Greetings to Minister Peter MacKay, and a warm welcome to Elizabeth Marshall, our new senator, great to have you on the team. And thank you, Rhonda Neary, for the invitation to speak at this Association’s annual conference. I understand you’ve been enjoying a very full program, and I appreciate that you were able to accommodate me this afternoon.
One of the best things about being Prime Minister of Canada, the best job, by the way, in the world’s best country, is that I have had an unparalleled opportunity to travel the length and breadth of our land, meeting the people who call it home. Many times, I’ve visited Vancouver, where these days they are busy with final preparations to welcome the world as host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. I’ve also been up to Alert in Nunavut, the northernmost outpost of human existence, and the front line of our nation’s defence of our Arctic borders. And of course, I’ve spent plenty of time here in Atlantic Canada, where proud provinces preserve unique cultures, unique in our country, unique in the world.
Throughout these travels, it is always a particular privilege for me to meet folks who work hard every day, not just for themselves and their families, but indeed, for all their fellow Canadians.
Your membership represents one such group of people. For more than forty years, the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Association has been the voice of construction professionals all across the province. You are the tradespeople who, quite literally through sweat and toil, build and maintain the country we all love.
As you know, our government is relying heavily on the skill and know-how of Canadian construction professionals like yourselves during this time of worldwide recession.
A year ago, the world economy was in virtual free-fall. In the face of the worst global recession in half a century, our government launched Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our response to protect our economy and Canadian jobs.
Recognizing that the best and quickest way to get Canadians back to work, while at the same time building our country up for future success, is by investing in infrastructure projects, our Plan does just that. Through targeted and temporary stimulus, our Plan has been creating jobs now, when they are needed most, encouraging immediate economic activity in every part of Canada.
In executing the first phase of the Plan, the importance of the men and women of the construction industry here in Newfoundland and Labrador, and throughout the country, cannot be overstated. And as we prepare to launch the second phase, that role will become no less essential.
I’m sure that more than a few of you in the room today are already involved with some of the infrastructure projects we are funding right here in Newfoundland and Labrador. That includes the over 50-million dollar boost our Action Plan has given to our small craft harbours, at places like Heart’s Content and Jerseyside. It includes the repair and restoration of federal buildings throughout the Province. It includes work at Memorial University and the College of the North Atlantic. It includes work to increase the availability of local affordable housing. And it includes the additional hundreds of millions of dollars for ongoing rehabilitation and construction on the Trans-Canada and the Trans-Labrador Highways.
I know whatever the role you have been playing in these projects, it has been executed with the expertise and capability that has become the hallmark of this Association’s membership.
I would also like to highlight the strong cooperation between our government and the provincial government in identifying and prioritizing stimulus projects.
Building on this progress, Minister MacKay and Senator Manning announced this morning that through our Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada is providing funding to a further nine road improvement projects and two bridge rehabilitation projects right here in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to say our Plan is working, and your efforts are already paying off. Housing sales and prices are rising. Auto sales are increasing.
Consumer demand is up. Employment is stabilizing.
In fact, we had some very good news this morning from Statistics Canada: the Canadian economy grew for the third month in a row. As I was just saying yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the recovery is still fragile, but, one step at a time, we are making our way back up.
So, we have our eyes set to the horizon, to what’s ahead for Canada. We are also focussed on creating the jobs of the future. That’s why our government has been investing heavily in employment and training programs for the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. And we are paying special attention to the trades. Because we believe that in the years to come, Canada is going to need hundreds of thousands of skilled tradesmen and women.
And all of the data on the emerging labour force of the next few decades suggest that if construction professionals consistently embrace innovation and new technologies and stay current with their expertise, they should have long, busy and successful careers.
Given this demand, our government has made it somewhat of a mission to encourage talented, ambitious young people to consider a future in the trades.
To that end, we’ve introduced some practical incentives including: an Apprenticeship Grant to reduce the cost of schooling, a Job Creation Tax Credit to reward employers who hire apprentices, a Red Seal completion bonus and a Tools Tax Credit to assist tradespeople with the cost of tools.
Ladies and gentlemen, I sense a feeling of optimism in this room, a feeling that despite the global recession and the associated challenges, you all still believe in the opportunities available in this Province and in our country.
Our government understands that building the future of Canada is very much in the hands of construction industry professionals like yourselves. And this is no mere lip service. The work you do every day has far reaching effects. You are responsible for creating and sustaining Canada’s next generation of highways, harbours, schools, and housing – all the facilities that all Canadians and all sectors need to keep our country strong and growing.
Your work is real, it is concrete, and it is essential. When hammer meets nail, shovel meets earth, the fruits of your labour truly enrich the lives of all people in this great country.
Yours is more than a job. More than a career even. With your hands you are building Canada’s future prosperity. And for that, on behalf of all Canadians, I offer heartfelt gratitude.
Thank you.
More than a Job: The essential role of the trades in building Canada’s future prosperity
Recovery and New Beginnings
January 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today gave the following address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland:
“It’s great to be here in Davos and to have this opportunity to contribute to your discussions on some of the vital issues confronting the world today. Some of them are complex and they may, at times, seem abstract. But for ordinary men and women everywhere, the substance of what we talk about here translates into simple realities like a home, food on the table, or a better life for their children. So, it’s an important debate that we’re delighted to be part of.
“I should like to welcome some other members of the Canadian delegation, my friends and colleagues, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan, also Governor of the Bank of Canada Mark Carney. Welcome all of you, thanks for being here.
“I’d also like to take a moment to offer my personal congratulations to Professor Schwab on this, the 40th annual gathering of your creation, the World Economic Forum. You chose as its motto, ‘Committed to improving the state of the world.’ Few who have set off with such a lofty goal have more reason to be pleased with their accomplishments.
“To have conceived of the need for such an institution as this required insight. To have established it took commitment. But to have then nurtured it as a podium from which business and political leaders could nudge public policy by addressing their peers from around the world – that is a formidable achievement. Professor, this gathering salutes you.
“Professor, while it has been a long time since the first meeting of this Forum four decades ago, our circumstances today have something in common with the world of 1971. Economies then were in turmoil. The institutions governing international finance were failing the test of crisis. And wherever one looked around the world, there was trouble.
“So it is today. This latest crisis hit as the world was already grappling with enormous challenges: large current account imbalances, ageing populations in advanced economies, violence, terrorism and, of course, the eternal problems of poverty and underdevelopment. There’s always something. But, we must never stop trying to ‘improve the state of the world.’
“Therefore in June, when Canada hosts the leaders of the G-20 and G-8, in Toronto and Muskoka respectively, our goal is to work with our partners towards practical, durable solutions. In the next few minutes, I want to share some principles that will guide the Government of Canada — and hopefully the discussions at these summits — under our theme: Recovery and New Beginnings.
“Let me first talk about the G-20, which, at Pittsburgh, we officially designated as the world’s premier forum for economic cooperation.
“In that role it will stand or fall on its ability to demonstrate in the months to come the same cooperative spirit it has shown over the past year. I am hopeful.
“Beginning in Washington in November 2008, G-20 leaders have responded to the systemic financial collapse and the global recession with quick, decisive and coordinated action. At the London Summit in April 2009, these measures were expanded, with a particular emphasis on the most vulnerable states, so that in Pittsburgh, the seeds of a new era of balanced, sustainable growth were planted.
“If I may be indulged in a personal recollection, what I saw at the Washington Summit made a huge impression upon me. Nations whose interests have been often at odds, nations with different traditions of governance — rivals, even former enemies — found themselves addressing common problems with a common will. In this globalized economy, they recognized that a flood engulfing one would soon swamp them all. So, even though these twenty-some leaders all represented sovereign states, they agreed to common, synchronized actions to chart the same course toward calmer waters.
“Ideological differences were set aside. Old enmities were not raised. Indeed, if you had arrived from another planet you never could have guessed which nations had spent decades mired in hostility. You might call it the fellowship of the lifeboat.
“But ladies and gentlemen, in that brief parting of the veil, I saw world leadership at its best, a glimpse of a hopeful future — one where we act together for the good of all. The world we have been trying to build since 1945. The world we want for our children and grandchildren. It can be done if we act together. This is ‘enlightened sovereignty.’
“I believe our understanding in Washington allowed us to avoid the cataclysm that otherwise really would have come to pass. But an agreement to act is just a start. It is acting on the agreement that matters.
“So, when the G-20 resumes in Toronto, the discussion should be less about new agreements than accountability for existing ones. Less about lofty promises than real results. Less about narrow self-interest in sovereignty’s name, than an expanded view of mutual-interest in which there is room for all to grow and prosper. Enlightened sovereignty, then, the natural extension of enlightened self-interest.
