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• Making Progress Through Multilateralism - Commonwealth Lecture 2004

Making Progress Through Multilateralism - Commonwealth Lecture 2004

Date: 30 Mar 2004
Speaker: The Rt Hon Jean Chrétien PC
Location: London, UK

I am delighted to be here with you this evening. And I am honoured to have been invited by the Commonwealth Foundation to reflect on some of my experiences. After 40 years as a politician.

I am glad as well to see winter coming to a close. As you know, I come from a country that can get very cold ... Sometimes, in the far North, it can be almost too much to endure. My favourite Cabinet portfolio was when I had responsibility for Aboriginal affairs and for Canada's North.

One time I was visiting remote communities. It was something like 40o  below zero. My young assistant and I were dropped off at the airport. The airport was, however, locked up tight. The plane was not there. I looked at my companion, Eddie, someone who went on to serve with me for 30 years. And I said, "Eddie, I wonder what it is like to freeze to death." He replied, "We'll know in about 20 minutes!" But we survived. And I loved working in the North and with Canada's Aboriginal peoples.

I want to talk with you tonight about making progress on some of the big challenges facing global society. Through multilateralism.

But I want to approach my subject by reflecting. First on what I think it has meant in Canada to be a Liberal. By sharing with you what we have done while I was Prime Minister. Second, I'd like to reflect specifically on Canada's experience with immigration and multiculturalism. For these experiences are at the root of my own faith in co-operative multilateralism.
I am and have always been a Canadian Liberal. But what exactly does that mean? For the term can seem quite fluid. In Europe, often Liberals are considered conservative. They are seen as people who believe in markets as the solution to most social challenges.

In the United States, a Liberal is portrayed by talk shows almost as a communist. A radical left winger. Someone who sees the state as offering the best solution to all problems. In Canada I think you are a Liberal when the left wingers accuse you of being a right wing conservative. And the right wingers call you a soft-headed lefty. I was always happiest when my opponents criticised me this way.

Liberalism for me has meant a balanced approach. Emphasising fiscal responsibility. But being socially progressive, investing in citizens, not just tax cuts. For my brand of Liberalism, the economy is there to serve human needs broadly, not just the elites and the rich. 

I have always believed in and defended government as a force for good. I see its duty as serving citizens efficiently, reflecting their priorities, addressing urgent problems. I tried to be pragmatic, not doctrinaire. But a pragmatism based on compassionate values.  For me, being a Liberal has meant trying to create a proud, positive, confident feeling in the land.

Governments cannot realise progressive ends if they lack financial means. It is no virtue to cling to social spending, or tax cut agendas, if they lead to spiralling debt.

When I took office in 1993, Canada had seen 28 straight years of budget deficits. Thirty-seven cents of every dollar of our spending was going to service charges on debt. Our debt-to-GDP ratio was 71 per cent and rising. High interest, high inflation, and relatively high taxes were discouraging investment and harming our quality of life. We were nearly bankrupt. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal compared us to a Third World country. We were facing a national unity crisis, with support for separatism at the highest level in our history. Canada faced a national crisis of confidence.

It was not an easy moment. But we had to play the hand we were dealt. We knew that we had to gain fiscal control. Not for its own sake. But because it would enable choice, and ensure resiliency when global circumstances changed. Fiscal health is the foundation for sustained economic growth. And it makes a difference how you achieve it. For the Canadian people to support you, you have to do it equitably, transparently, and not on the backs of the poor or marginalised.

We beat the deficit by scaling back or eliminating many programmes. By reducing the size of the public service by 19 per cent. But we exempted from the cuts programmes for poor kids and Aboriginal Canadians. And we dealt respectfully with a public service that we know is one of the best in the world.

We announced rolling two-year targets for deficit reduction. And exceeded them every time. Under-promising and over-delivering was a good formula. By being open and fair, we maintained public confidence, and avoided big demonstrations in the street. Throughout this tough period of cuts, the governing Liberal Party enjoyed high public approval ratings.

Using this approach, we succeeded in eliminating the federal deficit in three short years. Our government then achieved seven consecutive balanced budgets.

We have been the only G-7 country reporting surpluses recently. Our debt-to-GDP ratio has been cut by a third and we have paid down more than 11 per cent of our national debt. This has ensured that interest rates are the lowest in 40 years. Inflation in Canada has been low and steady for 10 years.

