Commons, the honorable Senators, members of the House of Commons, distinguished members of the diplomatic corps, ladies and gentlemen:

I came to this great capital of this great nation by crossing a border not which divides us but a border which joins us.

Nous nous sommes souvent serré la main par dessus cette frontière et nous le faisons une fois encore aujourd-hui. For those of my own party who accompanied me, I have said we've often shaken hands across this border and we're doing it once again today.

Nancy and I have arrived for this, the first state visit of my Presidency, in the spirit expressed so well by a Calgary writer and publisher some 60 years ago. He said, "The difference between a friend and an acquaintance is that a friend helps where an acquaintance merely advises." [Laughter] Well, we come here not to advise, not to lecture; we are here to listen and to work with you. We're here as friends, not as acquaintances.

Some years ago, Nancy and I both belonged to a very honorable profession in California. And as I prepared for these remarks today, I learned that among those in the motion picture industry in Hollywood, it has been estimated that perhaps as many as one out of five are of Canadian origin. Now, many of those whom I counted as close professional colleagues and, indeed, close personal friends, did not come from America's heartland as I did, but from the heart of Canada, as did most of you in this historic chamber. Art Linkletter, Glenn Ford, Raymond Massey, Walter Pidgeon, Raymond Burr are but a few of your countrymen who are celebrated in our entertainment industry.

I believe I know the very special relationship between Canada and the United States, but with all respect to those few that I have mentioned, I can do better that that. A young lady once came to Hollywood from Toronto, and before long little Gladys Smith was embraced by our entire Nation. Gladys Smith of Toronto became Mary Pickford. And I know that you'll forgive us for adopting her so thoroughly that she became known the world over as "America's sweetheart." [Laughter] But "America's sweetheart" was Canadian. [Laughter]

Affinity, heritage, common borders, mutual interests-these have all built the foun

ments, March 16, 1981, pp. 278–283. The President visited Canada on March 10 and 11, 1981.

dation for our strong bilateral relationship. This relationship has grown to include some of the strongest economic links among the nations of this Earth. Some 16 percent of America's total world trade is done with Canada. Our joint trade amounts to about 90 billion Canadian dollars annually. This is greater than the gross national product of some 150 countries. It's estimated that three-quarters of a million United States workers are employed in exports to Canada and, in turn, Canadian exports to the United States account for one-sixth of your gross national product. Not only is the vast bulk of this trade conducted between private traders in two free economic systems, but more than half crosses our borders duty-free. Our seaways, highways, airways, and rails are the arteries of a massive, interconnecting trade network which has been critically important to both of us.

Thus, while America counts many friends across the globe, surely we have no better friend than Canada. And though we share bilateral interests with countries throughout the world, none exceeds the economic, cultural, and security interests that we share with you.

These strong and significant mutual interests are among the reasons for my visit here. Already, I have shared with Prime Minister Trudeau very helpful discussions across a range of issues-to listen and to ensure that these important ties shall not loosen.

I'm happy to say that in the recent past we've made progress on matters of great mutual importance. Our governments have already discussed one of the largest joint private projects ever undertaken by two nations—the pipeline to bring Alaskan gas to the continental United States. We strongly favor prompt completion of this project based on private funds.

We have agreed to an historic liberalization of our trade in the Tokyo Round of the multilateral trade negotiations. We've continued our efforts, begun with the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1972,7 to protect our joint heritage in the Great Lakes. We want to continue to work cooperatively to understand and control the air and water pollution that respects no borders.

During my visit here, I've had the pleasure of participating in the conclusion of two

7 For the text of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, signed and entered into force on April 15, 1972, see 23 UST 301.

other important agreements. We are renewing the North American Aerospace Defense Command Agreement for 5 more years.8 For more than two decades now, NORAD has bound us together in our common defense with an integrated command structure symbolizing our interdependence. This agreement represents continued progress in our relations and mutual security.

And second, we have concluded an agreement regarding social security benefits between those of our citizens who combine work in both nations.9 And with this new agreement, these people who are employed in both countries, they can then be eligible for the combined benefits. And the workers will be eligible for those benefits in whichever country they choose to live.

Our deep and longtime bilateral economic interests lead me to depart from the norm today and to give to you a report on America's progress toward economic recovery.

Five weeks ago, I reported to the American people that the U.S. economy faced the worst economic mess since the great worldwide depression.10 We're a proud people, but we're also realists. The time has come for us to face up to what I described as a potential economic calamity.

I raise this issue today because America holds a genuine belief in its obligation to consult with its friends and neighbors. The economic actions that we take affect not just us alone, but the relationships across our borders as well.

As we examined America's economic illness, we isolated a number of contributing factors. Our Federal Government has grown explosively in a very short period of time. We found that there had grown up a maze of stifling regulations which began to crush initiative and deaden the dynamic industrial innovation which brought us to where we are. We saw unbelievable deficits this year alone reaching up to nearly $80 billion, including off-budget items. And we found that these deficits got in no one's way, because the Government found it easy to fuel inflation by printing more money just to make up the difference.

8 For the text of the original agreement, signed and entered into force on May 12, 1958, see 9 UST 538.

9 The social security agreement under reference was signed on March 11, 1981.

10 The reference is to President Reagan's speech before Congress on February 18, 1981; for text, see Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, February 23, 1981, pp. 130-137.