“To be succinct, the real test of the G-20 going forward, is that it develops and sustains among its members a sense of shared responsibility towards the global economy.
“For while the market’s awesome power to generate and widely distribute wealth is self-evident, we also know markets need governance. For the new global economy, the G-20 is what we have.
“Now, as we work through the final stages of recession and embrace recovery, there are three critical areas where G-20 actions have been and will remain vital: financial sector reform, stimulus programs, and global trade and growth strategies.
“Let me begin with reform of financial sector regulation. This has been a focus since Washington because, after all, that sector’s failures and the transmission of its contagion globally are widely acknowledged to have triggered the crisis.
“As many of you know, Canada was not a part of the problem. Canadian banks had maintained healthy leverage ratios and largely avoided exposure to toxic assets. No major Canadian financial institutions failed and none required bailouts from the government. As a consequence, Canada now has one of the largest banking sectors in the world, and it is entirely in the private sector.
“I should just note that reputable observers have noted this Canadian advantage. This year, as last, your own eminent organization, the World Economic Forum, and more recently Moody’s Investors Service, both ranked Canada’s banks as the world’s soundest.
“The International Monetary Fund has commented that Canada’s financial sector has shown ‘remarkable stability amid the global turbulence, thanks in good part to strong supervision and regulation.’ This is undoubtedly part of the reason that Canada took on co-chairmanship of financial sector regulatory reform at the first G-20 in Washington.
“Canada has maintained good, active systems of prudent and measured regulation. We do not claim, by the way, that our system is perfect. The lack of a single national securities regulator is an obvious hole. The vast majority of our provinces are now working with us to fill that gap.
“We have also been obliged to tighten the criteria for government mortgage insurance. But overall, the performance of the sector during this crisis showcased the effectiveness of Canada’s approach through our G-20 chairmanship this year and we want to urge the adoption of similar regulatory practices globally.
“I believe the Canadian system generally does two things that should guide future work in this area. First, we must promote national regulation sufficiently strong to avoid repetition of the kind of crisis we experienced last year.
“We also believe that such national systems should be subject to international peer review in order to enhance transparency and reduce risks to the global economy. Anything less would expose every economy to needless risk. In fact, if inadequate regulation is not addressed, I believe the consequences could actually be worse than before this crisis.
“If, after a period of renewed stability, institutions are able to return to the irresponsible practices that caused the crisis, what would they have learned? A very bad lesson: that is, that reckless behaviour can be engaged in because national governments will ultimately backstop the consequences.
“And, that, ladies and gentlemen, would be a very dangerous precedent. Obviously, then, financial sector regulation must be tackled and it must be adequate. But, second, Canada also believes that financial sector regulation must have the right purposes and must not be excessive.
“Let me just say that I understand why there are calls for such an approach in some circles. In situations very different than Canada’s, where big bank failures resulted in public bailouts, where the public endured the pain, yet those who caused it seemed to emerge unscathed, there is understandably public anger and demands for tough or even retaliatory measures.
“In Canada, because our situation has been so different, we don’t face such demands and public opinion is much more reflective about what is needed. Our approach to financial sector regulation, while historically much more activist than in many other countries, has been to not micromanage the affairs of a complex industry.
“Its purpose is to ensure transparency in the marketplace, help link risk, performance and reward, and encourage a culture of prudent behaviour focussed on the long term.
“So, to be clear, through the G-20, we will be encouraging strengthened financial sector regulation and improved coordination between regulators. But Canada will not go down the path of excessive, arbitrary or punitive regulation of its financial sector.
“Canada has a well-regulated, free-market economy with a private financial sector of enormous strength. We intend to build on that advantage. We intend to see the financial sector in Canada grow. And we intend Canada’s global position in that industry to get stronger yet in the future.
“The second ongoing G-20 policy priority has been to drive globally-coordinated stimulus measures, both monetary and fiscal. We believe it is important to stay the course, but only for now. It remains my conviction that fiscal expansion, enhanced government spending and increased fiscal deficits were necessary during the recession.
“In fact, with rapidly falling output and employment and interest rates near zero, economic theory was clear — this was the only option.
“The temptation today to see hopeful signs of recovery everywhere in small things is understandable. So then would be the wish to declare recovery and abandon last year’s commitments to these expensive public investments. We believe that would be a mistake. The truth is that despite the G-20’s good work during the last 15 months, the recovery is a mile wide, but only an inch deep, and job creation remains very tentative.
“But, while it is absolutely too soon to abandon stimulus programs, it is no longer too early to start thinking about a strategy to exit them. We all know the long-term risks of prolonged government spending of this magnitude: renewed inflation, rising interest rates, crowding out of investment and prolonged sluggish economic performance.
“This view informs our own economic planning. Canada will therefore complete its two-year Economic Action Plan, its fiscal stimulus measures, in support of its economy. We shall faithfully meet all promises made at earlier G-20 meetings.
At the same time our next budget will outline a path to reduce our deficit and return to balanced budgets in the medium term.
“We will be doing this from levels of deficit and debt that are, by comparison with other advanced industrialized economies, quite modest. We have the lowest level of indebtedness in the G-7, by far. When the recession ends, our relative levels of indebtedness will still be lower by an even wider margin. This is because Canada paid off debt aggressively during the growth years.
“In passing, I must observe that this recommendation of John Maynard Keynes is seldom acted upon as vigorously as his permission to borrow. In this regard, Keynesianism is a bit like Communism: according to those who advocate it, neither has been properly attempted. Thus governments borrow when times are difficult, because they must. Then they borrow more when times are easy, because they can. But instead, true Keynesians that we are accused of being, our government paid $38 billion off Canada’s national debt between 2006 and 2009.
“This, incidentally, is what allowed us to lower taxes in Canada. We believe it is important that taxes be low, and that tax reductions be sustainable. That way, they become a permanent form of fiscal stimulus. In an environment of falling debt, we were able to lower taxes of all kinds. In fact, Canada has the lowest rate on new business investment in the G-7. Investors, take note: Canada is, and will remain, open for business.
“Finally, let us talk about global trade and growth strategies. I suspect every single person here understands that the growth in global trade has been largely responsible for wealth creation worldwide in the past generation. And, therefore, enhancing trade and resisting protectionism are both essential to the world economy, and to the just cause of raising millions from poverty. The G-20 has said this at every meeting.
“Of course, there have also been national actions that detract from this goal. Even so, we have thus far avoided anything like the protectionism that turned the stock-market crash of 1929 into a decade-long depression.
“In Canada, we have tried to be leaders in promoting free trade and open markets. Our stimulus package did not raise tariffs, it lowered them unilaterally, I might add. Since 2006, we have concluded free trade agreements with eight additional countries and we are engaged in six other negotiations, including with the European Union. We will continue to resist protectionism and work to reduce or eliminate tariff barriers.
“However, at Pittsburgh last year, the G-20 went beyond merely advocating for trade and against protectionism as a basis for promoting global growth. We established what we christened the Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. Much of what the Framework prescribes takes us in the right direction.
“I speak especially of consensus at the macro level on the causes of the recession and the mutual commitment among G-20 members to coordinate their policies. However, this is where G-20 partners must embrace enlightened views of sovereign behaviour. Otherwise we will pursue strategies that do not produce mutual advantage and therefore cannot be sustained. ‘Drop your tariffs, I’ll keep mine.’ Or
‘Let your currency trade at market rates, we’ll keep ours undervalued.’
“We should know from the terrible experience with trade in the 1930s that strategies that make it more difficult for somebody to do business inevitably make it more difficult for everybody to do business. So I say, notions rooted in a narrow view of sovereignty and national self-interest must be reconsidered.
“We cannot do business as though for one to have more, another must have less. It is not true. It is not just. And therefore it cannot be the path we take.
“Our ambition — the necessary condition for success as the G-20 moves forward —must be a shared belief that the rising tide of recovery must lift all boats, not just some.
“This is the exercise of sovereignty at its most enlightened. And I don’t believe, by the way, that this is all about the structure of global institutions. It is more a matter of attitude.
“Some words of the former U.S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, seem apt. As you know, Hull was a driving force in the creation of postwar international institutions that are with us still: the UN, for instance, and the World Bank. Accepting the 1945 Nobel Peace Prize for his work, he had this to say about international institutions: ‘to be sure, no piece of social machinery, however well-constructed, can be effective unless there is back of it a will and a determination to make it work.’
“It doesn’t matter what global structures we devise for our mutual betterment, if we don’t have the right global attitudes, they will not work.
