Unlocking the Potential - The Power of Partnership - Notes for an address by

Good evening ladies and gentlemen.

I am thrilled to be in Whitehorse today and to join you at this year’s Partnering for Success Symposium.

Why am I so eager to be here? The answer is simple. I believe in partnerships. I know that working with others is the best way—in many cases, the only way—to bring about meaningful changes and to ensure these changes and these successes, are lasting ones.

All around us are partnerships – businesses, associations, communities, friendships, and families. At every stage of social evolution, we have all proved over and over again that collaborative partnerships strengthen the individual voice so it can be heard throughout the community and around the world.

Personally, I’ve known for years that partnerships work. As a businessman in the forestry industry in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley, I learned quickly that the best way to ensure the success of my business and the trust and satisfaction of my clients was to forge strong partnerships with many different people and groups.

As a Member of Parliament, I’ve forged partnerships to improve the quality of life for the men, women and families who live and work in my riding, and to help many local businesses take advantage of opportunities. I’ve insisted on this approach from day one.

And as a Minister, I’ve worked in partnership with Northerners from all parts of the region and from all walks of life. Together, we’ve worked to identify your needs as Northerners, to prioritize our responses to those objectives and then devote and manage the resources we need to tackle those challenges head on.

Winston Churchill believed that courage is the finest of all human qualities because it’s the one that guarantees all others. To me, establishing partnerships are the most meaningful actions an organization can take because they facilitate progress in all other areas of the organization.

The very nature of this symposium shows me you believe in the power of partnerships. But what speaks louder and more clearly to me are your actions and your achievements. Time and again, this Chamber of Commerce and this city have used partnerships to get things done: to improve highway signs for visitors; to support a stronger community; to beautify the downtown core; and to build places that are vital components of community life—your new hospital, the Canada Games Centre and Copper Ridge Place.

Our Government also believes in the power of partnerships to get things done in Yukon and throughout Canada’s North. We need to continue to take concrete action to unleash the human and economic potential of the North, and to ensure  our valuable Northern resources benefit the next generations to come. We need to make decisive moves in concert with our allies and international organizations to preserve and strengthen our sovereignty over Arctic lands and waters, in order to preserve control over our political and economic future. We need to work closely with Northerners to sustainably manage development in the North, so that future development is undertaken in a systematic way that protects our environment and our health.

Well, we’ve been moving things forward. We in the federal government are working with partners in local governments, with partners in national and regional Aboriginal groups, with partners in First Nation and Inuit communities, and with partners in the private sector. Together, we are committed to improving the quality of life for Northerners; to providing the tools and resources you need to create sustainable economic growth; and to address this region’s unique challenges by working directly with you—the men and women in this room today. That’s partnership!

Prime Minister Harper and this Government has placed the North higher on Canada's political and economic agenda than it has been for decades.

Mary Simon, for one, agrees with our decision. The president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami said bluntly that the federal government is right in focusing its attention northward. She’s bang on. And it’s not just about making sure the institutions of government look northward. It’s a personal commitment too. I have made a point of travelling throughout this region—to meet Northerners; to listen to your ideas; to hear about your hopes for the future; to work in partnership with you and your elected leaders to improve lives throughout the North.

Our travels and our discussions with you and other Northerners contributed greatly to Canada’s Northern Strategy. Canada’s Northern Strategy has enabled us to focus our partnership efforts on areas that are genuine local priorities for Northerners and, therefore, important national concerns for all Canadians. We devoted $440 million through Canada’s Economic Action Plan—last year’s federal budget—to fuel the partnerships that are making it possible for us to achieve the goals of the Northern Strategy.

Working with Northerners, we’ve made decisive moves to exercise Canada’s sovereignty, increase the stock of social housing, bolster scientific research, support sound environmental practices, and ramp up economic development.

Together, we have established the Northern Housing Trust, enabling Northerners to build hundreds of new housing units, ease overcrowding and lay the foundation for greater socio-economic development. We have protected environmentally sensitive lands and waters in our North such as the Nahanni National Park. We are building a world-class research station in the High Arctic that will place Canada on the cutting edge of Arctic research. And together, we are creating a deep-water berthing and fuelling facility in Nanisivik, and constructing a new polar icebreaker to keep our sea-lanes of communication open.

These investments in our partnerships aren’t a one-shot, one-year deal. This government is committed to long term development. Budget 2010 builds on our Economic Action Plan investments by focusing on measures that will improve the business climate in the North, provide economic opportunities for Northerners and ultimately help unlock the region’s vast human and economic potential.

We are investing $11 million over two years for meteorological and navigational services in the Arctic to meet Canada’s commitments to the International Maritime Organization.

We are investing $11 million over two years to speed up the review of resource projects in the North—a review that will provide clarity and certainty for investors while respecting environmental considerations and land-claims obligations.

And we will continue to work in partnership with Northerners to reform the northern regulatory regime so that we can take full advantage of this region’s resource potential in a way that not only makes business sense, but also protects the Northern environment.

We are investing more than $100 million over two years to address key health care challenges for Northerners: this includes $45 million to fund an improved Food Mail program, and $60 million to reduce travel to access healthcare services not offered in the North. In addition, Budget 2010 identified $8 million over two years for INAC to support community-based environmental monitoring, reporting and baseline data collection.

