[Editor’s note: The following is excerpted from a speech by Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard in New York City on April 15.]
I am very pleased to be back in New York City. On my last visit, three years ago, I had just become Premier of Quebec, and I spoke about our goal of turning around Quebec’s public finances and economy. When I explained that we planned to wipe out Quebec’s record-high deficit in just four years, I was met with a healthy dose of skepticism.
Today I am proud to report that we reached our objective a year ahead of schedule. Currently, we have a balanced budget for the second year in a row. With the clear competitiveness of our production costs and of our corporate tax incentive package now well established — especially for investment, R&D and the financial sector — our aim is to reduce personal income taxes in short order.
Right: Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard
We matched our commitment to sound public finances with vigorous action for economic growth. After four years of work, our growth rate now equals that of Canada as a whole, and private-sector analysts are predicting that we will challenge Canada’s lead this year and next.
The growth rate for private investment has not only caught up with that of Canada, it has outstripped it, becoming, last year, four times as strong. Predictions for this year show this gap will hold.
Growth in the economies of Montreal and Quebec City is especially strong, driving down unemployment and making these cities stand out as important focal points for new technologies.
According to Price Waterhouse, Montreal is No. 15 in terms of population among major North American cities. But it now ranks No. 9 for the number of high-tech companies; No. 7 for the number of jobs in information technology; No. 6 in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors; No. 5 in aerospace; and it stands at the very top for the proportion of the population working in high technology.
In a word, I am glad to be in New York City today to tell you that Quebec is back. Now and for the next century, Quebec is a force to be reckoned with. I would like to tell you why.
Quebec in the ’90s:
The Continental Decision
One of the fundamental reasons for Quebec’s current success lies in a collective decision we made just over 10 years ago. The challenge had a name: It was called free trade with the United States.
This was a very controversial issue in English-speaking Canada. But in Quebec, the language difference, the very strength of Quebec’s identity, made us less apprehensive about lowering economic borders. In a sense, along with our resolve to be true to ourselves, to protect and promote our language and culture, we made the decision to become active players on the continent, to play our North American card to the fullest.
So a consensus emerged in Quebec, first in business circles and in the pro-independence party, then in the pro-Canada party that was in power in Quebec City at the time. In 1988, when Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney called an election on this very issue, I happened to be at his side, in his government. A majority of English-speaking Canadians voted against the notion and against Mulroney’s party, but a majority of Quebeckers voted in favor and tipped the balance.
When the pact was later extended to include Mexico, in what became the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Quebec once again played a decisive role in getting Canada on board.
This has not gone unnoticed. On his most recent trip to Montreal, U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley highlighted this point when he said that NAFTA, and I quote, “would never have been completed without the tireless efforts and vocal free-trade advocacy of the people and government of Quebec.”
Ten years have passed, and the results are in. Quebec exports to the world have grown 70 percent since 1990, and exports to the United States have grown 155 percent.
The Next Decade:
Looking to the Americas
Looking to the next decade, we are setting our sights on the Americas as a whole. From the outset, my government has been supportive of the planned free-trade zone encompassing all of the Americas. Our aim is to make Quebec a dynamic, constructive partner in the building of the Americas.
We think we can make a constructive contribution to this debate because of our unique experience in furthering integration while preserving our identity. And we feel that in order for it to succeed, the integration of the Americas must be more than just an economic endeavor. The positive economic impact of free trade on the participating nations is no longer in question. But inside and outside the United States, an important debate is growing on the social and cultural impact of globalization. It’s also a debate on the ability of nations to nurture the distinctiveness they cherish while lowering economic barriers. Nations want to sell their goods, but they don’t want to lose their souls. That was what broke the back of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment.
So in order to benefit from the economic promise of globalization, we need to find a comfort level at which nations will feel that their social and cultural diversity is being preserved, as well as their ability to make decisions adapted to their own realities, tradition and dreams. A growing number of nations, Quebec among them, say yes to the market economy, but no to the market society.
In the process of integrating the Americas, we have an opportunity to meet these challenges on a manageable scale. We are dealing with about 800 million people, grouped around four languages and a number of common traits and history, along with a shared willingness to look at converging solutions. If we do this right, we can create precedents that will then be helpful on the world stage.
We Quebeckers look to the new millennium with confidence. We come with balanced books, with a metropolis that is taking the high-tech road with a vengeance and with a capital city that is a crossroads for democracy. By inventing a way to ride the currents of economic integration while remaining true to our identity, we are building lasting friendships with friends like you in New York and across the USA, as well as in Mexico and throughout Latin America. We feel ready for the challenges to come.
SS
