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Honourable Members of the Senate:
Members of the House of Commons:
I have the honour to welcome you to the Third Session of the 28th Parliament of Canada and to present, on behalf of my Government, various matters which it wishes to lay before you.
Before proceeding, I should like to recall to your minds a few events of the year which have been of special significance in our national life.
The Northwest Territories, which comprise 40 per cent of our land and water, and the "Keystone" Province of Manitoba, have each celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of their entry into Canada.
They were greatly encouraged in these exercises, and Canada as a whole was delighted by the presence of our gracious Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied for the first time by The Prince of Wales and Princess Anne. The Royal Family travelled extensively in the Northwest Territories and visited a great many Manitoba communities, ending with an enthusiastic send-off from Winnipeg. In Ottawa we were all pleased to play host for two days to Prince Charles, a friendly and interested guest.
The interest of Canada as a whole in these centennials was shown in many ways, including a Session of the Cabinet in Winnipeg, individual visits by the Prime Minister and other Canadians in public life, and by the participation of my wife and myself.
Our own travels in the Western Arctic and in the Yukon Territory enabled us to round out our tours of all the Provinces and Territories.
Next year British Columbia, which extended the Canadian Federation to the Pacific Coast in 1871, will mark the centennial of this historic event. It will give Canadians much satisfaction to know that Her Majesty and The Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by Princess Anne, will visit the Province in early May and join in the centennial celebration.
We gather here today within a few hours of the conclusion of the Second Session of this Parliament. In a real sense, the interval between the second and third sessions cannot be measured in terms of hours or days. The Third Session of the 28th Parliament commences in the decade of the seventies, a decade which we dare not assume will be a continuation of the past. The passing of the sixties and the beginning of the seventies reminds us that Canada faces a new age: an age which will be subject to forces not all of which are yet comprehended or understood, forces which will proceed from external as well as internal origins. It is a new age not so much because of changed circumstances, but new because of changed values and attitudes.
Because of the clash between these new values and the old, because of the quest by the young and the disillusioned for some resolution of attitudes, we live in a period of tenseness and unease. It is an age frequented by violence as desperate men seek ill-defined goals; an age of frustration as gentle men question impatiently old assumptions. It is an age in which the life-support systems of the biosphere may collapse unless man reverses his present course and begins again to live in harmony, rather than in competition, with his environment. It is an age in which the forces of science and technology now in motion are so massive, so swift, and so comprehensive that man may be facing his last opportunity to control his own destiny rather than be subject to it.
The decade of the seventies extends beyond our present vision, yet the momentum of change is already so overwhelming that man can no longer afford the luxury of reacting to events. He must anticipate and plan. He must accept that contentment and indifference are illusory; that the most dramatic reality is change; that there is more need than ever before to preserve as constant values truth, honesty, excellence and relevance; that a society which is not inspired by love and compassion is not worthy of the name.
We are entering an age of tension, an age of challenge, an age of excitement. At the threshold of the seventies a choice is open to Canadians as it is open to few persons in few countries. With foresight and stamina and enterprise, ours may be, if we wish it;
-a society in which human differences are regarded as assets, not liabilities;
-a society in which individual freedom and equality of opportunity remain as our most cherished possessions;
-a society in which the enjoyment of life is measured in qualitative, not quantitative terms;
-a society which encourages imagination and daring, ingenuity and initiative, not coldly and impersonally for the sake of efficiency, but with warmth and from the heart as between friends.
As Canada moves into the seventies, we are all invited to join in this bold enterprise-to share the excitement, to face the challenge, to pursue the distant ideal of a just society.
The Canada of the seventies must continue to be a land for people; a country in which freedom and individualism are cherished and nurtured; a society in which the Government lends its strength to withstand, rather than support the pressures for conformity.
One of the greatest of the challenges to individuality comes from the increasing pressures of urban living. It is estimated that eighty per cent of the population of Canada will be resident in a few large cities by the end of this century. By comparison with the recent past, this is a new face of Canada bringing with it a new accumulation of problems. One of those problems is the need for adequate housing, another the provision of the many services necessary in an urban environment. Much progress has already been attained in these areas, but much more remains to be done. To solve the problems will require an ever-increasing share of the nation's financial resources; not to solve them, to permit unmanaged growth, would result in an unacceptable drain of the nation's human resources. To foster coordination of the activities of all levels of government, and to contribute to sound urban growth and development, the Government proposes the re-organization of its urban activities under the direction of a Minister of State for Urban Affairs and Housing. The Government seeks, by making rational its efforts in these fields, and through consultation with those most directly concerned, to help Canadians reach and implement the decisions that will determine their urban future.
There exists in Canada a great wealth of untapped and uncoordinated scientific talent and experience not now adequately utilized in the quest for solutions to our modern problems. In order to serve better the industrial and technological sectors of our economy, as well as Canada at large, a programme will be introduced to gather and focus these sometimes divergent and competitive scientific resources. In this respect the Government will consider with care measures recommended by the Senate Committee on Science Policy and the Science Council of Canada.
