Speech: The Hon. Stéphane Dion - An Ambitious Vision for Canada

The Hon. Stéphane Dion delivered this speech on April 4 2007 at the Design Exchange in Toronto.

Thank you, Tony Ianno, for that kind introduction. I’m looking forward to seeing you in Ottawa again, after the next election, as the Member of Parliament for Trinity-Spadina.

Look at the team we’ve got here. So much talent. So much commitment to Canada. The MPs and candidates in this room represent nothing less than the renewal of the Liberal Party, and a bold Liberal vision for the future. And with your help, and the support of Canadians, they’ll have the opportunity to make that vision a reality, after the next election, as members of the next Liberal government of Canada.

Every day, in every part of this country, I see the need for a new vision for Canada, to replace the failure of the Conservative government.

On Sunday I was in Saskatoon, with Ralph Goodale, Gary Merasty, Wayne Easter, David Orchard, and 500 farmers who were betrayed by Stephen Harper’s dishonest plebiscite on the Canadian Wheat Board.

Yesterday I was in Thunder Bay with Ken Boshcoff, talking to forestry workers left to fight for themselves by this government, which caved to the Americans on softwood lumber.

And this morning I was with Roger Valley in Fort Hope, an Ojibwe community facing a terrible housing crisis – a crisis, and a people, ignored by this Conservative government.

So you understand my determination to talk to you tonight about our ambitious Liberal vision for a richer, fairer, greener Canada – and to do it here, in Toronto.

The GTA is more than just Canada’s largest city: as the home to almost half of new Canadians who arrive in our country each year, the GTA is our face to the world.

For almost 2 million people in Toronto, English is a second language. So I feel right at home here.

There’s another reason I feel right at home. This is the advertising capital of Canada. And as you know, I’ve been in a lot of commercials lately.

You can’t blame the Conservative Party for running negative ads. They wanted to do a commercial about all the good things they’ve done – for cities…for immigrants…for women…for the environment – but there wasn’t enough material for a thirty-second spot.

My friends, the next few weeks will be critical for the Liberal Party, and for Canada.

I think we’re going to see many more negative ads from the Conservatives. Stephen Harper seems determined to force an election that Canadians don’t want. But after a year in government, he’s got nothing to brag about. So he’s left to throw stones.

Stephen Harper has no vision for Canada– at least, no vision that he is ready to speak about openly. He has no vision for our future, and no answer to the enormous challenges we face.

Because make no mistake: these challenges will not wait.

Canada, like the rest of the world, is faced with the growing crisis of climate change. The most recent United Nations report makes clear that global warming poses an enormous threat to humanity. The crisis is more than just ecological. It is a crisis of leadership.

The most ambitious countries of the world – the most creative countries, the most determined countries – will stand to meet this crisis. For the sake of our children, our economy, and our role in the world, Canada must be one of those leading countries.

Climate change is far from the only challenge Canada faces. As China and India grow into economic superpowers, the global economic competition will become ever more intense. Canada needs to unleash all its talents and skills to compete in this world.

Just as our economy faces greater pressure from other countries, here at home our population is aging, increasing the demands on our workforce.

And so we face a choice. If we meet these challenges, Canada can be a leader in this new century, as we were in the century past.

If we don’t meet these challenges, we risk becoming the first generation in the history of our country to give to our children a lower standard of living than our own. This cannot be. And this will not be, if we Liberals tell Canadians about our vision for this country.

Liberal governments laid a careful plan to prepare Canada for the 21st century. We eliminated the deficit, invested in research and education, and made Canada competitive with the world.

Every factor was forecast, save one: a Conservative Prime Minister more concerned with the next election than the next generation. By choosing short-term gratification over long-term investment, Stephen Harper has jeopardized our country’s future.

Canadians deserve leadership with an ambitious vision of Canada – a richer Canada, a fairer Canada, and a greener Canada. To realize that ambitious vision, we need to use the talents of all Canadians. We need to invest in our economic competitiveness. We need to invest in stronger, safer cities. And we need to offer Canadians a government they can trust.

The Economy

Stephen Harper has failed to offer any such ambitious vision for Canada. A strong Canada must be a prosperous Canada. But under Mr. Harper, Canada’s future prosperity remains, to quote Macleans magazine, a cause without a leader. With your help, my fellow Liberals, I want to be that leader.