“Ladies and gentlemen, with the G-20 necessarily focussed on the economy, there remains an important role for the Group of Eight nations in non-economic matters, in promoting democracy, development, peace and security.
“In this troubled world, we clearly recognize how much else there is that requires international cooperation. Terrorism threatens all of us. Piracy has returned to strategic seaways. Climate change disproportionately threatens the peoples least capable of adapting to it. And although tensions between the older nuclear states have largely dissipated, the spread of nuclear weapons to new actors allows the world no relief from anxiety.
“These complex daunting threats cannot be met by any one country working alone. They require the close cooperation of friends and like-minded allies. On these,
The G-8 can show leadership. As an example, let us close with something where progress is possible, if we are willing.
“It concerns the link between poverty and the appalling mortality among mothers and small children in the Third World. Did you know that every year over half a million women die in pregnancy and nearly nine million children die before their fifth birthday?
“The numbers should shock and grieve us. Far too many lives and futures have been lost. And to the world’s shame, so many have been lost for want of relatively simple health solutions, all well within reach of the international community. Often the keys of life are no more sophisticated than clean water or the most basic treatment against infection. That so little has been done is tragic. It is not just words on a page. It is real hunger, real suffering, real people dying.
“Canada takes its development commitments seriously, including those made at the G-8. That, for example, is why we have doubled aid to Africa and are on track with our commitment to double our international assistance this year.
“So what is required to fight this particular problem of human misery? It is merely the same unity of purpose that we can find within ourselves readily enough when disaster strikes, as it recently did in Haiti. Or, as we can and do, when the problem is one of trade, finance or the economy. We must find that unity of purpose.
“That is why, as president of the G-8, Canada will champion a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world’s most vulnerable regions. There are indications that other members of the G-8 share our concern and would be receptive to such a proposal. It is therefore time to mobilize our friends and partners to do something for those who can do little for themselves, to replace grand good intentions with substantive acts of human good will.
“In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, the G-20 and G-8 meetings have before them a huge agenda, all to be addressed in an atmosphere of ongoing global economic and financial uncertainty. We must bring a sense of shared responsibility. We must be pragmatic, focussed, and above all, encourage accountability. The G-20 nations must fully deliver on the commitments they have made. The Group of Eight must live up to their promises.
“Accountability, ladies and gentlemen, is the prerequisite for progress. As host of the G-8 and G-20 meetings this June, Canada will use its leadership role to focus on these key challenges. And I look forward to collaborating closely with our international partners as we continue to support the economic recovery and chart new beginnings for humanity worldwide.
“Thank you.”
Recovery and New Beginnings
January 30, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Prime Minister Stephen Harper today gave the following address at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland:
“It’s great to be here in Davos and to have this opportunity to contribute to your discussions on some of the vital issues confronting the world today. Some of them are complex and they may, at times, seem abstract. But for ordinary men and women everywhere, the substance of what we talk about here translates into simple realities like a home, food on the table, or a better life for their children. So, it’s an important debate that we’re delighted to be part of.
“I should like to welcome some other members of the Canadian delegation, my friends and colleagues, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan, also Governor of the Bank of Canada Mark Carney. Welcome all of you, thanks for being here.
“I’d also like to take a moment to offer my personal congratulations to Professor Schwab on this, the 40th annual gathering of your creation, the World Economic Forum. You chose as its motto, ‘Committed to improving the state of the world.’ Few who have set off with such a lofty goal have more reason to be pleased with their accomplishments.
“To have conceived of the need for such an institution as this required insight. To have established it took commitment. But to have then nurtured it as a podium from which business and political leaders could nudge public policy by addressing their peers from around the world – that is a formidable achievement. Professor, this gathering salutes you.
“Professor, while it has been a long time since the first meeting of this Forum four decades ago, our circumstances today have something in common with the world of 1971. Economies then were in turmoil. The institutions governing international finance were failing the test of crisis. And wherever one looked around the world, there was trouble.
“So it is today. This latest crisis hit as the world was already grappling with enormous challenges: large current account imbalances, ageing populations in advanced economies, violence, terrorism and, of course, the eternal problems of poverty and underdevelopment. There’s always something. But, we must never stop trying to ‘improve the state of the world.’
“Therefore in June, when Canada hosts the leaders of the G-20 and G-8, in Toronto and Muskoka respectively, our goal is to work with our partners towards practical, durable solutions. In the next few minutes, I want to share some principles that will guide the Government of Canada — and hopefully the discussions at these summits — under our theme: Recovery and New Beginnings.
“Let me first talk about the G-20, which, at Pittsburgh, we officially designated as the world’s premier forum for economic cooperation.
“In that role it will stand or fall on its ability to demonstrate in the months to come the same cooperative spirit it has shown over the past year. I am hopeful.
“Beginning in Washington in November 2008, G-20 leaders have responded to the systemic financial collapse and the global recession with quick, decisive and coordinated action. At the London Summit in April 2009, these measures were expanded, with a particular emphasis on the most vulnerable states, so that in Pittsburgh, the seeds of a new era of balanced, sustainable growth were planted.
“If I may be indulged in a personal recollection, what I saw at the Washington Summit made a huge impression upon me. Nations whose interests have been often at odds, nations with different traditions of governance — rivals, even former enemies — found themselves addressing common problems with a common will. In this globalized economy, they recognized that a flood engulfing one would soon swamp them all. So, even though these twenty-some leaders all represented sovereign states, they agreed to common, synchronized actions to chart the same course toward calmer waters.
“Ideological differences were set aside. Old enmities were not raised. Indeed, if you had arrived from another planet you never could have guessed which nations had spent decades mired in hostility. You might call it the fellowship of the lifeboat.
“But ladies and gentlemen, in that brief parting of the veil, I saw world leadership at its best, a glimpse of a hopeful future — one where we act together for the good of all. The world we have been trying to build since 1945. The world we want for our children and grandchildren. It can be done if we act together. This is ‘enlightened sovereignty.’
“I believe our understanding in Washington allowed us to avoid the cataclysm that otherwise really would have come to pass. But an agreement to act is just a start. It is acting on the agreement that matters.
“So, when the G-20 resumes in Toronto, the discussion should be less about new agreements than accountability for existing ones. Less about lofty promises than real results. Less about narrow self-interest in sovereignty’s name, than an expanded view of mutual-interest in which there is room for all to grow and prosper. Enlightened sovereignty, then, the natural extension of enlightened self-interest.
“To be succinct, the real test of the G-20 going forward, is that it develops and sustains among its members a sense of shared responsibility towards the global economy.
“For while the market’s awesome power to generate and widely distribute wealth is self-evident, we also know markets need governance. For the new global economy, the G-20 is what we have.
“Now, as we work through the final stages of recession and embrace recovery, there are three critical areas where G-20 actions have been and will remain vital: financial sector reform, stimulus programs, and global trade and growth strategies.
“Let me begin with reform of financial sector regulation. This has been a focus since Washington because, after all, that sector’s failures and the transmission of its contagion globally are widely acknowledged to have triggered the crisis.
“As many of you know, Canada was not a part of the problem. Canadian banks had maintained healthy leverage ratios and largely avoided exposure to toxic assets. No major Canadian financial institutions failed and none required bailouts from the government. As a consequence, Canada now has one of the largest banking sectors in the world, and it is entirely in the private sector.
“I should just note that reputable observers have noted this Canadian advantage. This year, as last, your own eminent organization, the World Economic Forum, and more recently Moody’s Investors Service, both ranked Canada’s banks as the world’s soundest.
“The International Monetary Fund has commented that Canada’s financial sector has shown ‘remarkable stability amid the global turbulence, thanks in good part to strong supervision and regulation.’ This is undoubtedly part of the reason that Canada took on co-chairmanship of financial sector regulatory reform at the first G-20 in Washington.
“Canada has maintained good, active systems of prudent and measured regulation. We do not claim, by the way, that our system is perfect. The lack of a single national securities regulator is an obvious hole. The vast majority of our provinces are now working with us to fill that gap.
“We have also been obliged to tighten the criteria for government mortgage insurance. But overall, the performance of the sector during this crisis showcased the effectiveness of Canada’s approach through our G-20 chairmanship this year and we want to urge the adoption of similar regulatory practices globally.
“I believe the Canadian system generally does two things that should guide future work in this area. First, we must promote national regulation sufficiently strong to avoid repetition of the kind of crisis we experienced last year.
