INDEPTH: PAUL MARTIN
Text of Paul Martin's speech to the Liberal leadership convention
CBC News Online | December 12, 2003
At its leadership convention on November 14, 2003, the Liberal Party chose Paul Martin as its new leader.
The former finance minister won an overwhelming majority - 3,242 of the 3,453 eligible votes - more than 93 per cent of the ballots. The following is the text of Martin's speech to convention delegates.
Over the years, in various leadership conventions, a small number of Canadians have stood on a stage like this. Struck by what lies before them, humbled by the moment and the responsibility conveyed to them. Each determined to advance the promise of Canada in the circumstances particular to their time.
In the past while, I have thought about them. And wondered just how I would feel as I stood before you at this moment. And what I would say and what I would do.
As it turns out, it is deeply moving - and much more difficult than I thought. But I did know that I needed to find the words to explain what I believe about the time we share now and the opportunity that lies before us. And what I hope my leadership will be about.
Mr. Chretien, Mr. Turner, my friends.
I am very proud of all that we have achieved over the last ten years. But today the moment has arrived to move forward, to take another step.
The world is not waiting for us - it is evolving, changing. So we must be ready to meet new challenges - with new solutions, new ideas. I am not talking here about changes we will need in ten years from now. I am talking about today - I am talking about now.
We stand together on the edge of historic possibility. At a moment that comes rarely in the life of a country. It is a time when destiny is ours to hold. A time of new opportunity which must be seized upon in a conscious, determined effort. It is a time to turn an historic circumstance into transformative change - to summon a new national will.
Our challenge now is to show the way and to shape the course. For I believe that Canada is ready to achieve its promise, and that in these next few years we can make history.
Have you ever, on a cloudless night, looked down from a passing aircraft flying over Canada? Endless, glowing strings of cities, towns, and homesteads. Stretching on and on, one province to the next. With only the stars in the distance.
Have you ever done so by daylight, when the stunning features of our country's face stare back at you? In all their exquisite variety, magnitude, ruggedness - and beauty.
It's a palette of enormous colour and range.
But more than that. It's a profile of character, our character, seen from above. A vision of possibility that has no bounds - except for the far-off curve of the horizon. Rough-hewn in places, beckoning in others, bountiful in land and sea and the riches they give.
And like all of you I just love it.
Tonight, together, we undertake a new journey.
In times such as these, in which we are now living, the fundamental mission of government is to turn the national will towards great accomplishment. To set the objectives and to build the necessary consensus to achieve them. And in order to do this, it is clear that we must set about doing things in a different way.
First, we must pursue a new politics of achievement: we must ensure a place of influence and pride for Canada in the world; we must build a truly 21st century economy; we must strengthen the social foundations of Canadian life. And to achieve these ambitions and dreams, our governments and our leaders must change the way they conduct themselves.
We need a new approach to politics, to what we do and how we do it - a new politics of achievement. Let me tell you what this means to me.
Many people have asked me about my father - asked if, on becoming prime minister, I will have fulfilled his dream. The answer is no, it's not about his dream, it's about what he taught me - that the role of those in public life is to make a difference in the lives of people. It's about national purpose. It's about great national accomplishment.
So I know that, as he is looking down upon us tonight, he is saying - Paul, this is a big day. But it's not the day. That will come many years hence. When we can say that, yes, the country did aspire to great things - and then we got them done. That the country had a sense of purpose.
That is what I mean by the politics of achievement.
Our evolution as a society has been marked by historic moments of courageous imagination and vision. Canada was born of one such moment at Confederation when leaders of genius like Macdonald, Cartier and Brown seized the opportunity - supported in their course by millions of Canadians.
A similar moment crystallized after the Second World War, when the challenge was to rebuild a world broken by conflict and to re-knit a society torn by the Depression. Again, the choice was made to seize the opportunity and to make history.
Indeed the economic surge created at that time led to the next moment - when the Canadian people and its leaders created the modern social foundations of Canadian life - our pension and universal health care systems. Foundations which Canadians hold as cornerstones of our national identity, our pride and our values.
Today, an equally historic moment is before us.
Because of the effort and sacrifice of millions of Canadians, we have brought about a remarkable economic turnaround. As well, we find ourselves in a moment when some of the impediments to Canadian achievement - the stumbling blocks that have tripped us up time and again - have become less difficult.