Our surpluses gave us that luxury of choice in spending and tax policy. We chose a balanced approach, using a 50/50 formula: roughly 50 per cent of surplus revenues went to investing in people. And 50 per cent to cutting taxes and paying off debt. On taxes we started with relief for low and modest income Canadians. We then delivered an overall cut that was the largest in our history -Cdn$100 billion over five years. Corporate and capital gains tax rates are now below those in the United States.

Most importantly, 3 million new jobs were created. Unemployment went down by 40 per cent. And Canadians' real standard of living has increased by over 20 per cent since 1997. Also great for citizens was that our Canada Pension Plan was made self-sustaining. We shifted from pay-as-you-go to full funding. It is now on sound footing for the next 50 years - a claim that almost no other industrialised nation can make.

Our brand of Liberalism meant empowering citizens, investing in kids, sharing prosperity. We ensured that low-income parents who left welfare to take a job kept their child benefits, and we doubled the size of the benefit. We also doubled parental leave from 26 weeks to a full year. The number of kids in low-income families went down by over 25 per cent since 1997. Rather than scaling back or starting to privatise medicare, as some right wingers advocated, we actually strengthened our universal, publicly funded health care system.

I believe in making the knowledge economy accessible to citizens. That is why we invested massively in research and learning at our universities. Over CdnS$11 billion in new money since 1997. We created 2,000 Research Chairs to attract top talent. We made it easier for families to save for post-secondary education through a tax-sheltered savings plan. And we created hundreds of thousands of scholarships to promote excellence and ensure access for Canadian youth.

Encouraged by Liberal Members of Parliament, and working with the provinces, we have enhanced our cities and communities year over year by making huge investments in modern infrastructure. We have invested in cultural programmes and provided housing and shelter for homeless people.

Citizens in modern democracies are plugged in, demanding. They want to be able to trust their governments. The perception that government is improperly influenced by powerful interests troubled me. We tackled the problem head on. 

We changed political financing forever. Corporations and unions can no longer contribute large sums to national parties. The private funding they provided will now be replaced by public financing. To remove the perception that large political donations buy influence.

We introduced a Bill to create an independent ethics counsellor. To strengthen pride in our public service we advanced the first major reforms in 30 years. Allowing them flexibility to hire and deploy talented people much more quickly.
We took these major steps to advance good governance, democratic integrity, and competent administration.

We were also responsive to evolving social values. In my view, Liberals of the progressive centre must be forward-looking. Willing to face up to controversy with purpose, rather than hoping tough issues go away.

For example, we introduced legislation to modernise penalties for the possession of small amounts of marijuana. We have eliminated the possibility that young people would have a criminal record shadowing them for the rest of their lives.  But it will still be illegal.

Our government also decided to extend the principle of equality in our Charter of Rights by legally recognising the union of same-sex couples. We affirmed the right of religious groups to sanctify a marriage as they define it.

One of my proudest moments as a Cabinet minister in Pierre Trudeau's government was working on the repatriation of the Constitution and the creation of a Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Protection of minority rights and fostering a tolerant, peaceful society have been important parts of Liberalism for me. This is why I have fought so hard to ensure minority language rights were respected, that francophones in every part of Canada feel proud and comfortable.

Our approach to newcomers to Canada has built upon this platform of rights and tolerance. But our method has been unique. Thirty years ago, we became the first country in the world to promote multiculturalism as a national policy. To complement our policies on immigration.

Our goal has been to bring people to Canada to help us build. And to welcome and celebrate their cultural traditions. We say to them, "You can be Canadian, and be yourself. Proud of your heritage."

We see immigrants as assets. Bringing new vitality. For they are consumers right away, expanding our domestic market. I would sometimes say to European leaders having problems with immigration, "Yes, I too have a problem - I need more of them to come to Canada!"

An example that makes me very proud is that of a young girl, who emigrated as a refugee from China. Rose to the top of her profession as a journalist, then a public servant. She is now our Governor-General, the highest office in the land. Her name is Adrienne Clarkson. And she has done a fantastic job.

Naturally, it has not always been smooth. We had to learn from problems and mistakes. But we were guided by some key principles: mutual respect and accommodation; due process; peaceful resolution of conflict; being willing to compromise; and being open to intercultural dialogue.

This is the Canadian reality. Bilingual. Multicultural. Tolerant. Welcoming. Full of opportunity. And it is what many Canadians and many great Canadian Liberals have fought hard to achieve.