Closer to home here in Whitehorse, I just announced that our Government will provide the Government of Yukon $1.9 million over the next two years to help design and construct an animal research and rehabilitation centre here at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. This investment will boost the immediate health and long-term success of the Preserve. And more importantly it will increase the research capacity of the Yukon, create local jobs, and encourage new educational opportunities for  residents.

I also announced that this government will provide $2.25 million to the Yukon Mining Training Association. The Association will use $1.5 million of this amount to purchase a mine-equipment simulator, and $750,000 to further develop the Association’s Yukon Mine Training Program. Both these investments are crucial: they’ll give the Yukon mining industry the resources it needs to make sure people in your communities get the training they need to access the jobs open to them in the territory’s growing mining industry.

And I’m pleased to report that, as you may know, we recently invested over $140,000 to help this Chamber and the entire local business community in Whitehorse work together to identify strengths and opportunities for economic development and growth right here in town.

All of these investments together are designed to create stronger, more prosperous Northern communities.

We will work with you to create strong communities throughout the North—strong Canadian communities that say to the world: this land is ours, these waters are ours. We will protect them.

I want to take a moment to thank the people in this room and, beyond these walls, all men and women across the North. You helped identify priorities for Canada’s Northern Strategy. And you’re now playing a leading role in both shaping and directing the actions and activities under the Strategy.

We are listening as never before, and one example tells the tale. During one of the Prime Minister’s many visits to the North he travelled to Nunavut and promised all Northerners this government would create a new regional development agency for Canada’s North. He pledged it would be a stand-alone regional development agency based in the North, informed by Northern life and driven to help you fulfil your economic ambitions by leveraging current and ongoing federal investments in the Northern economy.

The Prime Minister promised and the Prime Minister delivered. In last year’s Economic Action Plan, our government devoted $50 million to establish this vital new agency. This stand-alone regional development agency—the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency – CanNor —is now becoming the focal point of our efforts to realize the economic growth and development in the North. CanNor has a mandate to help build prosperous futures for your families and your communities.

That’s the broad mandate of CanNor. Day-to-day work involves: delivering funding programs such as the Strategic Investments in Northern Economic Development program and Aboriginal economic development programs. The Agency provides project management services and advice through the Northern Project Management Office and acts as an honest broker in support of northern economic prosperity and diversification. And, one of its most important activities is to engage with stakeholders and partners such as you.

These are all vitally important operational roles that CanNor has taken on. But what really excites me about the Agency is bigger than that. CanNor gives our country a permanent federal institution with its headquarters in the North. CanNor is a champion for Northerners and works with you to realize your vision for the North—a North of unlimited prosperity in which all Northerners and, ultimately, all Canadians can share.

We will continue to work with you as you realize your vision for the North. We want to work with you every step of the way, as together we create a prosperous North.

In the spirit of open, genuine partnership, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you and share with you my thoughts and my experiences about the partnership successes that are going on right now.

Thank you. Merci.

So when I learned that the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce would be holding its second annual Partnering for Success Symposium, and that the theme of your event this year would be Working Together Works, I was delighted at the prospect to come speak with you today. Partnering.  Working together. To me, those aren’t just words; they are calls to action.

The first investment involves a unique and valuable partnership known as the Yukon Business Development Project. This project is led by the Whitehorse Chamber of Commerce with support from the territory, the Yukon Technology Innovation Centre and the National Research Council. Its goal is to provide targeted support - such as human resources and business advice - to local technology companies on the verge of expansion. The Government of Canada recognizes that these types of companies drive economic growth and create employment opportunities. To support the Project, this government has allotted more than $190,000 through the Community Adjustment Fund - a two-year program established earlier this year under Canada's Economic Action Plan.

The Yukon Business Development Project matches promising firms with business advisory boards - teams of seasoned men and women with appropriate expertise. Members of an advisory board work directly with a growing business for up to one year, providing guidance and conducting audits. I'm convinced that this type of mentoring and support will help budding Yukon businesses grow and prosper.

The second investment also strives to support the growth of Yukon businesses through partnerships and networking opportunities. I am pleased to announce that the Government of Canada has invested more than $140,000 in a business conference organized by the Yukon Indian Development Corporation – the Foundations Economic Conference.

Later this month, the second Foundations Economic Conference will bring together Yukon entrepreneurs and representatives of First Nations and governments to discuss how to make the most of the region's business opportunities. The theme of the conference - Strengthening Today's First Nations' Businesses and Supporting Tomorrow's - neatly captures the valuable goal of the event. The three-day conference features knowledgeable experts and important panel discussions on how to overcome business challenges in the North.

These investments demonstrate this government's determination to foster economic growth in the North. The 2008 Speech from the Throne called for a stand-alone development agency for Canada's North; Budget 2009 reaffirmed this commitment by allocating $50 million over five years to fund the new agency. Launched last month, CanNor has already invested in projects in each territory. This new agency will administer federal programs devoted to Northern economic development, including those involved in today's announcement.

I encourage Yukoners and all Northerners to learn more about CanNor and make the most of the wealth of economic opportunities emerging across the Territories. As a long-time resident of Whitehorse, I'm proud to see this government take action to create a stronger, more prosperous North. Thank you.