Quebec's aspirations are being pursued by its government within the spirit of Confederation, rather than in opposition to it. In Western Canada, new voices are rejecting calls to build firewalls - wanting instead to exert the influence on the national stage that the West's size and success warrant.
Across the country, a new guard is taking the centre of the political stage, demanding an end to our perennial problem - the uniquely Canadian combination of regional discord and inter-governmental bickering.
And, most importantly, the old insecurities about the Canadian identity have been replaced by increasing confidence, pride and ambition. A new sense of nationhood has taken hold - one that is at ease with our multicultural diversity and linguistic duality.
As a people, we know what we can do, we know how to do it, and we just want to get on with it.
How? By ensuring that Canada's place in the world is one of influence and pride.
Most Canadians who will live in the 2020s and the 2030s are already born. More than one-third of the delegates at this convention are youth. The world we shape now is the one they will live in.
Like other countries, we must come to grips with the fact that the United States has emerged as the world's lone superpower. We need a proud partnership based on mutual respect with our closest friend and nearest neighbour. Two nations with many shared values but each acting independently.
That said, Canada's role in the world - and the opportunity to influence its future course - extends far beyond our relationship with the United States.
A world made small and integrated has literally changed the rules of the game. We have to develop new thinking about how the international community governs itself; and how sovereign nations take action together in tackling global issues. We must ensure that the global institutions of the coming decades are suffused with the values Canadians treasure - rule of law, liberty, democracy, equality of opportunity and fairness.
Our foreign policy must always express the concerns of Canadians about the poor and underprivileged of the world; the frightened and helpless victims of battle-torn societies; the sick and vulnerable without adequate health care and education.
This concern is shared by individuals of conscience the world over - like Bono - who have brought a new and welcome urgency to the plight of the people in the developing world.
Because he cares. Because we care.
What else do we have to do? We have to build a 21st century economy in Canada for Canadians. We succeeded in the last 10 years because we did not deviate from course - balanced budgets, a continually dropping debt ratio, lower taxes. We must stay that course.
Furthermore, we must do a better job of ensuring that government programs work, that they deliver on their objectives, that they deliver on value. We must be a government committed to accountability. A government that treats taxpayers' money like it is your money. Because it is. The fact is, all of this should be a given. And let me assure you, it will be.
But let's be clear as well - none of this is enough. For we have to be at the leading edge of where the global economy is going.
Within a generation, the United States will not be the lone economic superpower. China and India are already accelerating global competition, shaking the foundations of the world economy.
Just as breakthroughs in information technology and communications powered the economic surge of the 1990s, the next decade will witness similar advances in technologies we've never even heard of today. All of this with a potential to revolutionize the way we work, the way we think, how we build the communities where we live and raise our children.
Whether it is our traditional industries or tomorrow's, these enabling technologies will transform our economic base. They will be the world's engines of growth.
Ours must be an economy driven by individual ingenuity and creativity; this means an education system second to none; this means committing to the pursuit of excellence and innovation.
Because that's how we can best guarantee a rising standard of living with quality jobs and higher wages. Ideas and discoveries will be the true currency of the 21st century. Increasingly, that currency must be Canadian.
What more do we have to do? We have to strengthen our social foundations. Because, as we meet our economic needs, we must meet another responsibility - one that speaks to our nation's values and character.
We must measure our progress by the standard of care that we set for the least privileged among us. That means early childhood development and continuous learning. It means help for those who care for our senior citizens. It means improving economic opportunity for our aboriginal populations. It means hauling down the barriers which marginalize those with physical and mental disabilities. It means shorter waiting lists and swifter access to the surgeries and medical services people need.
We can never forget that our health care system is one made blind to income so that its eyes can be fixed on need. Make no mistake, I will keep the promise of universal and high-quality healthcare.
Strengthening our social foundations means improving the quality of life for Canadians. Quality of life is real; people can feel it, see it. We know when it's there. We feel quality when we feel good health, breathe clean air, taste pure water from our taps.
We know quality of life when we see people working, with dignity, with good pay, with the opportunity to move ahead. We know quality of life when our families and our children have the schooling and higher education they need in today's world. We know quality of life when we see our cities and regions thriving with energy.
We can achieve these goals - and we will.
What do we have to do? Yes - we have to accomplish great things. But we have to do it together. For the politics of achievement is not only about what we do, but how we do it. Canadians have long since run out of patience with finger pointing politics. They expect collaboration and they expect results. Nowhere is this more true than between the federal and provincial governments.
