New Brunswick—1963

MR. LANGLEY:

Mr. Robarts,- Distinguished guests and members of the Empire Club of Canada. At 38 years of age, Louis Robichaud appears before us as Canada's youngest premier and one of its most dynamic. A product of our famous Acadian heritage, this lawyer turned servant of his people, has forged a brilliant career in a remarkably short time.

He has not become-yet another item in the Maritimes' traditional export of brains to the rest of the nation, but has remained at home, to give leadership and hope of greater opportunities to his native province and her Maritime sisters. In so doing, he is perhaps making his greatest contributionto the fuller, better balanced development of Canada as a whole,-to a greater awareness of the rich meaningfulness of his part of our nation to the very concept of nationhood.

In coming here today, Sir, you honour the Empire Club of Canada greatly, and we welcome your contribution to the greater understanding so vital to this period in the life of Confederation. Gentlemen: The Premier of the Province of New Brunswick, Louis J. Robichaud.

MR. ROBICHAUD:

I am grateful for this opportunity to talk with you during the Diamond Jubilee season of your Club- and I am proud to come to you as a "Fellow Canadian". The sixty years of your existence as a Club have witnessed many changes-changes, I imagine, in the aims and purposes of your Club-changes indeed in this Confederation of Provinces that we very proudly call Canada. In his day, Sir Wilfrid Laurier called upon the people of this land to become mature and steadfastly united, and, in confidence that they would, he proclaimed that "The Twentieth Century belongs to Canada".

I am persuaded to believe that even in these days of change and stress, Sir Wilfrid would hold firm to his prediction if he were here. Like Sir John A. MacDonald, and other of our great statesmen, he had a deep and abiding faith in the people that make up this nation and the heights to which we could climb in developing our land with united determination. I share that faith.

In your pamphlets it is noted that The Empire Club of Canada is (and I quote) "Dedicated to the interests of Canada and the Commonwealth, in partnership, for peace and progress, with our allies and friends throughout the world". Such a dedication testifies to the evolution of our nation and the maturity of thought that has made it possible.

At this particular time in history, our maturity as a nation can be measured by the number of our people who are truly "dedicated to the interests of Canada". I believe that number includes the vast majority of Canadians in each and every province.

The future Of our nation will depend largely upon the degree and direction of our dedication. If our dedication should degenerate into mere lip-service and be so lacking in direction that extremists of any persuasion become recognized as the voice of Canada, then we shall deserve the kind of Canada that will surely be ours.

Extremism has not fared very well in Canada in the past -and it should not in the present or the future. There have been organizations formed in this and other nations, in times past, that were dedicated to the destruction of a specific racial minority, or religious belief, or cultural heritage. Some such associations still exist in our nation and, although their original dedication was directed to the mutual destruction of one another, the militancy Of men Of reason in their midst has won out against the extremists. Their dedication is now directed to the enhancement of their respective beliefs, rather than mutual destruction, and the mutterings of the few diehard extremists still in their midst are mere reminders that evolution is preferable to revolution.

Recent months have given an unwarranted amount of publicity and attention to a small group Of dissidents in the Province of Quebec who called themselves the F.L.Q. Their violent activities, which have been met with the full force of the law, are reminiscent of the few bomb-throwing Bolsheviks who were on the loose in the United States in the 1930's. They too passed away and the Confederacy of the United States of America managed to survive.

Shallow thinking in some quarters has led people to believe that perhaps the F.L.Q. is representative of the general attitude of our fellow Canadians in the Province of Quebec. That is as ridiculous as it would be to suggest that most Toronto business and professional men are secretly affiliated with the Cosa Nostra.

Extremism leads to violence. Violence and intimidation by force have no place in our Canada, whether they emanate from the F.L.Q., the S.I.U., or any other group that endeav ours to undermine the authority of the people and the nation. What should be done about it?

Each of us is entitled to many rights and privileges as a Canadian citizen. Although we are quick to claim those rights at the least provocation, too many of us are reluctant to shoulder the equal weight of our responsibilities as Canadian citizens. Too many have come to regard citizenship as a spectator sport. Too few will accept that rights and privileges must always be accompanied by responsibilities in order to give them true value.

It is the responsibility of Canadians today to become militant and thoughtful supporters of the Canadian Confederation. The voice of reason reminds us that a brilliant future awaits us all within the union. We must not, therefore, become embroiled in wasteful bickering and resentment over things that provide meat for emotional debate, but serve only to divide us against ourselves.

We must be strong enough to honour and preserve those concepts that were so carefully embodied in our Constitution. We must be vigilant enough to recognize and correct the causes of friction that may endanger the Confederation. We must be wise enough to use our very diversity as one of the principal foundation pieces upon which our nation will grow in strength and stature.

This is, without doubt, a time when the voice of reason must be heard-not in angry argument-but in the calm and rational dialect of responsibility. That voice must become predominant in every province of the nation-in order that extremists of all persuasions will come to know, once again, that true Canadianism can swallow them up in its strength and leave barely a trace of their passing. You may accept as fact that I am proud to be a Canadian and that I am seized with a determination to remain one.

