Here is the text of Stephane Dion’s speech to the Liberal leadership convention Friday night (check against delivery):
Thank you.
My friends, we will never forget this weekend in Montreal.
Years from now, we will tell our children, our grandchildren: I was there, in Montreal, when we liberals came together, when we chose our leader, when we chose our path forward into the 21st century.
We feel tonight the burden of responsibility on our shoulders, because, if we tap into our great Liberal tradition of Wilfrid Laurier, if we boldly address the challenges of our time, if we choose the right leader, then we will beat Stephen Harper… and we will provide this great country with a Liberal government that will work for all Canadians.
My friends, for over ten years, I have stood shoulder to shoulder with you, as an MP and Cabinet Minister, fighting election after election. Eleven years ago, Jean Chrétien invited me to join his government to help keep Canada united, to bring clarity about the unity of our country. I stood up for Canada. And I delivered for my Prime Minister, my party and my country.
Two years ago, Paul Martin invited me to stand up for Canada’s environment – the most important challenge of our generation and the next. And I delivered for my Prime Minister, my party and my country.
Today, I humbly stand to serve you once again.
And I pledge that I will deliver– as leader of our great party. And with the help of each and every one of you: as Prime Minister of our great country.
Liberal friends and Canadians watching at home :
Canada has everything it takes to succeed in the 21st Century.
But today… something is wrong. And we all know it.
What is wrong is the direction Stephen Harper and his so-called “New” Conservative Government is taking Canada.
Today we face a very right-wing Government, much more like the current US Republican Party than the old Tories, the former Progressive Conservative Party of Canada.
Canada has a Prime Minister who thinks that the United States is not only our ally, but also our model.
A Prime Minister who would have immersed us in the Iraq nightmare.
A Prime Minister who, last Spring, blackmailed Parliament with the threat of an election, in order to impose on Canada, blindly, two more years in Afghanistan with no clear mandate.
A Prime Minister who is mirroring the style of his hero to the point that President Bush should be getting royalties from Mr. Harper’s speeches.
A Prime Minister who imposes ideological cuts to women, aboriginal people, official language communities, literacy, arts and culture. Culture! There is more culture in a bowl of yogurt than in this Conservative government!
A Prime Minister who – make no mistake — is undermining the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, sending a chilling signal for what he intends to do if he gets a majority government.
We have a Prime Minister who thinks that Child Care is delivered through the mailbox.
A prime minister who is such a control freak that he is muzzling his ministers and using their own staffers to spy on them.
A Prime Minister who tore up our Climate Change Plan, Project Green, which would have allowed us to honour our international Kyoto Commitments. Instead, he’s put forward an inept Clean Air Act, which is nothing more than an excuse not to act, a smokescreen.
A Prime Minister who is virtually pulling us out of Kyoto. Remember that a year ago, here in the Montreal Convention Center, in the name of the name Canada, I presided over a United Nations conference which brought the world together, 182 nations, for a joint action plan against the greatest ecological threat facing humanity: climate change.
And this year, at the same Conference in Nairobi, this Conservative government has shamefully failed the world and tarnished Canada’s international reputation.
What a disgraceful way to govern.
I helped bring the world together to fight Climate Change. Since then, Stephen Harper has wedged the world apart.
Well, my fellow liberals, the world needs Canada. Under my leadership, Canada will not fail the world.
The main problem with these new conservatives is that they have no trust in the role of government in society. They dislike it, they are clearly unhappy. Well, we liberals are compassionate, and for their own sake we will put the conservatives out of their misery – out of the government and back to opposition!
And yet, I am convinced that to beat Harper in the next election, it will not be enough to capitalize on his mistakes. It will not be enough to be a government in waiting.
To win, we must offer our own project to Canadians, a generous and ambitious vision that is in stark contrast to Mr. Harper’s selfish and narrow idea of Canada.
Throughout this leadership race, I have proposed such an ambitious project, one that is so needed. I call it the Three Pillar Approach: weaving together, better than any other country in the world, economic prosperity, social justice and environmental sustainability.
In the 21st Century, the countries that will succeed – that will lead – will have the strongest, most sustainable economies. These countries will be rich because they use energy efficiently. Because they use their precious natural resources wisely. Because they recycle and conserve. Because they will export their solutions to the world, and they will earn megatonnes of money with it. I want Canada to be one of
these leading countries, at the front of the line.
The main issue of the century, the one on which all others depend, is the junction between the economy and the environment. In other words, no less than the reconciliation between the people and the planet.
It is the responsibility of Canada, as well as its self-interest, to tackle this issue.
