Canada Opening Up

"Canada is open and ready for business." With those words, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney underscored his government's commitment to loosening trade restrictions last week in the third of TIME's Distinguished Speakers Program series. The forum was inaugurated by President Reagan in February 1984 at his alma mater, Eureka College in Eureka, Ill., and followed last December with an address by former Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Geraldine Ferraro at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Speaking at the University of Chicago, Mulroney used the occasion to drive home his view that protectionist trade policies lead only to isolation in international politics. Said he: "I know that President Reagan shares this view. He is a fair trader, and I echo his words: 'Protectionism is destructionism.' All who believe in the benefits of a more open world trading system must take a stand."

The Prime Minister selected the University of Chicago to deliver his remarks, he said, in order to "reach deep into the heartland" of America. In his 30-minute speech, Mulroney reported that Canada's economic renewal is well under way. "All the indicators--the gross national product forecasts, interest rates, inflation, housing starts, employment, capital investment--are improving, in some cases a wee bit better than the U.S," he said. "Most important, confidence is being rebuilt." To put its house in order, Mulroney reiterated, his government is firmly committed to reducing its $25.8 billion budget deficit. He recommended that the U.S., like Canada, "put your nose to the grindstone and pay down your debt."

- Warming to his theme of "the mutual danger of protectionism," he noted that U.S.-Canada trade last year totaled nearly $150 billion, the largest volume between any two nations in the world. One of three Canadian jobs depends on exports, he noted, and the U.S. buys three-quarters of his country's exports. "The imperative for Canada is not just more multilateral arrangements," said Mulroney, "but stability in our bilateral trade relationship with the U.S. We want more secure access to (the U.S.) market, while recognizing that the removal of barriers opens trade in both directions. It is not a one-way street."

The Ottawa government has reversed the traditional Canadian protectionist stance in favor of freer trade, Mulroney said, in part because of the challenge posed by Canada's European and Asian competitors. "Maybe it won't work," he observed. "Maybe it will turn out that protectionist sentiment is too strong. Free trade is not without its perils. But liberalized trade brings more wealth, not less, and a stronger economy will help guarantee the political sovereignty of Canada."

At the same time, however, Mulroney declared that Canada must continue to maintain a cultural identity separate from that of the U.S. "Our system of social programs, our commitment as Canadians to fight regional disparities, our unique cultural identity, our special linguistic character--these are the essence of Canada," he said. "You will have to understand that what we call cultural sovereignty is as vital to our national life as political sovereignty." To make sure that the message got through, and to see that it made news in Quebec as well as in the English-speaking provinces of Canada, Mulroney repeated it in French.

In answer to a question, the Prime Minister acknowledged differences with the U.S. in defense policy. Canada is upgrading its commitments to NATO and NORAD by improving its conventional weapons and forces. Said he: "We are pulling our share of the weight." But the federal government in Ottawa will not participate in Washington's Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, research program and will not tolerate U.S. nuclear weapons on Canadian soil. Said Mulroney: "Canada is a nuclear-free country, and that's the way it's going to be."

Canadians were, however, following the U.S. lead in another area. Mulroney said that Canada's Charter of Rights and Liberties, which was modeled after the U.S. Bill of Rights and became law when the federal constitution was passed by Parliament in 1982, has led to an epidemic of lawsuits across Canada. "We are going to turn out to be the most litigious country in the universe," he said. "If you don't have a good lawsuit going in Canada, you are just not with it." Mulroney, a lawyer himself, jokingly said that he was pre-enrolling his children in law school to ensure their future.