Fellow
participants,
Thanks
to the Public Policy Forum and Canada
West Foundation, our co-chairs, members
of the steering committee and all
the sponsors of this conference. We
will, however, be judged on the consequences
of what has been said over the past
two days; each of us should hope that
the outcomes will be very different
from those of a conference on a similar
theme held in Calgary about 30 years
ago.
It
is impossible to sum up in ten minutes
the highlights of all that has been
said here, but let me try, starting
with Premier Klein’s opening
message.
Premier
Klein
The
premier made three governance proposals:
1.
Appointment of senators from provincial
government nominees. I’d guess
that about three in four Westerners
would favour this proposal, provided
the persons proposed are first elected.
2.
Institutionalize yearly First Ministers’
Conferences. This would certainly
appear to have support across Western
Canada and probably well beyond for
the more friendly federalism needed
in the new century.
3.
Consult with provinces first on international
treaties which impact on areas of
provincial jurisdiction. I believe
this is already necessary under the
decades-old Labour Standards decision
of the Supreme Court of Canada. If
not, the proposal certainly strikes
me as reasonable.
Canada
West President Roger Gibbins
Prof.
Gibbins and his opinion charts indicated
that residents of all four Western
provinces are essentially united in
their attitudes towards national governments
despite major demographic, economic
and other differences.
One
can quarrel with the wording of some
of the questions, but in my view no
one should leave this conference thinking
that a succession of regionally harmful
so-called national policies over many
decades has not formed the political
consciousness of many Westerners.
Chief
Crowfoot
To
illustrate, go to Aretha van Herk’s
recently published history of Alberta,
Mavericks, which describes what happened
to Chief Crowfoot after Treaty 7 was
“signed”. He and his Blackfoot
people almost starved during the winter
of 1878-79 when federal agents provided
no food. Somehow, they found the strength
to move to the US seeking remnants
of the buffalo, returning to the reserve
in complete desperation a year or
so later. There, van Herk writes,
“…they had no choice but
to beg for white handouts. The food
they were given was substandard, the
flour crawling with maggots, and the
beef a meat the people found too sweet…worst
of all, the employees of the federal
Department of Indian Affairs treated
the people with contempt.”
This
early federal disrespect has had a
lot of progeny down through the decades.
John A. Macdonald’s National
Policy, for example, obliged Prairie
farmers to pay a 35% tariff on imported
farm implements. The railways at times
charged them rates that were 50% higher
than the Grand Trunks Railway’s
ones for the same services. Manitobans
paid a higher rate than Central Canadians;
residents of what are now Alberta
and Saskatchewan a higher rate than
Manitobans and British Columbians
the highest rate of all. Ottawa rail
officials approved this as ‘fair
discrimination.”
I’ll
not continue to save time, but trust
me it is a long and sorry chronology.
Further details are available in two
books posted on my website (www.david-kilgour.com)
Plenary
of Four Provincial Cabinet Secretaries
In
their plenary, the provincial secretaries
dealt in part with their First Nations
residents. It seemed clear for each
province that they are an important
human resource for the future. “Education
is the new buffalo for our First Nations”
was an important thought expressed.
It
struck me that the relative success
of some of our traditional sectors
currently is a good thing given what
has happened of late to telecommunications
and ITCs around the world.
Panel
on Border Security /Transportation
Some
of the $12 billion Ottawa has collected
in fuel taxes since ’92 should
be reinvested in much needed road,
rail and water infrastructure for
BC and elsewhere across the West.
This is all the more essential given
the $218 billion the US is now spending
on such infrastructure.
The
Canada-US perimeter clearance plan
must be implemented for the sake of
all four Western economies. Doing
so will take pressure off our numerous
border crossings. Post-9/11 delays
at them have reduced the productivity
of one trucker in Vancouver from two
daily trips to Seattle to one.
The
concept that a container cleared in
the port of Vancouver or San Francisco
could be cleared for all of North
America is not a question of anyone’s
sovereignty but of common security
for nationals of both nations.
On
air policy, Ottawa should stop playing
regional favourites. Currently, less
than 40% of our international landing
agreements give access to Vancouver
airport; whereas 70% of them give
access to Toronto and 90% to Montreal.
Energy
Panel
The
underlying theme was the need for
federal – provincial cooperation
on a host of energy issues.
