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March Speech v02
March Speech v02
Like many of us I daresay, like most of us I am fortunate to enjoy, indeed, I feel blessed by,
everything Canada has given me.
Partly because my parents instilled in us the value of work;
Partly because I studied at a time when certain academic programs still had Jewish quotas;
[Partly because I was born during the dark hours of World War II, and came of age in its
aftermath]
Partly because of my outlook on life;
My philosophy was, not to squander, but to make the most of every opportunity presented.
Over the years, I have enrolled in, and graduated from, different programs. I have lived in
different communities. I have held diverse jobs.
At the time I graduated from business school, I was the only Quebec lawyer with an MBA.
Today that double designation is so common that its unremarkable.
Wilder Penfield, the great Canadian neurosurgeon, advocated that people not rest after one
vocation. He even titled one of his books, The Second Career.
I think Ive doubled Dr. Penfields two-career target. And that was before I entered politics.
All of my jobs, and all of my experiences, have been exceptionally interesting, and enriching,
and stimulating.
Even in that context, my current responsibilities stand out.
For it is a special privilege to serve as Minister of Natural Resources in a country so rich in
resources.
Canadians feel a special bond to the land and its resources.
Residents of Northern, rural and remote communities understand first-hand what it means
for ones well-being to be resource-based.
The First Nations, Inuit and Mtis have traditionally lived closest to the land and have
deep reverence for the gifts of Mother Earth.
But even those who live in cities and suburbs feel pride in the majesty of this great land.
-2It is truly a blessing to live in the shadow of the Rockies, or to witness the Northern Lights, or to
who watch sunrise where the Atlantic Ocean meets the coast but matter where we live,
Canadians embrace these wonders as part of our shared natural heritage.
From the beginning until present times, the land and its resources have fueled Canadian
prosperity. First, the resource economies of the First Nations. Then the cod-fishing economy.
After that, the fur-trade economy. Later, the gold rush.
Today, natural resources account for one-sixth of Canadas economy1 and half of our exports.
Across the country, one job in ten is dependent on natural resources.
Beyond measurement are the contributions of Robert Service, Emily Carr, the Group of Seven,
and other great creators, all of whom drew inspiration from our resource richness.
Culturally, artistically, economically, psychologically, Canadians are bound to the land in a way
that citizens of many other places are not.
As a result, one value Canadians all share is the concept of stewardship:
The principle that these resources are gifts, not to be taken for granted:
Gifts to use and enjoy, and to better our lives but also gifts to respect and protect and pass to
the next generation.
The First Nations and Inuit embraced stewardship millennia before anyone else arrived on the
continent.
The early settlers believed in stewardship and practised it.
Various faith communities accepted stewardship of the earth as a moral imperative.
To this day, anyone who lives on, or by, or from the land understands [and practises]
environmental and resource stewardship.
The importance of resource stewardship is evident in the consequences of failure to uphold this
duty. John Cabot described the cod stock off Newfoundland as so plentiful that the fish could be
caught without nets, just baskets.2 495 years later, international failure to respect the principle of
stewardship caused the cod fishery to collapse.
[need transition]
I think it was a former Prime Minister who observed that we Canadians chose to settle the more
challenging half of the North American continent.3
He was not the first to remark that the Canadian land defines our character ... and our character
reflects the land.
Hockey could only have been invented by a strong and vigorous people inhabiting a northern
land.
Equally revealing, in my view, is what we have done to the game of football.
Canadian football, in contrast to the American rules, requires particular strength and
determination. We must carry the ball farther for a touchdown ... across a wider field ... in a
more open and unpredictable game ... relying on fewer downs.
Thats the Canadian approach: rugged, determined, and worthy of the land known as, the true
North, strong and free.
[need seque]
As Canadians, we know there is another aspect of our character. An aspect that has been
described in various ways.
Historian Desmond Morton calls us cautious and sensible.4
Others might use term reasonable or open-minded.
Novelist Doug Taylor has one of his characters explain that Canadians strive to see both sides of
an argument and prefer tolerance and compromise ... except when it comes to their favourite
hockey team.5
3 I have heard this sentiment attributed to Joe Clark but cannot find any online confirmation or
specific source.
4 Canadians, like their historians, have spent too much time remembering conflicts, crises, and
failures. They forgot the great, quiet continuity of life in a vast and generous land. A cautious
people learns from its past; a sensible people can face its future. Canadians, on the whole, are
both.
-6First Nations peoples live closer to the land than most Canadians and they possess millennia of
experience in responsible environmental stewardship and balanced use of our resources.
The contribution of First Nations communities is vital because we can learn much from their
experience.
These contributions from First Nations, community groups and concerned citizens stand in
contrast to a small minority that is not satisfied with a reasonable, cautious, middle course.
I am referring to those professional activists who make no pretence at open-mindedness because
their minds are made up:
The no oil lobby.
The no-oil lobbyists are trying to force a choice between the environment and the economy
because their vision of well-being is too narrow and too limited to accommodate both
environmental prosperity and economic prosperity.
In the process, they are badly underestimating Canadians.
The no-oil lobby peddles inflamed rhetoric, when Canadians are reasonable and broad-minded
and want to base their decisions on facts and science.
The no-oil lobby posits a false dichotomy between economic growth and environmental
protection, when Canadians want to achieve both.
The no-oil lobby is pitching an extreme solution, when Canadians try to identify the middle
course.
The no-oil lobby wants to veto resource development, when Canadians want to develop
resources in a responsible and sustainable manner.
Last month,8 Patrick Moore, co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace, wrote a submission to
several Canadian newspapers in which he challenged the no-oil lobby head on.9
Mr. Moore called for a balanced approach that sees us developing resources in an
environmentally responsible manner.
He explicitly warned against vetoes that would bring progress to a standstill.
8 Assumes an April delivery of speech.
9 Ottawa Sun (March 27, 2013), p. 21.
-8Over the next decade, current and planned resource projects will be worth 650 billion dollars in
investment, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs for middle class Canadian families in every
sector of our economy and every region of the country.
We will reap the harvest of those opportunities, provided we choose a balanced path that protects
both the environment and economic growth.