I say that a country so blessed – with 10% of the world’s fresh water, 7% of the world’s land, and 14% of the world’s energy reserves must be a responsible custodian to the world. As the aboriginal proverb says, “ We do not inherit the planet from our ancestors, we borrow it from our grand children. “
I say that we, as a country of 33 million people, who are consuming as much energy as the entire continent of Africa with 800 million people, our duty is to be part of the solution.
When the former Chief economist of the World Bank warns that humanity may lose, because of climate change, a fifth of its collective wealth over the next decades, I know that we Canadians are listening.
The problem is that we have a Prime Minister who is not listening.
Yes, my fellow Liberals, the world needs Canada. Under my leadership, Canada will not fail the world. But for that, we Liberals must take up our responsibilities this weekend. We need to add to the core of our political philosophy — from the classic two pillars approach, we need to embrace the three pillars approach.
We are the Party that brought the first two pillars together – economic prosperity and social justice. The NDP do not understand the market economy. The Conservatives do not understand social justice. But we Liberals have always championed both. Over the last decade we have learned to deliver both – with strong fiscal discipline. We know that good social policy is good economic policy. People become
healthier, better educated, more secure, better equipped to be strong players in the economy. And then, a stronger economy produces more social justice.
These two pillars are the core of who we are as Liberals. But they alone will not carry us through the 21st century. It is time now to add the third pillar – the pillar of environmental sustainability.
All of my action plans that I have released, week after week throughout this leadership race, are aimed at building the three pillars of this strong Canada and making it attractive and relevant in the daily life of
Canadians.
Imagine the next election, going door to door and asking Canadians : « do you want an extra thousand dollars in your pocket every year? Do you need to change your furnace, your appliances, retrofit your home? Well, through tax rebates, green mortgages, and other incentives, we will help you buy the most energy efficient products – the ones that will save you money every year. It will be good for your wallet,
good for the planet. »
But it takes more than tax breaks. The sustainable economy is, above all, a knowledge economy. We need to invest in the skills and talents of all Canadians, in our colleges and universities, in our students.
We need to better link the lab and the market. We need to get Canadian ideas into the marketplace more quickly.
We need to make sure that our resource based regions, our agricultural sector, our hard working farmers are involved in this sustainable economy. All my proposals for our regions, for rural Canada, and for the North are aimed at that.
I know that to reach the generous ambition that I have for my country – Canada on the podium of the sustainable economy – we will need the full skills and talents of all Canadians. We will all need to be members of Team Canada. And to pull together such a team, the Liberal Party is second to none. We are the party of the Charter of Rights, the Official Languages Act, multiculturalism, aboriginal rights. We
must bring down any, and all, barriers that prevent women, young people, aboriginals, new Canadians, visible minorities from offering their full potential to this great country.
Yes. To succeed, we cannot leave anyone behind. That’s why rather than cutting another $5 billion from the GST, I proposed investing in the Child Tax Benefit to bring eight hundred thousand children out of poverty and give them a decent start in life. That’s why I proposed an income tax benefit to help those on welfare make the transition to work. And that’s why I proposed an education passport for young
aboriginals that gives them a universal right to post secondary education anywhere in Canada. I say that these choices are not only about a just society, they make for smart economics too. That’s the Liberal way to success in the sustainable economy.
To succeed, we need a federation where, more than ever, all levels of government work together, respecting each others’ jurisdictions. Above all, we need a Canada more united than ever. A Canada where we Quebecers, with our own culture, our own talents, our own potential, will work hand in hand with other Canadians. Quebecers, Canada belongs to all of us, in its entirety. It is here together that we
realize our dreams, our aspirations, our ambitions for the world. No more blocs, enough blockages! I will always defend with conviction and clarity the rights that we Quebecers have on our entire country :
Canada. We are proud Quebecers, proud Canadians, and we are right to not choose between these two wonderful identities.
Will Canada be a leader in the 21st Century? Will we help human kind reconcile with the planet? I know Canada can do it. The only thing that is lacking is the political will.
Liberals, remember 1993. Our country was close to bankruptcy, soaring unemployment was destroying lives. Canadians were told by Conservatives to expect the same despair for a decade. We Liberals committed to put this nation to work, to restart this economy. We delivered with Jean Chrétien, with Paul Martin, with all Canadians.
This weekend, in Montreal, I invite each of us to commit to tackle, with the same determination, the issue of our time: sustainable development. And, with Canadians, we will deliver again.
A year ago, in this very room, I brought the world together to fight Climate Change. Today, allow me, to bring the Liberal party together – to fight for the future of Canada.
Choose me as your leader, and I know that together, we will beat Stephen Harper in the next election.
Canadians will embrace our generous vision of a prosperous Canada, a just Canada, a sustainable Canada.
We will do it together, for our children, the generations yet to come, and for the role of Canada in the world.
And, we will do it with a united Liberal Party and a United Canada!
Thank you.