A society is said to be judged best by the compassion and the fairness with which it treats those of its members who breach or are accused of breaching the norms of conduct which it establishes for itself. The Canadian record in this respect is of a high standard, but not so high that it can withstand all criticism. You will be asked, therefore, to consider further measures intended to continue the reform of the law in these areas. Legislation has been prepared which deals with bail and pretrial detention, and with the treatment of young offenders.
Norms of conduct are never static, however, and certainly not at present. A society which cherishes the concept of freedom of individual rights must be prepared constantly to assess the effect and extent of changing attitudes, no matter how distressing or disturbing the re-evaluation may be to some persons. Previously accepted postures are under attack in Canada and require study in several areas. The Government accepts its responsibility in this process. The report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, expected within the next few months, will require careful study and discussion. The Government proposes to make time available during
this session for discussion of still another controversial issue. It proposes a special debate on abortion.
To ignore the undoubted widespread challenges to present laws in these fields would be dishonest. You will be invited, therefore, to participate, in the examination of these important questions. You will be asked as well to give consideration to the report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women when once this is received.
Fortunately, not all aspects of Canadian life are subject to such differences of opinion, and the need for legislation in certain sectors is widely recognized. Two such sectors, immense in size and largely overlapping, are those of the consumer and the employee. Every Canadian is a consumer of goods and services, millions of Canadians are employees. To face today's competitive marketing system, the consumer requires protection in a number of respects. Measures will be introduced, therefore, to protect Canadians more adequately from the results of combines, mergers and unfair trade practices, to regulate the labelling and packaging of consumer goods, and to protect further the users of consumer credit.
Because the Canadian work force is growing in size and sophistication, and operating within an increasingly integrated industrial environment, present measures must be amended to meet changing social requirements. You will be asked, therefore, to approve a revised legal framework for labour-management relations and a new set of labour standards for industries within federal jurisdiction. Sweeping changes in the field of unemployment insurance will be proposed in a bill designed to widen considerably both the benefits offered and the persons who are qualified to take advantage of them. These measures will make more rational and more fair the assistance available to those temporarily without employment. The legislation is a product of the careful study of this subject tabled in Parliament last session in the form of a white paper.
A number of other studies of this same nature have been underway in past months as well. These reflect Government planning for the Canada of the seventies. Parliament will be invited to examine in this session a number of white papers in such diverse fields as communications, citizenship, immigration, national defence, and income security policy.
The Government is pleased at the widespread and largely constructive public response to its invitation to comment upon the proposals contained in its white paper on tax reform. The views of those who have participated in this exercise are being examined and carefully considered, as will those of the two Parliamentary Committees. Thereafter, legislation will be introduced incorporating policies designed to make more equitable the economic burden shared by our fellow dwellers in this complex and varied land. These taxation measures are part of the Government's pledge to utilize the wealth of Canada for the good of all Canadians and not just for those fortunate enough to be shielded by the protective apparatus of giant corporations, alert professional organizations or powerful labour unions.
It remains the goal of the Government to be concerned with the production of wealth. It also remains the goal of the Government that Canadians be given the opportunity to enjoy that wealth. Income security programmes offer one means by which this latter goal can be attained. To this end legislation will be introduced.
All our efforts for a stable prosperity and for a humane community will be of little value to us, however, if we do not quickly and determinedly grapple with the threat to our well-being and the well-being of future generations of Canadians which is represented by environmental pollution. Pollution is a many-headed hydra and requires action in many forms. You will be asked to consider bills intended to deal with pollution in two of its aspects: in the ocean and in the atmosphere. More pressing than any single step or steps, however, is the need to co-ordinate and consolidate our efforts in an effective fashion. There will be proposed the establishment of a department to be concerned with the environment and the husbanding of those renewable resources that are a part of and dependent upon it, with a mandate for the protection of the biosphere.
However worthy our goals, and however strong our will to attain them, they will nevertheless be denied to us in whole or in part should our economy be malfunctioning. It would be irresponsible to suggest that the economy is now in a satisfactory condition. When costs rise more rapidly than productivity, when men and women are unable to gain employment, when a reasonable distribution of the wealth of Canada is denied to certain sectors or regions, then these are matters for deep concern. Fortunately, our population, the number of Canadians engaged in productive employment, the total volume of goods and services which they produce, and Canadian exports all continue to grow.