1.
A host of related aboriginal issues
need to be addressed in holistic ways
as the status quo is not working productively
for anyone.
2.
On Kyoto, there is a need for clarity
on planning and technology solutions.
The UK implementation plan already
rolls out to 2050.
3.
Energy supply growth, pipelines, etc
policy must help all keep a constant
eye on the international competition
from Mexico and elsewhere.
Agriculture
Panel
Western
agriculture/food has experienced enormous
structural change since the 1945 -much
coming from increased productivity
gained through science and innovation.
Even more is needed if the sector
is to reach its full potential.
Farmers
are having a very difficult time dealing
with change because their incomes
have not kept pace with those in other
parts of the food supply chain. A
very serious challenge is how to share
gains in agricultural productivity
among farmers, processors, suppliers
of new technology and consumers.
Arts,
Culture and Multimedia
Quality
of life is fundamental to the advancement
of our economy. Our art and culture
industry impact on quality of life
and we need to place a greater importance
on their advancement. This can also
be achieved through strategic investment
in arts and culture facilities and
programs.
Ralph
Goodale Talk
Westerners
generally will share Ralph Goodale’s
views on a number of points, including:
·
Western Alienation and its causes
must be addressed with equal attention
as the causes of discontent elsewhere
in our country.
·
Proof of Ottawa’s good intentions
towards the West re Kyoto implementation
will shortly be required.
·
More Westerners are needed in the
federal public service
·
More federal investment in projects
like Syncotron and the CO2 sequestration
project in Saskatchewan are necessary.
·
The innovation agenda must be aimed
at Western strengths – including
our natural/ human resources bases.
·
Unless all concerned addresses work
opportunities for aboriginal youth
effectively, Saskatchewan could face
a socio-economic crisis.
Premier
Campbell Talk
What
struck this listener about Premier
Campbell’s talk?
He
is pleased with Ottawa’s support
for the convention Centre expansion
and the 2010 Olympic bid. Good news
always welcome!
One
problem for the cause of good governance
anywhere is “institutional inertia
and the caretakers for the status
quo.” He reminded us that in
1867, BC had a population of 36,000
and today it has 4.1 million.
Open
cabinet meetings are part of citizen
empowerment in BC and a citizen’s
assembly will decide next year how
MLAs will be elected.
The
BC Centre for Disease Control has
the expertise to solve the SARS crisis
and it should become Canada’s
National Centre for Disease Control.
Panel
on Innovation
Panel
on Human Capital
Panel
on Strengthening Drivers of Western
Economy
Panel
on Increasing Trade and Investment
Conclusion
Because
we just heard the reports of these
panels before lunch, I will not try
to rehash them. However, I invite
to you to draw from all these points
and many not repeated your own priorities.
Please identify the five key points
you think should be emphasized post-conference
and bring them to the attention of
anyone you feel will act on them,
including myself.
The
key issues that I will be pushing
include:
1.
Transportation policy.
2.
Innovation, innovation, innovation.
I don’t think this can be stressed
strongly enough. It is clear that
everyone – individuals and governments
must make greater commitments to funding,
promoting and implementing advances
in R & D. We must develop a much
greater sense of urgency about our
economic future – it must be
in all our hands.
3.
Education and Knowledge. As Dr. Phillips
pointed out, too often we think of
education as an expenditure, not as
an investment. There must be a fundamental
shift in this thinking if we want
to be able to retain young people
in the West. We need them to have
the necessary skill sets to fill the
positions that are being created everyday.
Our young people need guarantees that
they will be able to access to post-secondary
education without sacrificing their
futures. Through scholarship programs,
better student financing programs
and basic standards across this country
– we must make the commitment
to our youth, the future of the West.
4.
Increasing our trade. Compared to
GDP and population, our region last
year accounted for only a relatively
small share of total Canadian exports
($100 billion of about $400 billion
for Canada as a whole) and an even
smaller share of imports ($60 billion
of a total $350 billion). Surprisingly,
the West is now significantly less
dependent on trade than Canada as
a whole. By increasing trade, one
obvious result will be increased investment
into our region.
5.
A real and honest implementation policy
with regard to Kyoto that does not
strike our region harder than any
other. We have heard so much about
the environment and the need to protect
it for future generations.
Thank
you.