“We also believe that such national systems should be subject to international peer review in order to enhance transparency and reduce risks to the global economy. Anything less would expose every economy to needless risk. In fact, if inadequate regulation is not addressed, I believe the consequences could actually be worse than before this crisis.
“If, after a period of renewed stability, institutions are able to return to the irresponsible practices that caused the crisis, what would they have learned? A very bad lesson: that is, that reckless behaviour can be engaged in because national governments will ultimately backstop the consequences.
“And, that, ladies and gentlemen, would be a very dangerous precedent. Obviously, then, financial sector regulation must be tackled and it must be adequate. But, second, Canada also believes that financial sector regulation must have the right purposes and must not be excessive.
“Let me just say that I understand why there are calls for such an approach in some circles. In situations very different than Canada’s, where big bank failures resulted in public bailouts, where the public endured the pain, yet those who caused it seemed to emerge unscathed, there is understandably public anger and demands for tough or even retaliatory measures.
“In Canada, because our situation has been so different, we don’t face such demands and public opinion is much more reflective about what is needed. Our approach to financial sector regulation, while historically much more activist than in many other countries, has been to not micromanage the affairs of a complex industry.
“Its purpose is to ensure transparency in the marketplace, help link risk, performance and reward, and encourage a culture of prudent behaviour focussed on the long term.
“So, to be clear, through the G-20, we will be encouraging strengthened financial sector regulation and improved coordination between regulators. But Canada will not go down the path of excessive, arbitrary or punitive regulation of its financial sector.
“Canada has a well-regulated, free-market economy with a private financial sector of enormous strength. We intend to build on that advantage. We intend to see the financial sector in Canada grow. And we intend Canada’s global position in that industry to get stronger yet in the future.
“The second ongoing G-20 policy priority has been to drive globally-coordinated stimulus measures, both monetary and fiscal. We believe it is important to stay the course, but only for now. It remains my conviction that fiscal expansion, enhanced government spending and increased fiscal deficits were necessary during the recession.
“In fact, with rapidly falling output and employment and interest rates near zero, economic theory was clear — this was the only option.
“The temptation today to see hopeful signs of recovery everywhere in small things is understandable. So then would be the wish to declare recovery and abandon last year’s commitments to these expensive public investments. We believe that would be a mistake. The truth is that despite the G-20’s good work during the last 15 months, the recovery is a mile wide, but only an inch deep, and job creation remains very tentative.
“But, while it is absolutely too soon to abandon stimulus programs, it is no longer too early to start thinking about a strategy to exit them. We all know the long-term risks of prolonged government spending of this magnitude: renewed inflation, rising interest rates, crowding out of investment and prolonged sluggish economic performance.
“This view informs our own economic planning. Canada will therefore complete its two-year Economic Action Plan, its fiscal stimulus measures, in support of its economy. We shall faithfully meet all promises made at earlier G-20 meetings.
At the same time our next budget will outline a path to reduce our deficit and return to balanced budgets in the medium term.
“We will be doing this from levels of deficit and debt that are, by comparison with other advanced industrialized economies, quite modest. We have the lowest level of indebtedness in the G-7, by far. When the recession ends, our relative levels of indebtedness will still be lower by an even wider margin. This is because Canada paid off debt aggressively during the growth years.
“In passing, I must observe that this recommendation of John Maynard Keynes is seldom acted upon as vigorously as his permission to borrow. In this regard, Keynesianism is a bit like Communism: according to those who advocate it, neither has been properly attempted. Thus governments borrow when times are difficult, because they must. Then they borrow more when times are easy, because they can. But instead, true Keynesians that we are accused of being, our government paid $38 billion off Canada’s national debt between 2006 and 2009.
“This, incidentally, is what allowed us to lower taxes in Canada. We believe it is important that taxes be low, and that tax reductions be sustainable. That way, they become a permanent form of fiscal stimulus. In an environment of falling debt, we were able to lower taxes of all kinds. In fact, Canada has the lowest rate on new business investment in the G-7. Investors, take note: Canada is, and will remain, open for business.
“Finally, let us talk about global trade and growth strategies. I suspect every single person here understands that the growth in global trade has been largely responsible for wealth creation worldwide in the past generation. And, therefore, enhancing trade and resisting protectionism are both essential to the world economy, and to the just cause of raising millions from poverty. The G-20 has said this at every meeting.
“Of course, there have also been national actions that detract from this goal. Even so, we have thus far avoided anything like the protectionism that turned the stock-market crash of 1929 into a decade-long depression.
“In Canada, we have tried to be leaders in promoting free trade and open markets. Our stimulus package did not raise tariffs, it lowered them unilaterally, I might add. Since 2006, we have concluded free trade agreements with eight additional countries and we are engaged in six other negotiations, including with the European Union. We will continue to resist protectionism and work to reduce or eliminate tariff barriers.
“However, at Pittsburgh last year, the G-20 went beyond merely advocating for trade and against protectionism as a basis for promoting global growth. We established what we christened the Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. Much of what the Framework prescribes takes us in the right direction.
“I speak especially of consensus at the macro level on the causes of the recession and the mutual commitment among G-20 members to coordinate their policies. However, this is where G-20 partners must embrace enlightened views of sovereign behaviour. Otherwise we will pursue strategies that do not produce mutual advantage and therefore cannot be sustained. ‘Drop your tariffs, I’ll keep mine.’ Or
‘Let your currency trade at market rates, we’ll keep ours undervalued.’
“We should know from the terrible experience with trade in the 1930s that strategies that make it more difficult for somebody to do business inevitably make it more difficult for everybody to do business. So I say, notions rooted in a narrow view of sovereignty and national self-interest must be reconsidered.
“We cannot do business as though for one to have more, another must have less. It is not true. It is not just. And therefore it cannot be the path we take.
“Our ambition — the necessary condition for success as the G-20 moves forward —must be a shared belief that the rising tide of recovery must lift all boats, not just some.
“This is the exercise of sovereignty at its most enlightened. And I don’t believe, by the way, that this is all about the structure of global institutions. It is more a matter of attitude.
“Some words of the former U.S. Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, seem apt. As you know, Hull was a driving force in the creation of postwar international institutions that are with us still: the UN, for instance, and the World Bank. Accepting the 1945 Nobel Peace Prize for his work, he had this to say about international institutions: ‘to be sure, no piece of social machinery, however well-constructed, can be effective unless there is back of it a will and a determination to make it work.’
“It doesn’t matter what global structures we devise for our mutual betterment, if we don’t have the right global attitudes, they will not work.
“Ladies and gentlemen, with the G-20 necessarily focussed on the economy, there remains an important role for the Group of Eight nations in non-economic matters, in promoting democracy, development, peace and security.
“In this troubled world, we clearly recognize how much else there is that requires international cooperation. Terrorism threatens all of us. Piracy has returned to strategic seaways. Climate change disproportionately threatens the peoples least capable of adapting to it. And although tensions between the older nuclear states have largely dissipated, the spread of nuclear weapons to new actors allows the world no relief from anxiety.
“These complex daunting threats cannot be met by any one country working alone. They require the close cooperation of friends and like-minded allies. On these,
The G-8 can show leadership. As an example, let us close with something where progress is possible, if we are willing.
“It concerns the link between poverty and the appalling mortality among mothers and small children in the Third World. Did you know that every year over half a million women die in pregnancy and nearly nine million children die before their fifth birthday?
“The numbers should shock and grieve us. Far too many lives and futures have been lost. And to the world’s shame, so many have been lost for want of relatively simple health solutions, all well within reach of the international community. Often the keys of life are no more sophisticated than clean water or the most basic treatment against infection. That so little has been done is tragic. It is not just words on a page. It is real hunger, real suffering, real people dying.
“Canada takes its development commitments seriously, including those made at the G-8. That, for example, is why we have doubled aid to Africa and are on track with our commitment to double our international assistance this year.
“So what is required to fight this particular problem of human misery? It is merely the same unity of purpose that we can find within ourselves readily enough when disaster strikes, as it recently did in Haiti. Or, as we can and do, when the problem is one of trade, finance or the economy. We must find that unity of purpose.
“That is why, as president of the G-8, Canada will champion a major initiative to improve the health of women and children in the world’s most vulnerable regions. There are indications that other members of the G-8 share our concern and would be receptive to such a proposal. It is therefore time to mobilize our friends and partners to do something for those who can do little for themselves, to replace grand good intentions with substantive acts of human good will.
“In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, the G-20 and G-8 meetings have before them a huge agenda, all to be addressed in an atmosphere of ongoing global economic and financial uncertainty. We must bring a sense of shared responsibility. We must be pragmatic, focussed, and above all, encourage accountability. The G-20 nations must fully deliver on the commitments they have made. The Group of Eight must live up to their promises.