Stephen Harper’s failure to plan for Canada’s future prosperity was brought home by last month’s budget.

Never before has a Canadian government done so little with so much. Never before has a Canadian government missed such an opportunity.

I brought Canada clarity. Stephen Harper brought Canada Flaherty. And look at the result.

This budget is short-sighted. The government has the responsibility to ask, where do we want Canada to be in ten years, and how do we get there?

In ten years, I want a richer Canada, a fairer Canada, and a greener Canada. To get there, we need to invest in research. We need to invest in education. And we need broad-based tax cuts. This budget does none of that.

Maybe Mr. Harper thinks that the world owes Canada a living. The world economy is becoming tougher and more competitive. The environmental challenges are becoming larger. I want Canada to be on the podium of the sustainable economy. I want to take Canada in the right direction.

I believe Canadians will see past Stephen Harper’s short-term approach to Canada’s economy.

I believe Canadian taxpayers would rather take more money home on their paycheck than save a penny on the GST when they buy a cup of coffee.

I believe Canadian businesses would rather find new clients in China than watch Mr. Harper close consulates and cancel trade missions.

I believe Canadian researchers would rather develop the next Blackberry here in Ontario than watch it happen in Europe or the US.

And I believe Canadians everywhere would rather their government secure our prosperity for the future than spend it today on instant gratification and gimmicks.

For the sake of our economic future, it’s time to get back on course. As Prime Minister, I would govern for the next generation, not just for the next election.

The Environment

The countries that succeed in the economy of the 21st century will be the countries that invest in green technology, energy efficiency, conservation, and resource productivity.

Canada must be one of those countries. We must strive to become a green energy superpower. But under the government of Stephen Harper, Canada is further than ever from that goal.

For years, Stephen Harper denied the existence of climate change. He called Kyoto a socialist scheme. When he took office, he cut billions of dollars in programs to deal with this challenge.

Now he’s seen the polls and knows Canadians want action. So, since January, he’s been trying to present himself as a changed man.

By canceling Liberal programs and then repackaging them as new, the Conservatives are running a con job on Canadians. Pale imitations with less money simply will not meet the challenge we face.

Stephen Harper has no conviction, no commitment and no plan, to put us on the path to meeting our Kyoto targets. His so-called Clean Air Act is a farce. Instead of new ideas, he offers only excuses and fear.

Thanks to the work of John Godfrey, David McGuinty, FrancisScarpaleggia and Mark Holland, Canada may have now a Clean Air Act that merits the name. Every opposition party agreed with this new act, and I call on the Prime Minister to agree as well. Canadians deserve clean air, and they want to do their share to fight climate change.

It is time to put a price on carbon. It is time to stop using our atmosphere as a free garbage dump!

It’s time to make the polluter pay.

It’s time to establish a carbon budgetfor Canada. And it’s time to create a carbon trading market in Canada.

These steps will protect our environment and strengthen our economy, creating a whole new industry of researchers, entrepreneurs and businesses to help them do it. Canada must honour its Kyoto commitment. And we can create jobs at the same time.

Mr. Harper doesn’t get it. I do.

Social Policy

To realize this ambitious vision for Canada, a richer Canada that leads the world in sustainable development, we need to take advantage of the skills and talents of every Canadian. To succeed, we need more social justice, not less.

One million Canadian children are locked in the chains of poverty. One million!

Stephen Harper’s budget did nothing for the poor. We need action!

We need to give every child in Canada a decent start in life. The next GST tax cut that Mr. Harper wants to undertake would cost $5.5 billion. I will not make that cut. Instead of making that cut, I will invest in the child tax benefit and other social programs to lift Canadian children out of poverty.

We need to provide a real tax credit for the working poor, to help them get over the welfare wall.

We need to help our seniors. Today, one Canadian out of two expects to work past the age of 65. We need to reform our pension plan.

We need to tear down the obstacles that women face. This means progressive policies like extending parental leave benefits to a full year, as the Liberal Government did a few years ago, and a national plan for early childhood learning.

As Prime Minister I will stand up for women’s rights, beginning with my commitment that one-third of Liberal candidates in the next election are women, as well as my commitment to appoint a greater number of women to my cabinet.

Crime

Here in Toronto, you understand these challenges– the challenges of poverty, of equality, of opportunity, of a strong economy, of the environment. And you understand the need to live and work in safe cities and safe communities. For a richer, fairer, greener Canada, we need a safer Canada.

