SPEAKING NOTES
FOR THE HONOURABLE LAWRENCE CANNON, MINISTER OF TRANSPORT, INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMUNITIES
AT
THE SIGNING OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR THE ONTARIO QUEBEC CONTINENTAL GATEWAY AND TRADE CORRIDOR
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
JULY 30, 2007
I would like to welcome my colleagues, Quebec Minister of Transportation Julie Boulet, and Ontario Minister of Transportation Donna Cansfield.
A warm welcome also to the strategic advisors who are helping make today's announcement possible Madeleine Paquin, President and CEO of Logistic Corporation; Claude Robert, President of Transport Robert; and William Osborne, President of Ford Canada as well as our other partners in the Quebec-Ontario region and throughout Canada.
Today's announcement can be summed-up in one word: partnership. A partnership that will enable the Ontario, Quebec and the federal government to better plan for the future and better invest for a safer, stronger, better Canada.
Montreal was one of the first natural gateways to Canada.
Early explorers such as Jacques Cartier and Samuel de Champlain were among the first to realize Montreal's potential when they laid the groundwork that helped launch North America's first global trading venture the fur trade.
As a result, the St. Lawrence River quickly became an entry point and a corridor into the heart of not only this country, but all of North America.
Explorers, traders, builders and settlers travelled through Montreal and spread throughout Canada, helping to build a country that now stands at the forefront of economic, cultural and social progress around the world.
Because of the skill and hard work of those intrepid settlers, Canada established itself as a prominent trading nation.
Today, more than ever, our economic growth and standard of living still depend heavily on the export and import of products and resources. In fact, in 2006 alone, Canada's exports and imports of merchandise stood at $458 billion and $404 billion respectively.
But like those who laid down Canada's economic roots, we must continue to adapt to changing times.
That's why Canada's New Government developed the National Policy Framework for Strategic Gateways and Corridors.
It's a new policy direction, one in tune with the way business operates in today's global economy. The Framework promotes planning among governments and collaboration between public and private sectors.
The Framework builds on what we've achieved with the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative. It guides investments and policy measures that are geared to unique geographic, trade and transportation opportunities in key regions.
One of these key regions is the gateway and corridor that connects Quebec and Ontario to international markets and the United States. It is a corridor that lies at the economic heart of Canada, moving billions of dollars in trade and helping millions of people get to their destinations.
We must continue to develop this gateway and corridor in order to remain competitive and develop new opportunities.
Today we're doing that.
I'm happy to announce that my colleagues from the governments of Ontario and Quebec are with me today to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor.
The action plan signed today will be undertaken over the next two years and has the following objectives:
- examine global markets and trade opportunities for Canada;
- target key initiatives with significant trade potential that will benefit all Canadians;
- prepare for future by developing a strategy that responds to new trade patterns and trends; and
- address issues linked to transportation, such as protecting the environment, ensuring quality of life and enhancing the security of Canadians.
The goal is to establish this gateway and corridor as a strategic, integrated and globally competitive transportation system.
It will be a system that will make international trade easier and connect Canada's economic heartland with the United States and the rest of the world.
This connection is vital. The United States is by far Canada's largest trading partner with two-way trade between the countries worth almost $600 billion per year.
Ontario and Quebec alone account for about 70 per cent of this trade.
We can accomplish even more.
We have some big opportunities in Ontario and Quebec to attract more international commerce and develop this gateway to North America.
This isn't only because of the region's geographic position but also because of the multi-modal transportation assets that we already have here.
Canada's New Government has made key investments in Canada's infrastructure to support this integrated system.
In fact, the combined funding in our first two budgets, plus our extended GST rebate for municipalities, will provide $33 billion new dollars for investment in infrastructure over the next seven years.
It's an investment in collaboration with other levels of government, in the largest infrastructure development program in this country in over half a century.
It includes $2.1 billion through the new Gateways and Border Crossings Fund to improve the flow of goods between Canada and the rest of the world by enhancing infrastructure at key locations, such as major border crossings between Canada and the United States.
This historic plan will supports a wide range of infrastructure projects, including investments in the national highway system from coast to coast. It will address issues linked to transport, such as protecting the environment, ensuring quality of life and the security of Canadians.
Again, the success of the Building Canada Plan, and today's initiative with Ontario and Quebec, is possible because of partnership. A kind of partnership that this government will seek in the future more and more to build a stronger, safer, better Canada. A partnership that respects jurisdictions, that engages provinces and municipalities in delivering results that matter to Canadians.
Among the priority projects benefiting from these measures will be a new border crossing between Windsor and Detroit, the main artery for Canada-U.S. trade. In fact, $400 million has already been committed towards the access road that will connect Highway 401 to the new bridge crossing.
The action plan announced today will also help identify what sort of investments and strategies we'll need for both our infrastructure and policy needs.
The private sector has an equally important role to play.
Key elements of the gateway and corridor are owned by both public and private sectors, and regulated and taxed by all levels of government. Therefore we must work together not only among governments, but between the public and private sectors as well.
Ladies and gentlemen, as the Prime Minister said in May:
"At the dawn of the 21st century, no country is better positioned than Canada to prosper in the emerging global economy."
We are well-positioned in Canada for a variety of reasons: our natural advantages, our will to work together in partnership, and most of all the drive, the ambition and the skill we have to achieve our goals.
We must, in a sense, become modern-day Champlains and build a better, more secure future for our country. Thank you.
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