To make the point as clearly as I can, that the time has come for a new approach to building Canada - the first thing I am doing on leaving this convention is to meet with the provincial and territorial premiers to begin to develop a new relationship.
Why? Because the national interest requires better relationships among all those who govern in the people's name. As leaders, we need to come to common purpose for the common good.
So, too, we must change our relationship with Canada's cities and towns. All three orders of government must work together to make real choices in the interest of our neighbourhoods, our communities - in urban Canada and in rural Canada.
The strength of our municipalities is fundamental to our competitive position in the global economy. And they are where the face of Canada is changing most. Where the exciting and dynamic diversity of our country expresses itself. The new vitality that comes with people who have chosen to make Canada their home.
This means making good on the promise of a New Deal for our municipalities - our cities and towns, big and small.
Finally, we have to change the way we go about the nation's business. Canadians have a new confidence that positive change is possible. But they have come to doubt that their representatives share their sense of enthusiasm and purpose. They fear that power has become too concentrated. That Parliament has become too distant.
This must change. Parliament must again be where the great debates of our day take place.
MPs must have an independent voice. With more free votes, and more freedom to speak for their constituents. So too they must act as guarantors of the public trust - overseeing government actions, ensuring its integrity, and holding to account the decisions taken.
We govern with the consent of the people. I want a Canada where citizens choose to be fundamentally engaged in the way our government goes about the nation's business. In short, we have to change the way things work in the nation's capital. Your Member of Parliament must be your messenger to Ottawa, not Ottawa's messenger to you.
If we do this we can have a truly healthy Parliament, one where we are unafraid to debate our values and vision for the future, for let there be no doubt, real differences of opinion do exist.
I don't believe in right wing dogmatism. I don't believe that trickle down economics works, or that rising levels of inequality speak to a healthy society. I don't believe in left wing dogmatism. I don't believe you can run a government with bankers pounding at the door. I don't believe you should borrow from your children or grandchildren.
Mine is a Liberal vision. And, I believe in the freedom of the individual. I believe that freedom is best assured when we recognize our collective responsibility to one another, and I believe it is the role of government to embody - and to honour - that ideal, that spirit.
As you saw in the video, I was in the Okanagan recently, where the devastating wildfires consumed forest and homes, with terrible loss. You may remember Rob Rutten and Susan Garland who took me through the charred ruins of their antiques store, which, like the whole community, had been burned to the ground.
Nothing was left - except for a charred horseshoe. They gave that horseshoe to me, saying: you've got a lot on your plate these days, so take it. We hope it brings you luck. Here they were, in the midst of great personal tragedy - and their first thought was of someone else.
To me, Rob and Susan embody the courage and optimism of our country. I want to build on that spirit, and I want to return it to your Parliament - to engage all Canadians in fulfilling our national purpose.
I know that spirit is shared by all of you listening tonight. So as I draw these remarks to a close, let me say thank you.
Thank you to the delegates of this great Liberal party as well as those who have put their names forward as candidates during this leadership campaign.
Thanks to those who got us here. To the grassroots organizers, the canvassers, the party members across the land who worked on behalf of all the leadership candidates.
I also want to thank the prime minister.
If the true measure of a leader is whether he leaves the nation in better shape than he found it, then Jean Chretien can be truly proud.
I want to thank my electors of LaSalle-Emard - without whom I couldn't have started along the path to this podium tonight.
To Sheila and our sons, Paul, Jamie, David - thank you for your love, your support, so unwavering - for your constant presence near me.
And, finally, I want to thank Canadians everywhere, because from you comes the dream of a new national purpose.
Together, we can overcome the cynicism that afflicts our political process. Together we have the possibility of translating our recent gains into lasting national advantage.
The true challenge of leadership is to rally a nation to its unfulfilled promise. To build a society based on equality, not privilege; on duty, not entitlement. A society based on compassion and caring; not indifference or neglect.
It is in ourselves that the true meaning of Canada is found. Everything possible in the world is possible here. Every dream that is dreamt can be fulfilled here.
I ask all of you to join me in fulfilling Canada's destiny. Now is the time to come together as a country - in common cause and shared determination; united in purpose and accomplishment.
I believe passionately that we are at a moment of great opportunity - and that we have the national will and sense of purpose to seize it. Canada is our country. It belongs to us and we belong to it.
Let us join together, in our time, and make history once again.
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