Export sales of grains, so important to Canada's economic well-being, are exhibiting a steadily rising trend in marked contrast to the very stagnant situation a year ago. The LIFT program has removed a substantial portion of the accumulated wheat surplus which was inhibiting the international wheat market, and has encouraged a healthy diversification of agricultural activities. The unanimous support accorded the Gov-erment's initiative in the development of national marketing agencies by the First Ministers at their recent meeting assures continued cooperation between both levels of government. That cooperation will provide a basis for improved marketing structures for agricultural commodities, which will benefit both producers and consumers in almost all segments of agricultural endeavour. The Government will continue to introduce programmes designed to improve the market potential for agricultural produce and to assist in the adjustment to changes in this vital sector of our economy.
Canadian industry is responding to the challenges of growth and of adaptation to a changing world environment. Our exports in past months have achieved record heights. In an attempt to place the textile industry on a competitive footing, legislation to facilitate adjustment of that industry will be introduced this session.
We are not yet free of inflationary pressures but there has been real progress and price increases have abated to the extent that the Canadian record in the battle against inflation is superior to that so far attained in any other western country. In the result it has been possible for the past several months to moderate certain monetary and fiscal restraints. Unemployment remains distressingly high in some parts of Canada although the rate has not increased significantly in recent months, and measures to encourage regional economic expansion in areas of slower development are beginning to show results. Soundly based growth, which is prerequisite for increased permanent employment opportunities, will continue to be encouraged and will reflect success to the extent that restraint is exercised by all Canadians in the cost area, and that improved productivity strengthens the position of Canada in external trade.
In sum, the vitality of the economy, coupled with present governmental policies, is countering slowly but effectively the pressures of inflation and unemployment. So long, however, as Canadians who desire work are unable to find it; so long as persons on fixed incomes are unable to provide adequately for themselves and their dependents; then so long must the Government strive to assist them.
It must do so even as it acknowledges and weighs the concern expressed increasingly by Canadians about the extent and the nature of foreign ownership in the Canadian economy. Legislation dealing with one aspect of this complex problem, the uranium industry, will be introduced for your consideration.
All these matters require your earnest consideration even as the events of the world beyond our borders demand our constant attention. Canadians have long realized that they represent but a single segment of a larger world community. The political, economic and social health of Canada cannot be maintained should infection of either a primary or secondary nature be rampant in the world at large. The Government continues, therefore, to direct its efforts in increasing measures to those tasks where Canadian initiative and Canadian competence may prove to be as effective as has other Canadian enterprise in the past. Much of this effort is expended within the framework
Speech from the Throne
of the United Nations, celebrating this year a quarter century as the conscience and the hope of mankind. In such diverse but important fields as disarmament, environmental protection, economic development planning, the creation of new international legal structures for the deep oceans and outer space, and international security, we work and remain committed to a world in which peace, social progress and the dignity of man will be the norm and not the exception as is now too often the case.
An economy that is in need of adjustment; a society beset by a variety of tensions; an environment that has been abused and degraded; an international community that is under intense pressures-these are the problems that demand our urgent attention. But of those that are basically Canadian, none is insoluble. None takes the form of those dilemmas or irreconcilable issues which elsewhere fire the violence of despair. Notwithstanding its difficulties, Canada continues to enjoy social stability to an exceptional degree.
This stability is not simply a matter of luck. Good fortune is a factor, but we should accept gracefully the fact that we are also more amenable to reason and, perhaps, more capable of wise decision than we are normally willing to admit. The burden of our European inheritance and our fascination with our American neighbour tend often to distract us and cause us to be unaware of that reasonableness and that wisdom. We forget to our own disadvantage, for these are traits that have made Canada a land of freedom. Canadians should pause on occasions such as this to reflect that their country is regarded by others with envy. It is a high place of liberty in the world. It is held in esteem because in Canada respect is paid to the individual; privacy and freedom of thought are honoured. Among us, each citizen, each community, finds its roots in liberty. Our national entity does not depend upon a melting pot, but is a concerted exercise of free will.
It is in this sense of liberty as a supreme value, and of tolerance as its social and political expression, that we find our foundation and strength as a people. Let us recognize with pride and with modesty what so many strangers admire and see in us: that we have achieved greatly, that in the future even greater achievements are within our reach. We have the capacity, if we retain the will, to adjust our society to reflect the values of our peoples, to benefit from a rich cultural life, to create viable political and social structures, and to strike an equilibrium with nature without which all the rest may be undone.
The conviction is growing throughout the world that if man is to survive he must strive without delay to regulate his future. This is a task which presupposes a fullness of freedom and an extensive field of human experience. Now, as we enter the decade of the seventies, Canada is free enough, vast enough, and diversified enough to undertake this task which is so vital and which will have such world-wide effects. Should we not lose our will or our nerve, this task can be accomplished and could prove to be the principal element of the Canadian fact. We stand on the threshold of greatness.
Members of the House of Commons:
During this Session, you will be asked to grant the necessary funds for the services and expenditures authorized by Parliament.
Honourable Members of the Senate:
Members of the House of Commons:
The Prime Minister will lay before you today a list of bills that will be submitted to you during the Session.
May Divine Providence guide you in your deliberations.