Along the way, we discovered that welcoming diversity not only contributes to social peace and enriches a society; it provides a competitive advantage in a globalised world. We have close ties to an astounding number of countries. Including to powerhouse economies of the future, like China and India. Our city regions combine high quality of life with respect for diversity. This attracts the creative talent that fuels the knowledge economy.

These Canadian realities are partly why studies by KPMG and others are concluding that "Canada is the best place in the world" right now for business investment. Why the British magazine The Economist recently declared Canada to be "cool". And why the French magazine L'Express pronounced that Canada is the country the French would like to have.

We have learned lessons from our diversity and bilingualism, our effective social and fiscal policies, our competent, democratic system of governance. The lessons have shaped our character. And enhanced our ability to be constructive in international institutions. Like the Commonwealth and the United Nations. 

They have enabled us to help resolve major global challenges. We recognised that dialogue; connecting across differences; belief in progress; and belief in institutions, are necessary in fruitful nation to nation conversations. And necessary to individual countries and regions struggling to achieve harmony, and run their affairs successfully. 

The nations of the world face huge problems that we have no choice but to face collectively. These include environmental degradation, infectious disease, regional conflicts, organised crime, and controlling weapons of mass destruction. The requisite co-ordination, resources, and political legitimacy demand that nations work together.

Yes, there have been failures. And ongoing problems in organisations such as the UN and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). But many successful multilateral efforts have also occurred. We should celebrate our successes, and build on them.

Canada has long been a builder in multilateral organisations. I have had the privilege of learning from such great Canadian internationalist figures as Lester Pearson and Pierre Trudeau. My government did its best to uphold traditions these distinguished Liberals helped establish.

Though I am before you today merely as an ordinary citizen, I did get a bit of experience of my own in multilateral co-operation. In recent years, we took a lead role at the UN in advocating an agenda of collective action focused on security of individuals, human rights, and development. We led the effort on the Ottawa Convention banning land mines.

We drove the establishment of the International Criminal Court. To ensure that perpetrators of atrocities are held to account by the international community. We remained committed to our role in peacekeeping and conflict avoidance.

We also championed the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) at the G-8 meeting in 2002. We are doubling our Overseas Development Assistance over the next number of years. We ratified the Kyoto Protocol and funded a plan to ensure we succeed in complying with it.

In the last decade, we did our part for world biodiversity by creating over 20 vast new parks and marine conservation areas. Adding an area equivalent to Great Britain and Ireland put together - close to 300,000 square kilometres of new protected areas - to complete our national parks system. 

Canada also acted with determination in the fight against terrorism, participating in the military effort in Afghanistan. And supporting peacekeeping and reconstruction. We currently make up the largest force in Afghanistan under the NATO command.

We made the decision not to participate in the war in Iraq. After all the efforts to forge a broader consensus did not succeed. I do not regret that decision not to go to war.

In addition to the International Criminal Court, the Land Mines Treaty and the NEPAD, I point to recent shared successes, such as the 2000 Millennium Summit and the 2002 Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey. Together we created a shared framework on priority setting for more effective aid. Setting targets and key principles. And spelling out accountabilities for developing and developed countries.

Now we must find ways to improve our ability to respond to crises in the future. In Kigali on 7 April the UN will be acknowledging the 10th anniversary of the terrible massacres in Rwanda. When the UN and the international community failed to respond in time to avert it. Similarly in Bosnia.

My friends, on no issue is progress more necessary or more difficult than protection of the innocent. Too often conflicts are allowed to erupt; even when we all see the terrible consequences emerging. Too often the lives of innocent civilians are shattered. I fear that we are no better prepared to deal with such situations as may arise in the future.

In 2000 Canada sponsored the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. The Commission produced an excellent report. Arguing that sovereignty entails responsibility, not simply rights. A state has no duty more fundamental than protecting its own people from grievous harm. When a government cannot or will not do so, the responsibility to protect persons becomes temporarily a collective international responsibility. To prevent genocides and ethnic cleansing. And help restore stability.

I recognise some are fearful that interventions might occur on slender pretexts. Or with motives other than the protection of innocents. Nations need to work together to create a framework, develop principles, and clear rules that address these reservations. And move the issue forward. I think this task of building on the work of the Commission should be central to current efforts to renew the United Nations. It is about filling a void with a coherent framework. In defence of our common humanity.