“Accountability, ladies and gentlemen, is the prerequisite for progress. As host of the G-8 and G-20 meetings this June, Canada will use its leadership role to focus on these key challenges. And I look forward to collaborating closely with our international partners as we continue to support the economic recovery and chart new beginnings for humanity worldwide.
“Thank you.”
Prime Minister Harper Calls for Coordinated Effort to Rebuild Haiti
January 26, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Ladies and gentlemen, before I begin I would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for having taken time out of your busy schedule to be here today.
The concern and compassion you have demonstrated for Haiti by being here do credit to the great organizations you represent and, of course, reflect the great priority all citizens of the world place on the challenge before us.
I would also like to welcome Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. Mr. Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government of Canada I’d like to offer you and the entire Haitian population my sincerest condolences. Please know that our Haitian brothers and sisters are in the thoughts and prayers of all Canadians.
The entire world has been moved by the scenes of devastation in Haiti. Instant and utter, the destruction wrought by the earthquake in this already fragile country is truly heart wrenching.
Like Canada, countries throughout the Hemisphere and around the world have responded swiftly and generously. Thanks to decisive international action, medical, humanitarian and search and rescue support are pouring into the country.
Private citizens are also contributing greatly. Moved by the suffering of the Haitian people, a record number of people have opened their hearts and made generous contributions to the humanitarian effort.
This generosity – both public and private – is a testament to the kindness and compassion that unites humanity in the face of catastrophe. The difficulty we face then is not one of concern, but rather one of coordination. We must work to ensure that every resource committed, every relief worker, every vehicle, every dollar, is used as effectively as possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, Canada takes its role as a world leader very seriously, particularly when it comes to its responsibilities in the Western hemisphere. This special responsibility, which Canada shares as a country of the Americas, is one reason why we convened this meeting to better harmonize international efforts in Haiti. In order to do the greatest amount of good, we must work together.
As we continue to focus on fast and effective humanitarian assistance, we must, at the same time, begin to look to the longer-term challenge of reconstruction. This meeting is a crucial first step in that direction. The international community must be prepared for a sustained, significant effort in Haiti, relying on the leadership of the Government of Haiti, and in line with its priorities.
It is Canada’s hope that this meeting will set the stage for a broad international conference on reconstruction that will mobilize the will and resources of all of Haiti’s partners. Today’s conference will allow us to agree on the principles that should guide our approach to Haiti’s reconstruction. This will be the focus of our work here today. Let me highlight a few of these principles.
1. Sustainability is key. We need to commit to Haiti for the long term.
It is not an exaggeration to say that 10 years of hard work await the world in Haiti.
2. We need to focus on effectiveness. The Haitian people deserve that. Our own taxpayers expect it.
3. We must hold ourselves, and each other, accountable for the commitments we make.
I would like to see emerge from this meeting the beginnings of a plan that will guide reconstruction in Haiti in a way that is effective, coordinated and strategic for the decade to come.
The task before us is great, but greater still is our determination to restore hope to our Haitian friends, members of the great family of nations. More than ever, we must all unite in support of Haiti. And I am convinced, ladies and gentlemen, that together we will be up to the challenge.
Thank you.
Prime Minister Harper Calls for Coordinated Effort to Rebuild Haiti
Prime Minister Harper Announces Support for Central Nova Scotia Civic Centre
January 23, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Thank you, Scott Armstrong, for that kind introduction. And, of course, congratulations on your recent by-election win! It’s great to have you as part of our caucus in Ottawa advancing the interests of the good people of Cumberland – Colchester – Musquodoboit Valley. As many of my cabinet colleagues can attest, you have been hard at work from virtually the moment you were elected.
In fact, even before you were officially sworn in, I understand you were on the phone to the Fisheries and Infrastructure ministers, making sure they were aware of your highest priority local issues. Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is dedication!
Indeed, today’s announcement would not have come to fruition were it not for Scott’s tireless advocacy.
Another man who has worked hard on today’s event is the Honourable Peter MacKay. Peter, of course, is a familiar face around these parts. He was here in Truro last month announcing our Economic Action Plan investment in the renovation of the Colchester Legion Stadium, home of the Truro Bearcats!
Greetings also to Premier Darrel Dexter and his provincial colleagues, former Premier Rodney MacDonald, Mayors Bill Mills and Bob Taylor, and Senator Fred Dickson. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
As you all know, a year ago the world economy was in virtual free-fall. In the face of the worst global recession in half a century, our government launched Canada’s Economic Action Plan, our response to protect our economy and Canadian jobs.
The Economic Action Plan is making major investments in infrastructure projects across the country, in order to create and sustain jobs now, when they are needed most. At the same time, our Plan lays the foundations for Canada’s longer term prosperity by building the modern infrastructure we will need moving forward.
Such a forward-looking proposal is the Central Nova Scotia Civic Centre, to be constructed right here in Truro, off Exit 13, next to the new hospital.
Today, I am pleased to announce that the Government of Canada is investing to help make the Central Nova Scotia Civic Centre a reality!
This modern facility will feature an NHL-sized ice surface with seating for 3,200 spectators to cheer on Truro’s future draft picks. It will also be home to an indoor aquatic centre an exercise track, a fitness centre, and space for events like concerts, tradeshows and community gatherings.
I would like to thank our provincial, municipal and community partners for their leadership and their contributions to this important project. I know in particular that the Steering Committee has been working tirelessly to “ignite the spirit” and move this project forward for Truro and the region. This collaboration is a testament to what we can accomplish when we work together.
Ladies and gentlemen, today’s announcement is one of many strategic investments that our government is making to build stronger and healthier communities in Nova Scotia and across the country.
The economy continues to be our government’s number one priority, and that will not change until the global recession is truly behind us. While we are starting to see signs of improvement in Canada’s economy, the recovery is fragile. Far too many Canadians are still out of work. Too many families are experiencing hardship. It is too soon to let down our guard. But as long as we stay on course, fully implement our Action Plan, and then take disciplined, sustained action to reduce the deficit when the recession ends, Canada’s long-term economic prospects will remain among the best in the world.
Once again, I thank you all for joining us today.
Prime Minister Harper Announces Support for Central Nova Scotia Civic Centre
Serving Canada: the Outstanding Achievement Awards
January 19, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Your Excellency, colleagues from the Parliament of Canada past and present, Senator Marjory LeBreton, The Right Honourable Herbert Gray, honoured recipients, distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank Her Excellency for once again hosting this tribute to the outstanding men and women of the Public Service of Canada.
The men and women who choose to embark on a career in the Public Service of Canada do so out of a deep-seated desire to make Canada a better place; to uphold the common good, and to apply the principles of integrity, equity, transparency and respect.
Today we are honouring four individuals who have epitomized the highest values of and exemplified the highest levels of performance in this critical national institution, the Public Service of Canada.
Our first recipient, Louise Branch, is a visionary and an innovator who has transformed Service Canada.
Her Service Management Structural Model has enhanced service excellence and garnered attention throughout the country and around the world.
The next recipient being honoured today is renowned for his scientific expertise and staunch commitment to protecting the health of Canadians.
Dr. Jeffrey Farber, of Health Canada, was among the first to recognize the role of Listeria in human illness, and was instrumental in developing the standard methodology for detecting the bacteria used in Canada and countries around the world.
As Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, our third recipient, Jim Judd, implemented a series of reforms that resulted in the agency being named one of the best employers in the country.
Prior to his service with CSIS, Jim held a number of senior positions within the government including Deputy Minister of Defence and Secretary of the Treasury Board, in which he always demonstrated great personal and professional integrity, as well as a determination to do the right thing.
Our final recipient is a model public servant. John Sims’s remarkable blend of legal skills, sound judgement and deep understanding of government policy and ethics has won him high honours wherever he has worked.
The Department of Justice has been well served over the years by his solid leadership and his astute legal advice.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I’d like to congratulate Louise, Jeffrey, Jim and John on receiving this prestigious honour. They are among an elite group of public servants who have been nominated by their peers and subsequently ranked highest among the best by the Selection Committee.
Louise, Jeffrey, Jim and John exemplify a standard of excellence to which we should all aspire.
And I congratulate the selection committee of Micheline Bouchard, Gary Holden, Kay Stanley, Barbara Stymiest and chairman Denis Desautels for selecting these recipients.
I’d like to conclude today by thanking all members of the Public Service for their hard work over the past year.
A year marked by the global recession, the campaign to immunize the population against the H1N1 flu virus, and our efforts to come to the rescue of the Haitian people.