The Conservatives’ crime policies are more about scoring political headlines than making our streets safer. Realizing our ambitious vision for Canada means adopting a crime-fighting policy that works – from preventing crime, to catching and convicting criminals, to helping victims, to rehabilitation.

We will help provinces hire more municipal police officers and crown attorneys. We will hire an extra 400 RCMP officers, to help local police departments take on guns and gangs. And we will pay for at-risk communities to make their places of worship safer.

A Government We Can Trust

Finally, for us to realize this ambitious vision of Canada’s future, we need a government we can trust. Under Stephen Harper, that trust becomes more difficult each day.

Mr. Harper promised not to tax income trusts. He broke that promise, and a million Canadians paid the price. The Liberal income trust plan would soften the blow, and put back some of the money that was ripped out of Canadians’ savings.

Mr. Harper promised he would control spending, as the Liberals did before him. Instead, Jim Flaherty is now the biggest-spending finance minister in Canadian history.

Mr. Harper promised wait-time guarantees for five kinds of surgery. Today, in his latest insult to the intelligence of Canadians, Mr. Harper declared a guarantee for only one of those five categories, and said that his promise has been kept.

Delivering a guarantee in only one of five promised areas is not delivery. It’s failure. For this government, a score of 20 percent is something to celebrate.

In Ontario, the sole guarantee for cataract surgery only comes into effect in January 2009. We need a wait-time guarantee for Conservative wait-time promises!

Mr. Harper promised to end, once and for all, disagreements between the federal and provincial governments over money. Instead, not only did he infuriate Premiers from Newfoundland to British Columbia; he tried to bribe the people of Quebec on the eve on an election.

Mr. Harper suggested that he would move to limit the role of the federal government, if Quebecers voted the right way. The Prime Minister’s interference was denounced by every Party in Quebec as blackmail, and it certainly didn’t help Premier Jean Charest.

The Prime Minister must now explain, to all Canadians, how and why he wants to weaken the federal government. He must explain which powers, which responsibilities, he wants to take away from the federal government. And he must justify it in terms of the public interest – not in terms of blackmail and electoral manipulations.

All of these broken promises remind me of George Bush declaring an end to combat in Iraq in October 2003, under the banner “Mission Accomplished.” Like Mr. Bush, Stephen Harper thinks governing is about optics, empty slogans, and manipulation. Like Mr. Bush, Stephen Harper thinks he can say and do anything in the pursuit of his political goals.

I call on the Prime Minister to reiterate his commitment, without any ambiguity this time, to end the combat mission in Kandahar in February 2009.

Canadians need a government they can trust – a government that will speak with one voice to every province. I will always say the same thing to all Canadians, in both official languages, in every corner of this country: that we need to work together, for a richer Canada, a fairer Canada, and a greener Canada.

Conclusion

Canadians don't want an election, and the Liberals don’t want an election. But the Prime Minister seems determined to force an election on Canadians.

Millions of dollars spent on negative ads; boot camp for Conservative candidates; even sending a spy to follow me around the country. And now, a budget so targeted, it must have been written by a pollster.

If the Prime Minister wants to force an election on Canadians, so be it. The Liberal Party is ready.

Ready to tell Canadians who we are and what we stand for. Ready to tell Canadians what Mr. Harper’s regime will do to this country. The smallness of ideology. The meanness of spirit. The poverty of imagination. And the failure to grasp the enormity of Canada’s future.

Canadians deserve better. The stakes are too high, and Canada’s potential is too great.

Whereas Stephen Harper tries to pick and choose which Canadians deserve help from his government, we’re ready to fight for every Canadian.

Whereas Stephen Harper practices division and manipulation, we’re ready to offer hope, unity, and ideas for the future.

Whereas Stephen Harper focuses only on the next election, we’re ready to offer an ambitious vision of success for the next generation.

We’re ready to offer an ambitious vision for Canada in the world. A Canada that has an independent voice, defending the cause of peace, justice and security. A Canada that helps new democracies improve their government. A Canada at the front of the line to tackle climate change, and the right of every human being to be able to drink clean water. This is the Canada the world loves. And this is the Canada that we will bring back to the world.

We’re ready to build a richer Canada, a fairer Canada, and a greener Canada – for us, for the next generations, and for the role of Canada in the world.

Thank you.