Efforts against terrorism and in human protection must be complemented by continued progress in development and in a fairer trading system. In 2003 Canada eliminated virtually all tariffs and quotas on products from least developed countries.

We have to let free markets work. Personally, I find it absurd that the developed world spends close to US$350 billion annually on subsidies to their own farmers. And onlyUS$50 billion on aid to poor countries. This has to stop. There is no way these poor countries can compete and sell their agricultural products to us when faced with this kind of barrier. If we begin fixing this situation, they will have a chance to build their economies. And start to trade their way out of poverty. Instead of being forever dependent on aid.

We must also continue to improve the availability of affordable pharmaceutical drugs to poor countries in the fight against AIDS and other diseases.  Following on the Cancún WTO agreement, we introduced a Bill to permit companies in Canada to produce needed drugs cheaply and without violating WTO agreements.

Allow me to say a few words about the Commonwealth. Canada is proud to belong to this great organisation. For in so many ways, it suits our values, traditions and hopes for the world.

It can be said that the sun never sets on the Commonwealth - we have nations from every part of the globe. We share the English language, and the richness of the parliamentary political tradition. We are all committed to the rule of law, and democratic principles.

Many of us speak other languages as well in our home countries. Or practise different religions. We are of different cultures. The colour of our skin is not the same. Yet, through what we share, and by choosing to be enriched by differences, we have made the organisation work. 

We stood united against apartheid in South Africa. We spoke forcefully against dictatorship in Nigeria in 1995, helping ensure the release of political prisoners, and the successful transition to a democracy. Under the leadership of my good friend President Obasanjo, who was himself unjustly imprisoned at that time. 

We are working constructively to help bring healing and democratic rule in Zimbabwe. And we continue to advance peace and development in other parts of the world.

One of the reasons the Commonwealth has been effective, I think, is the 'Leaders' Retreat', an innovation introduced at a meeting hosted by my former boss, Prime Minister Trudeau, in 1973, and carried forward ever since. 

It is incredibly useful to have leaders meet face-to-face, without their officials or advisers. No audience or cameras to impress. We meet, not as big shots, lawyers, or professional diplomats. But as human beings, sharing common values, committed to finding common ground. We look each other in the eye. We speak unvarnished truths. We tell a joke or story to break the tension. Trust and purpose are forged. And a Commonwealth consensus emerges. Once again.

The Commonwealth and its 'family feeling' are very complementary to the UN, in my judgement. The stands we take, the projects we advance, and the relationships we build prepare the ground for efforts elsewhere. Certainly when I was Prime Minister it was great to be able to pick up the phone and call another Commonwealth leader, or our excellent Secretary-General, and have a frank chat about how we could work together. 

Certain successes at the UN would have been much more difficult if not impossible without the crucial contribution of the Commonwealth. That is why it gives me great pride to stand before you today and celebrate a bit the distinguished past and bright future of this organisation.

I would argue that Canada has not done badly these past years in carrying forward its Liberal tradition on the international stage. We have put resources and diplomacy towards the service of co-operative multilateralism. But there is still too much to do for any of us to be complacent.

In life and in politics I am someone who believes in solving problems, in accentuating the positive. In defending institutions, like the Commonwealth and the UN, that have been developed by the wise people who preceded us. Especially defending them against armchair critics who would only notice faults. Fault finding is very easy. But it is paralysing. It saps confidence and trust. I am not a fault finder. I am a doer.

The tools we have are the tools we have. The UN and other multilateral organisations to which we belong must be made to work for us. To accomplish real things. Defend against terror. To help rebuild states. Protect the innocent. To spread prosperity. Defeat disease.

Ambitious, yes. But headway has been made in recent years on each of these fronts. We have shown that a comprehensive agenda is possible. Nations must be vigilant, disciplined, and prepared to work together. It can happen when leaders, not just in politics, but in business, the NGO community and elsewhere are prepared to put some differences aside. Be positive. Allow diverse voices to speak in regions where we are trying to help. And put moral force and political will behind the effort.

For at the end of the day, whatever the colour of our skin, our religion, our culture, we are at bottom part of one human family, living in a single shared space. We can find common ground. Make progress. As a Canadian, and a progressive, I will never stop believing in this vision.

Thank you.

Download the speech: Making Progress Through Multilateralism - Commonwealth Lecture 2004