The Public Service, across a range of departments and agencies, has coordinated and rolled out, in record time and with high levels of success, unprecedented economic measures during the global economic recession.
I can say without reservation the same thing of its action during the H1N1 vaccination campaign. And, once again, its agility and competency is on display in Canada’s response to the terrible events in Haiti.
No government, of any partisan stripe, can maintain and build a strong, united and secure Canada or conduct an effective government without the assistance of a capable public service devoted to the national interest.
Canada has been exceptionally well served by the thousands of public servants who have dedicated their careers to their country.
So, on behalf of the Government of Canada – and indeed all Canadians –
thank you for your integrity, for your devotion to duty, and for your service to our great country.
Serving Canada: the Outstanding Achievement Awards
Welcoming Friends and Fostering Trade: Prime Minister Harper Officially Opens St. Stephen Port of Entry
January 14, 2010 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Thanks to Minister Thompson for that kind introduction and for all his hard work over the years to see this project through to fruition. Greg played an instrumental role in making this new border crossing a reality. As New Brunswick’s chief representative at the Cabinet table, he has also been the Minister responsible for Canada’s veterans, responsible for the men and women who have embodied the highest attributes of citizenship and loyalty to our country. Greg has, throughout his career, made a solid contribution to parliament, to our caucus and to our government.
Greetings also to Premier Shawn Graham, his colleagues from the provincial legislature, Opposition Leader David Alward, local MLA Tony Huntjens, Mayor of St. Stephen Jed Purcell and respected local mayors and municipal representatives from the region, Minister of State Keith Ashfield, Members of Parliament Rob Moore, Rodney Weston and Tilly O’Neill-Gordon, Senators Noel Kinsella, Percy Mockler and Carolyn Stewart-Olsen, officials led by Stephen Rigby from the Canadian Border Services Agency, and, of course, a special welcome to the American Ambassador to Canada, David Jacobson. It’s always a great pleasure to welcome an American friend to our home, the True North Strong and Free.
In honour of today’s event, I’d like to share with you an anecdote involving another illustrious American visitor who often spent his summers on Campobello Island, here in New Brunswick.
During a state visit in 1936, President Franklin Roosevelt read in a newspaper that he would be received in Canada with all the honours customarily accorded a “foreign ruler.” While he was greatly honoured, FDR was nonetheless somewhat taken aback. The President had never considered himself a “foreigner” when in Canada. And nor did he feel that Canadians considered him to be one. As he remarked “I have never heard a Canadian refer to an American as a ‘foreigner.’ He is just an ‘American.’ And, in the same way, in the United States, Canadians are not ‘foreigners,’ they are ‘Canadians.’ That simple little distinction illustrates to me better than anything else the relationship between our two countries.”
Peaceful neighbours and enduring allies, Canada and the United States are the best of friends. In fact, I’d go further. No two nations on earth have worried less about the line on the map that divides them, or more about how to build goodwill across it.
This relationship is exemplified by border communities like St. Stephen and Calais. For more than two hundred years, these two towns have enjoyed peaceful co-existence on opposite banks
of the beautiful St. Croix River. So harmonious have been relations, that even on the one occasion our two countries came to blows, in the summer of 1812, St. Stephen actually gave Calais gunpowder to bolster its Independence Day celebrations.
Just as these communities have come to rely on each other as neighbours and friends, so too have they come to depend on the stream of commercial traffic that crosses the border every day. In this sense, as in so many others, St. Stephen and Calais are a microcosm for the larger Canada-U.S. relationship.
Canada and the United States are the world’s two largest trading partners. Every day over a billion and a half dollars of goods and services cross our border. This steady flow of trade
is the lifeblood of our national economies. So when trucks idle on one side of the border, economic activity slows on both.
Now more than ever, ladies and gentlemen, we must work to ease the flow of trade through North America’s veins of commerce. And that’s why I’m so pleased today to officially open this facility – the region’s first new border crossing in 30 years!
Here at the busiest crossing point between Atlantic Canada and New England, state-of-the-art security features will keep our border secure without unduly slowing the flow of traffic. I’m proud to report the new crossing is already proving a big success. Since the new bridge opened, local traffic flow has greatly improved while, at the same time, commercial traffic has increased by twenty per cent!
I also want to thank the government of New Brunswick for its significant contribution to this important project which, once again, illustrates what can be accomplished when governments work together. Ladies and gentlemen, one does not build a border crossing such as this to exclude neighbours. It is the kind of border crossing you build to welcome friends, and to foster greater trade between them.
For friends we are, and friends our two peoples shall always be.
Canada and Korea in the Asia-Pacific era: building a stronger, closer partnership
December 7, 2009 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Esteemed Speaker of the National Assembly, esteemed Members of the National Assembly. Thank you for your kind introduction, Mr. Speaker. Please accept also my sincere gratitude for inviting me to speak before you today. It is indeed an honour to address this august chamber. And thank you to the Korean people for the warm hospitality you have shown Laureen and I during this, our first visit to your beautiful country.
Let me also acknowledge some of my colleagues who are with us today. First, Senator Yonah Kim-Martin. Senator Kim-Martin is the first Korean-Canadian to hold national public office in our country.
Also with us is my friend and caucus colleague Member of Parliament, Barry Devolin. Barry and his wife Ursula lived in your country for a few years. He taught English as a second language at the Busan University of Foreign Studies. Along with Senator Kim-Martin, he co-chairs the Canada-Korea Interparliamentary Association, and he keeps in close touch with Canada’s Korean community.
Also with us today, the Honourable Stockwell Day, the Honourable Gerry Ritz, the Honourable Michael Chong, Alice Wong, Andrew Saxton, Daryl Kramp, Bob Dechert and John Weston.
Esteemed Members, ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply honoured to be the first Canadian Prime Minister to address the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. This visit is indeed a historic opportunity to celebrate the deep friendship between Canada and Korea, a camaraderie rooted in our shared experiences and our common acceptance of enduring principles.
In the year to come, however, it will be about much more than our history. Because, as we are renewing the strong relations between our nations, we are also planning for the leadership role that Canada and Korea will play as hosts of the G20 Summits that will take place next year.
Frankly, it would be hard to overstate the importance of this work. The world is struggling to emerge from the worst recession in half a century. Economies are showing signs of stabilization, but this recovery is fragile. It is a recovery that wrong choices could quickly stall, or even reverse. The livelihoods of families all over the world hang in the balance.
Coming out of Pittsburgh, the world agreed that the G20 will serve as the world’s pre-eminent forum for economic cooperation. It is this group that has worked together to minimize the effects of global recession. The decisions coming from this group of nations – responsible for 85 per cent of the world’s GDP – are therefore of enormous consequence.
For Canada and Korea, this is a unique opportunity, and a unique responsibility. We must lead the way. We must build upon the work done in Washington, London and Pittsburgh. We must continue to focus attention on the global economy and ensure a balanced and sustainable recovery. Our work to achieve effective economic stimulus, prudent regulation of the global financial sector, reform of international financial institutions and open and expanding global trade must not waver. We must follow through on the commitments we have made. And we must avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.
And together, as President Lee and I co-chair the next round of discussions on these matters, we must draw from leaders a credible plan for exiting the nations of the world from the extraordinary measures of the past year and returning the global economy to a path of sustainable growth as the recovery takes hold.
In passing, I would observe that a failure to achieve this objective would have consequences beyond the purely economic: without the wealth that comes from growth, the environmental threats, the developmental challenges and the peace and security issues facing the world will be exponentially more difficult to deal with.
My government and I look forward to continuing our close cooperation with our Korean colleagues as we prepare for the momentous year before us. Happily, our own two countries are well-positioned to meet the challenges facing the G20, and to improve our bilateral cooperation at the same time.
We are ideal partners. Let us speak of the Korean miracle, the roots of an old and true friendship, and what Canada and Korea have to offer one another.
Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed members, we stand in awe of what Korea has accomplished in less than six decades. During the last month, I have visited India, China and Singapore. All these countries have achieved extraordinary economic and social progress in the post-war era. Still, few have come farther than Korea.
Starting with a country devastated by decades of occupation and then shattered and divided by war, you have emerged as the world’s 15th largest economy, a technological and manufacturing powerhouse, a full-fledged partner in the great councils of the world, an important contributor to international security and prosperity and a positive example for the developing nations of the 21st century.
Your exceptional success has been called “the Miracle on the Han River.” But it is no miracle. It’s due to the resilience, determination and ingenuity of the Korean people, and the intrinsic worth of the high principles you have embraced. Freedom. Democracy. Free Trade. Open Markets.