I am also a New Brunswicker-of which I am equally proud. And now, I would like to speak as briefly as possible about the economy of New Brunswick and the Atlantic. Provinces as it has been and as it is now emerging in relation to the national economy.

The Atlantic Provinces of Canada have, for many years, been the object of an incredible amount of economic research. Many well-intentioned measures have been instituted -designed to bolster the regional economy. All of these measures have been related to expediency and have tended to ignore the real issues. The result is all too well known. Despite the national participation in equalization payments, adjustment grants, shared-cost programmes and subventions, in the past five years our region has received onequarter of a billion dollars in unemployment insurance benefits. By any yardstick you may use-income per capita, productivity, capital investment per year-we are but a fraction Of the national average. In short, we have been falling farther and farther behind the economic evolution of Canada.

It is obvious that a patch-work or stop-gap approach has not solved the inequity Of retarded economic growth. We have maintained, in various submissions to the federal agencies that the economic vitality of the Atlantic Provinces is closely allied with national policy. We have maintained that the relationship between the Atlantic Provinces and the other provinces of Canada demands examination within the context of national unity-one of our professed aspirations. We who live in the Atlantic region have been exposed to the hard facts of economic life since 1867-with very few periods of relief. It has been our "original sin" to have looked up the St. Lawrence River for omnipotent help and guidance. Generations of wishful gazing have left us weak and frustrated.

It has been an historical pastime to blame the "slow growth economy" of the Atlantic Provinces on Confederation. We in New Brunswick have also participated in this sport. Now, however, we recognize that a fundamental weakness in our own outlook has contributed in large measure to our distressed condition. We have been gazing wishfully when we should have been working-working toward our own economic emancipation!

I have mentioned the large sum which has been distributed in the Maritime Provinces as unemployment relief. It is tempting to imagine what a stimulus would have resulted from a capital investment of this magnitude in industrial facilities. It is distasteful to us-as it must be for the rest of Canada-to be cast in the role of the semi-productive, geographic deposit on the east flank of Canada! Not only is it distasteful to us, it is completely unacceptable. And we intend to do something about it. What are we going to do?

It is exceedingly clear to us that our own efforts must be directed to wholly productive ends. We will use all of our talents and resources to raise our production, train and educate our people and exploit our natural and locational resources. We will increase the income of our people without the necessity of transfer payments.

As the eastern flank of the northern half of the continent, we are one of the first points of physical contact with markets that border on the Atlantic Ocean. This is an advantage which we have not exploited fully in the past. This is an advantage which we will exploit now. It is no secret that industrial development and foreign trade are synonymous with the national problems of Canada. The wheel has come full turn.

The problems which we have tried unsuccessfully to solve over these many years have now become the problems of the nation. This places us in a position to appreciate the considerations involved. We at least know many of the solutions that are not applicable. Although negative in nature, this is invaluable experience. We will be most careful, not to be counted out of these considerations, for we have a major contribution to make in the national fabric. It is no secret that the Atlantic Provinces are ill equipped, at the moment, to make financial contribution to the national scene. However, this does not disqualify us from participation in the activity.

As a unified social force we represent the human content of a market, and as such we are exchanging our historical role of passivity for one of militant participation. History supports the fact that we of the Maritime Provinces have been prone to consider the federal sector as some type of patronizing superior. We categorically reject this definition of the federal sector. The federal sector must be composed of each of us and work for the mutual benefit of all of us. Anything short of equality, both economic and otherwise, for all members of the nation is a mockery of the ideals expressed by Confederation.

Two important developments have taken place in the Atlantic region in recent months-both of which give us much cause for hope. One of these is the recent impetus that has been given to a realistic, wide-based industrialization programme in the Province of New Brunswick. You will hear more of this in the future. The other important development is the recent reactivation of the Atlantic Development Board. As you are aware, the Atlantic Development Board is the federal agency designed to provide stimulus to the economic growth of the Atlantic Provinces. The Board has available to it a fund of some $100,000,000.

The disposition of this fund has been the subject of much conjecture in all of the Maritime Provinces, both in the circles of government and the area of private industry. It might be expected that we would pounce upon this fund and expend its value on a series of short-term expediencies. We have not. New Brunswick considers this fund and the activity of the Atlantic Development Board to be of indispensable value. Clearly the amount of the fund is not sufficient to begin any serious programme of wide-based industrialization. We want to be very careful not to identify our industrial development programme with the limitations of this fund. The fund is available for projects which are not readily handled by traditional financial sources. Our recent meeting in New Brunswick with the members of the Atlantic Development Board indicated that the Board considers its function to be that of providing constructive filling for the gaps that appear in the regional economy.

Recall that our conclusion of stop-gap measures is one of disdain. We still hold that conclusion, but we do recognize that there are areas that require attention. The Atlantic Development Fund can be utilized in providing parts of the infrastructure that we will require as our industrial picture takes form.

The timing on the reactivation of the Atlantic Development Board and the revitalization of our own industrial development programme is a happy coincidence. We are seizing the opportunity that now presents itself to the Atlantic Provinces and, confidently, we expect to make a worthy contribution to the economy of our Province as well as to the whole nation. Neither we nor the federal sector must allow the Atlantic Development Board to degenerate into entrenched bureaucracy. It represents the embryo of a regional integration which must be encouraged to mature. All of Canada must support the philosophy of the operation.

The rapidly changing face of the earth-changing with modern technology and the release of pent-up national aspirations by many retarded societies-this rapidly chang ing situation respects no tradition-no history. The splendour of today's giants may well be the broken images of the morrow; the fortunates of today-tomorrow's beggars.

In these days, when both our neighbours to the north . and south are programming manned voyages in space, we in the Atlantic provinces are still seeking a solution to the classic problem-how do we provide gainful employment for the majority of our people. The limited capital investment in our area is a pitiful sum in comparison to the vast sums spent for scientific research in outer space. It is a paradox indeed that we are seeking development of secondary roads within our province on somewhat the same schedule that our neighbours chart for the moon. Our aspirations are of necessity bound more closely to mother earth. We recognize that our obligations are of an immediate, material nature. The problem of employment within a progressive economy is yet to be solved.

Many years of industrial development effort impose upon us the conclusion that-industrial development where a minimum number of jobs are purchased with a long term waiver of provincial profit participation is not progress. We require a more intimate association with the capital generation process than that of simple landlord of factory buildings. To that end we have designed our programme around a lively participation in the industrialization of our province. We have planned an integrated structure of enterprises which will be competitive within the international picture. I have alluded in recent months to the fact that New Brunswick is on the march. This is more than imagery. Our objectives have been crystallized into specific industrial facilities and our programme has been publicized as "Operation Prosper".

We invite Canadian participation in these investments. We exhort you, our fellow Canadians, to recognize our efforts as a part of the national growth.

Let us not find ourselves in the position of complaining about foreign investments in New Brunswick's programme. Canadians have first chance at our programme. However, we intend to implement our plans with any entrepreneur who indicates faith in our regional future. It would be a sad commentary on Canadianism if our fellow citizens rejected us at this point of our development. We feel, and we can document this point extensively, that the federal capacity for fomenting industrial progress has been directed in many directions, but not toward the Atlantic Provinces. The natural resources of our area areor at least should be-too well known to require comment. Suffice to say that New Brunswick possesses the raw materials to establish a significant diversified industrial operation -certainly sufficient to alleviate our economic distress of past generations.

Our experience with the federal sector indelibly imprints upon our plans the fact that we must direct our own economic emancipation. This we are prepared to do. This we will do. I have spoken mostly of what we plan to do. Let me tell you something of what we have already done in recent months. We have vast expanses of forest, covering some 80 per cent of our total land area. This resource has been sadly under-developed down through the decades. New policies have brought amazing new activity in this sector. A multi-million dollar groundwood mill is nearing completion and a kraft mill is scheduled for early construction.

The most modem papermill in Canada, and the first, I am told, in some 25 years, is now under construction. Total investment by both private and public sector at this site is estimated at close to one hundred million dollars over the next five years. The first softwood plywood mill east of the Rockies is now in production. A new hardwood veneer industry is flourishing. Many other new wood-using industries are either now in production or in preparation for it.

C.I.L. has only recently opened a new, multi-million dollars chemical plant that will produce chlorine and caustic soda for the pulp and paper industry.

We also have the most extensive proven deposits of base metals that are known today. They are being brought into production at several locations. Only last week, I was pleased to participate in the announcement of the site of a smelter-chemicals complex that will begin construction this fall, as soon as I am given a moment to turn the first sod, with an initial investment of twenty-nine millions. Present and planned investment in this resource field exceeds one .hundred millions.

Our first electronics manufacturing plant has been in production for more than a year.

Many more millions are being invested in the fish catching and processing industry. A new distillery is nearing completion. New secondary manufacturing plants are being developed at an increasing pace.

All of this and more is taking place in New Brunswickone of the four Atlantic Provinces. Our sister provinces are also displaying similar initiative.

Our only source of regret is the fact that such a large proportion of this vast amount of capital investment has had to come from other than Canadian investors. The Belgians, British, French, Italians, Americans, West Germans and others are showing a faith in our future out of all proportion to that displayed by Canadian investors. This we regret, but we refuse to stagnate in the midst of underdeveloped and undeveloped resources, both natural and human.

There is today a new spirit and a new determination in the Atlantic Provinces. You will be hearing more about us in the coming months. We ask that you try to keep perspec tive with us as we turn the eastern flanks of the nation into a reliable and aggressive industrial entity-even more worthy or respect and dignity in a proud nation.

Thanks

Thanks of this meeting were expressed by Past President Col. W. H. Montague.