Today, as a result, Korea is one of the most internationally engaged of all Asian nations. One measure of this is Korea’s chairmanship of the G20 in 2010. As President Lee has said, you aspire to be, and I quote, “a global Korea.”
I spoke of old friendships, and shared values. They go back a long way, to when Canadian missionaries and educators were first drawn to this country, in the late nineteenth century. Visionaries such as James Scarth Gale. He opened the way to better understanding by assembling the first English-Korean dictionary, and producing the first translation of the Bible into the Korean language.
He was followed by pioneering physician and educator, Oliver Avison, one of the founders of Severance Hospital and Yonsei University. And, of course, there’s the great Dr. Frank Schofield. He went to Korea as a veterinary biologist. He became a powerful voice for freedom, democracy and human rights in Korea during the Japanese occupation. Indeed, he took up the cause of Korean independence with such passion that he is the only Westerner buried in the patriot’s section of your national cemetery. I will be paying my respects at his grave, later today.
But our most intense shared experiences began nearly 60 years ago, in what we call the Korean War, and you term the 6-2-5 War. The same brutal totalitarianism that imprisoned Eastern Europe behind the Iron Curtain plunged your own country into another devastating war. Koreans were pitted against each other.
Only the courage of the government and people of the free Republic of Korea, backed by the United Nations force of which Canada was a part, saved the entire Korean peninsula from enslavement. Close to 27,000 Canadians served in the conflict; More than 500 were killed. And to this day, the Battle of Kap’yong to save Seoul is remembered in Canada as one of the most illustrious moments of our military history.
Canada and Korea have been staunch allies in the defence of freedom and democracy ever since. We are not a warlike people, but when the cause has been just and necessary, Canadians have always answered the call. There is no doubt the cause of Korean freedom was just and necessary. And, the truth of the ideals for which we fought has been revealed beyond a shadow of a doubt as this Republic has flourished, while the Communist North has floundered.
Your success as a nation serves as the greatest tribute you can show to the Canadians who fought and died here, and to the development assistance that Canadians contributed to Korean recovery and reconstruction. Which brings us to today.
In the decades since the War, Canada and Korea have grown ever closer. Tens of thousands of Koreans have immigrated to our country, found economic opportunity, and made enormous contributions to the communities they have joined. The estimated 200,000 Canadians of Korean descent tend to be highly educated, thriving in management and entrepreneurship.
They are also to be found in the worlds of popular entertainment and sport. For example, Sandra Oh, the daughter of Korean immigrants, grew up in Ottawa and has become one of our most successful international film and television actors. Hockey player Jim Paek was the first Korean to play in the National Hockey League, where he won two Stanley Cup Championships.
Meanwhile, tourist traffic between our countries is booming in both directions, as is the tradition of educational exchange. There are about 30,000 Koreans pursuing full time studies in Canada, and roughly 10,000 Canadians now live in Korea, the vast majority teaching English as a second language.
Esteemed Members, ladies and gentlemen, my visit here reflects Canada’s growing engagement with the nations of the Asia-Pacific. As economic power and human prosperity spread from West to East through globalization, Canada is strategically positioned to straddle both hemispheres. Our economy was built in the 19th and early 20th centuries largely on trans-Atlantic trade. But it is clear that in the 21st century, trans-Pacific trade will increasingly fuel our economic growth.
As these trends continue, it is also clear that Korea should be one of Canada’s most important partners in the region. Canada has the energy and minerals Korea needs to fuel future growth. Korea has a genius for manufacturing. Canada has a world-class financial services sector. Korean industry needs access to capital. And let’s not forget Canada’s Asia-Pacific Gateway ports are closer by days in connecting the main markets of North America and Asia than those further south.
Ship to Vancouver. Ship to Prince Rupert. Canada is open for business.
Frankly, it would be hard to find two countries better suited to each other as trading partners. Which suggests there is more, much more, that we could do together. No doubt there are particular obstacles. But our job, as democratically-elected national legislators, is to consider the bigger picture, to also represent the broader interests of all our people.
It is for all these reasons – our natural trade advantages, our commitment to economic principles that work and our old and true friendship – that we should expand our horizons. We can be the model for bringing the economies of the East and the West together. In other words, we can lead in the quest for a more balanced world, a more equitable world, and a more prosperous world for all. When would be a better time?
The invisible hand of the marketplace is already pointing the direction we need to go. Your energy sector is investing in our oil sands. Our combined know-how in carbon capture and storage technology is reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Your electronics manufacturers have millions of Canadian customers. Our agricultural producers are providing Koreans with safe, high-quality food. And, thanks to our Blue Sky Agreement, Korean and Canadian airlines have new flexibility to offer more services and conveniences to travelers and shippers.
With all these economic ties, it only makes sense that our two countries work to conclude our free trade negotiations so we can grow our mutual trade and investment for the future.
Ladies and gentlemen, when the global economy is ready for another round of growth, we owe it to ourselves to be ready to take advantage of it. In preparation for that day, let us join hands in an historic year of G20 leadership and move forward. I have great confidence that 2010 is going to be the year that Canada and Korea achieve unprecedented levels of co-operation and friendship.
We are already allies in the United Nations mission to secure and rebuild Afghanistan, and in the larger struggle against international terrorism. We will also continue to stand together against the anachronistic dictatorship in the North. Canadians have great compassion for the people of North Korea, and we are eager to see the day of their freedom and their reunion with their brothers and sisters of the South.
In conclusion, I look forward to welcoming President Lee to Canada for our G20 Summit in Toronto next June. And I further look forward to returning to Korea a year from now for the G20 meeting here. Finally, we look forward to hosting all of you at the Vancouver and Whistler Winter Olympics. With the Games less than three months away, excitement is building across Canada and around the world. We Canadians are feeling very positive about our medal prospects, but we know we’re going to face tough competition from Korea’s team – especially your outstanding speed skaters and your women’s figure skating champion, Kim YounaYu-Na, whom we know very well because she trains in Toronto.
We all have much to look forward to. We must just remember that much is expected from those whom fortune and a generous providence have endowed. We – our countries – have important work to do. Thank you once again for the opportunity to address your National Assembly.
Canada and Korea in the Asia-Pacific era: building a stronger, closer partnership
Canada and China: A good and frank relationship to build on
December 6, 2009 by admin
Filed under Conservative Speeches
Thank you, Stock, for your kind words of introduction. The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture. Members of the Parliament of Canada: the Honourable Michael Chong, Alice Wong, Andrew Saxton, John Weston, Bob Dechert and Darrell Kramp. Ambassadors Lan and Mulroney.
First of all, thanks to Mark Rowswell, our Master of Ceremonies for starting us off this evening. Mark is Canada’s Commissioner General for Expo 2010 here in Shanghai. I look forward to touring the Canadian Pavilion with you tomorrow, Dashan.
And a special thanks to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the Canada-China Business Council for co-hosting this evening’s event. It is indeed an honour to have been invited to speak before the group assembled this evening. And it is also indeed timely as we mark the one hundredth anniversary of the launch of Canada’s Trade Commissioner Service in this city. As evidence of the success of this venture, I would note that Shanghai is now the base of operations for some 150 Canadian companies, many of which are represented here tonight.
And Shanghai boasts plenty of other superlatives: it is the largest city in China, the country’s economic engine, one of the fastest-growing places on earth and home to the world’s busiest cargo port. I have no doubt that next year, as Shanghai hosts the Expo, tens of millions of visitors will be treated to the best your world-class city has to offer.
Of course, Shanghai is but one stop on this, my first visit to China as Prime Minister. And it is yet another step, in the hundreds of meetings between officials – some 20 ministerial-level visits to this country – and numerous meetings I have held with President Hu Jintao at various international fora since our government took office in 2006.
My visit therefore reflects Canada’s commitment to enhancing and expanding our relations with China. For ours is a good and frank relationship based on mutual respect and the need for cooperation
in today’s challenging world.
Ladies and gentlemen. Long ago, pointing to China on a map, Napoleon Bonaparte is famously said to have mused: “…there lies a sleeping giant.
When she wakes, she will shake the world.” How prophetic those words have proven to be.
In the last three decades, since making the first tentative moves toward liberalization, China has been witness to the greatest surge in general prosperity in the history of mankind. More than four hundred million people have been lifted out of poverty. Over one hundred cities have grown to a population of more than a million. The economy, once directed entirely by the state, has become firmly market-oriented, and private enterprise has flourished. In fact, in the last thirty years, over five hundred-thousand foreign-funded businesses have registered in China.
I could go on, but the bottom line is this: there can be no mistaking the evidence. Today, ladies and gentlemen, China is truly awake – awake, and set to help shape the future of the entire world!
Canada has observed China’s remarkable rise over the course of a longstanding relationship. In the mid-nineteenth century, Chinese labourers were integral to the most important nation-building exercise in Canadian history – the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. And over the last hundred years
some one million Chinese have immigrated to Canada.
Today, Chinese-Canadians enrich all aspects of our society, our democracy and our economy. For example, in Toronto, Chinese-Canadians, along with a large body of students and researchers from China, have helped to make our largest city a centre whose impact is felt throughout the world. And Vancouver has now become not just Canada’s, but North America’s gateway for Asia-Pacific trade – in significant part because of the enterprise of so many Chinese-Canadians. Indeed, through a solid work ethic, a dedication to family and community and a commitment to educational achievement, Chinese-Canadians are helping to secure Canada’s place in the 21st century.
In turn, Canada has contributed to China’s story. Canadian missionaries built hospitals and schools in China during the late 1800s. And a Canadian doctor, Norman Bethune, played a significant role in the history of this country. Canadian companies like Manulife and Sunlife pioneered economic networks throughout China more than one hundred years ago. Home-grown enterprises
like Bombardier and SNC-Lavalin have been thriving here for decades. And, despite the significant tensions of the Cold War, Canada first negotiated contracts for the sale of wheat to China as far back as the government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker. More recently, the strong ties between our countries allowed Canada to offer, following the earthquake last year, both significant public and private aid to the people in Sichuan province.
Ladies and gentlemen, even in these few examples, we see there is much shared history between Canada and China, history that has helped to shape
both our countries. So it is not surprising that as China has opened up our economic ties have become extensive and expanding. Since 2005 alone, two-way merchandise trade between our countries has grown steadily each year by an average of more than 14 per cent. During this period, Canadian exports to China have grown by more than 3 billion dollars. Our total two-way trade is now valued at over 53 billion dollars. China is Canada’s second largest merchandise trading partner and our third largest export market.
To help continue growing this relationship, our government has recently dedicated over a billion dollars into trade infrastructure on our Pacific coast. What we call the Asia-Pacific Gateway is an integrated system of ports, airports, road and rail connections that link Asia deep into the heart of the North American marketplace. In fact, the west coast ports in Vancouver and Prince Rupert are two and three days closer than their American competitors
to key Asian ports like Shanghai.
Canada is also increasingly being seen by Chinese business leaders as a natural destination for investment. We are one of the best-positioned among the developed economies for a strong recovery. We have falling tax rates, a low debt-to-GDP ratio, one of the most welcoming environments for foreign investment in the world and the resources necessary to meet China’s ever-growing needs.
One area where Canada and China share mutually beneficial objectives is, of course, in the field of energy. Because there can be no mistake, to continue fueling its growth into the future China will need stable sources of power. And Canada is an emerging energy superpower, a major supplier of every type of energy, seventh in the world in crude oil producer – with the second largest proven reserves – third in natural gas production and the largest producer of uranium. Canada also has the resources and know-how necessary to adapt technology to a cleaner, greener, less carbon-intensive energy future.
Having recently overtaken the United States as the world’s biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, China has a vital interest in getting these technologies up and running. Indeed, this is an area where Canada and China are already working together, through the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
Today, I am pleased to announce Canada’s second-round funding under this partnership. With the second phase of projects, Canada will have invested in twenty-eight clean technology projects worldwide, including fourteen new projects in or of benefit to China.
And yesterday, in the Great Hall of the People, Premier Wen and I witnessed the signing of an agreement to enhance cooperation between our two countries
in combating climate change. Under the agreement, Canada and China will work together in areas such as energy conservation and efficiency, renewable energy,
carbon capture and storage and methane recovery and utilization.
Ladies and gentlemen, through collaborations like these, Canada and China can demonstrate how to balance energy development and economic growth with environmental protection and can serve as an example of cooperation for the rest of the world.
We are also pleased that the Government of China has granted Canada Approved Destination Status. This is a measure that Canadian Governments have been seeking for over a decade. A measure that could generate up to a 50 per cent boost in tourism, and that is especially timely. As Canada prepares to welcome the world to Vancouver for the Winter Olympic Games, this new designation will encourage more Chinese tourists to discover all Canada has to offer.
And finally, Premier Wen and I were pleased yesterday also to witness the signing of an agreement to promote cultural cooperation between China and Canada, including the exchange of works of art, performing artists and writers. This agreement will create economic opportunity for the Canadian cultural sector and showcase Canadian culture in China. It is another instance of our two countries leading by example and working together for mutual benefit.
Of course, ladies and gentlemen, the biggest challenge facing both our countries – indeed facing all the world’s major economies – continues to be the global economic downturn. Our economies have held up well compared to the rest of the world. This was not, of course, by accident. Both Canada and China entered this period with strong government balance sheets, stable financial sectors and large, ongoing investments in critical infrastructure.
And both Canada and China have been strong contributors to the collective efforts of the G20 to foster a genuine, global recovery. We participated early in coordinated, international interest-rate reductions. And both our countries
have engaged in the sizeable fiscal stimulus measures called for by the IMF and other global bodies. I look forward to welcoming President Hu to Canada next year when we host the next meeting of the G20.
Now more than ever, as tentative signs of recovery are emerging, Canada and China will need to keep our voices strong and united at the G20 table. The message we must impart during this critical period will be three-fold: first, we must urge fellow members to follow through on committed stimulus. Second, we must develop exit strategies to avoid inflation and asset bubbles. And third, perhaps most important, we must insist that all leaders stand firm against protectionist pressures.
We have seen movement toward protectionism, albeit modest, since this global recession began. But modest or otherwise, protectionism is the single greatest threat to long-term recovery for Canada, for China and for the entire world economy.
That’s why fighting protectionism and expanding trade have been top priorities of our government’s foreign policy. That’s why since taking office, we have aggressively pursued trade negotiations around the world, concluding agreements with eight countries, and launching discussions with numerous others.
The reason for this is simple: notwithstanding our current economic difficulties, the prosperity generated here in China and around the world in the past generation has been unprecedented. Removing protectionist barriers
and easing trade restrictions have been key to ushering in this extraordinary era. Pursuing freer trade, therefore, is the most effective antidote we have
to the current crisis. We welcome China’s decision to lift restrictions on Canadian pork, but ill-considered protectionist measures – like restrictions on canola imports – can only lead to increased pressures for retaliation and protectionism.
Now more than ever our two countries must work together to keep trade flowing. That’s why I’m pleased to announce that, in cooperation with the Canadian Commercial Corporation, the Government of Canada is today launching four new trade offices in China. These offices are in addition to the two International Trade Minister Day launched in April. Together, they will enhance our ability to support even more commercial links in exports, investment and innovation between our two countries. This announcement is another concrete step our government is taking toward enhancing and expanding our economic ties with China.
As economic power and human prosperity spreads from West to East, Canada’s trade orientation is shifting also. In the 19th and 20th centuries, our economy was built largely on trans-Atlantic trade. But it is clear that in the 21st century, trans-Pacific trade will increasingly fuel our economic growth.
But ladies and gentlemen, just as trade is a two-way street, so too is dialogue. Our government believes, and has always believed, that a mutually beneficial economic relationship is not incompatible with a good and frank dialogue on fundamental values like freedom, human rights and the rule of law. In fact, in our experience they go hand in hand, increasingly so, as economies progress. Canada, while far from perfect, is one of the most peaceful, pluralistic and prosperous democracies the world has ever known. To Canadians, these attributes are inseparable, and Canadians of Chinese origin participate as fully in them as any of our citizens.
And so, in relations between China and Canada, we will continue to raise issues of freedom and human rights, and be a vocal advocate and an effective partner for human rights reform, just as we pursue the mutually beneficial economic relationship desired by both our countries.
Ladies and gentlemen, as the centre of gravity of the world economy swings toward the Pacific, Pacific nations like Canada and China have much to gain
by increased cooperation. Now is the time to enhance and expand our relationship, to build upon our mutual successes and to use the authority those successes have afforded us to set an example for others in the world.
I will conclude tonight, with an invitation to all Chinese. We are anxious to return
your Olympic hospitality. Come and visit Canada next year as we host the twenty-first Winter Olympic Games. Come and enjoy Vancouver, famously rated the world’s most liveable city. And come to Canada, and see for yourself the possibilities and the potential.
Thank you again for the invitation to speak this evening, and for your warm hospitality here in Shanghai.