The American taxing structure, the purpose of which was to serve the people, began instead to serve the insatiable appetite of government. If you will forgive me, you know someone has once likened government to a baby. It is an alimentary canal with an appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. [Laughter] But our citizens were being thrown into higher tax brackets for simply trying to keep pace with inflation. In just the last 5 years, Federal personal taxes for the average American household have increased 58 percent. The results: crippling inflation, interest rates which went above 20 percent, a national debt approaching a trillion dollars, nearly 8 million people out of work and a steady 3year decline in productivity.

We decided not just to complain, but to act. In a series of messages and actions, we have begun the slow process of stopping the assault on the American economy and returning to the strong and steady prosperity that we once enjoyed. It's very important for us to have friends and partners know and understand what we're doing. Let me be blunt and honest. The United States in the last few years has not been as solid and stable an ally and trading partner as it should be. How can we expect certain things of our friends if we don't have our own house in order?

Americans are uniting now as they always have in times of adversity. I have found there is a wellspring of spirit and faith in my country which will drive us forward to gain control of our lives and restore strength and vitality to our economic system. But we act not just for ourselves, but to enhance our relationships with those we respect.

First, we're taking near revolutionary steps to cut back the growth in Federal spending in the United States. We're proposing that instead of having our national budget grow at the unacceptable rate of 14 percent per year, it should rise at a more sensible 6 percent. This enables us to maintain the kind of growth we need to protect those in our society who are truly dependent on government services.

Just yesterday, I submitted our proposed budget for the coming year-and then immediately crossed the border. [Laughter]

With extraordinary effort, we've isolated some 83 items for major savings and hundreds more for smaller savings, which together amount to $48.6 billion in the coming fiscal year. Our second proposal is a 10percent cut across-the-board every year for

3 years in the tax rates for all individual income tax payers, making a total cut in tax rates of 30 percent. This will leave our taxpayers with $500 billion more in their pockets over the next 5 years and create dramatic new incentives to boost productivity and fight inflation. When these personal cuts are combined with tax cuts to provide our business and industry with new capital for innovation and growth, we will be creating millions of new jobs, many of them ultimately on your side of the border.

Our third proposal is to eliminate those unproductive and unnecessary regulations which have slowed down our growth and added to our inflationary burdens. We shall do this with care, while still safeguarding the health and safety of the American people and, I might add, while mindful of our responsibility to have equal regard for the health and safety of our neighbors.

Finally, we'll be working closely with our Federal Reserve System to achieve stable and moderate growth patterns in our money supply.

As I said, America's program for economic recovery is designed not merely to solve an internal problem; it is viewed by my administration as part of an essential effort to restore the confidence of our friends and allies in what we're doing. When we gain control of our inflation, we can once again contribute more helpfully to the health of the world economy. We believe that confidence will rise, interest rates will decline, and investment will increase. As our inflation is reduced, your citizens and other world citizens will have to import less inflation from us.

As we begin to expand our economy once again and as our people begin to keep more control of their own money, we'll be better trading partners. Our growth will help fuel the steady prosperity of our friends. The control we regain over our tax and regulatory structures will have the effect of restoring steady growth in U.S. productivity. Our goods will go into markets not laden down with the drag of regulatory baggage or punitive levies, but with a competitive edge that helps us and those who trade with us.

Now, such new, sustained prosperity in an era of reduced inflation will also serve worldwide to help all of us resist protectionist impulses. We want open markets. We want to promote lower costs globally. We want to increase living standards throughout the world. And that's why we're working so hard to bring about this economic renewal.

There are, of course, other very important reasons for us to restore our economic vitality. Beyond our shores and across this troubled globe, the good word of the United States and its ability to remain stable and dependable rely in good part on our having a stable and dependable economy. Projecting solid internal strengths is essential to the West's ability to maintain peace and security in the world. Thus, our national interests, our bilateral interests, and our hemispheric interests are profoundly involved in truly international questions. That's why we must act now, why we can no longer be complacent about the consequences of economic deterioration. We've entered an era which commands the Alliance to restore its leadership in the world. And before we can be strong in the world, we must be once again strong at home.

Our friend, our ally, our partner, and our neighbor, Canada and the United States have always worked together to build a world with peace and stability, a world of freedom and dignity for all people.

Now, with our other friends, we must embark with great spirit and commitment on the path toward unity and strength. On this side of the Atlantic, we must stand together for the integrity of our hemisphere, for the inviolability of its nations, for its defense against imported terrorism, and for the rights of all our citizens to be free from the provocations triggered from outside our sphere for malevolent purposes. Across the oceans, we stand together against the unacceptable Soviet invasion into Afghanistan and against continued Soviet adventurism across the Earth. And toward the oppressed and dispirited people of all nations, we stand together as friends ready to extend a helping hand.

I say to you, our Canadian friends, and to all nations who will stand with us for the cause of freedom: Our mission is more than simply making do in an untidy world. Our mission is what it has always been-to lift the world's dreams beyond the short limits of our sights and to the far edges of our best hopes.

This will not be an era of losing liberty; it shall be one of gaining it. This will not be an era of economic pessimism, of restraint, and retrenchment; it will be one of restoration, growth, and expanding opportunities for all men and women. And we will not be here merely to survive, we will be here, in William Faulkner's words, to prevail, to regain our destiny and our mutual honor.

Sometimes it seems that because of our comfortable relationship, we dwell perhaps

a bit too much on our differences. Now, I, too, have referred to the fact that we do not agree on all issues. We share so many things with each other; yet, for good reasons, we insist on being different to retain our separate identities.

This captured the imagination of Ernest Hemingway when he worked as a writer for the Toronto Star Weekly in 1922. Hemingway was traveling in Switzerland, and he noted that the Swiss made no distinction between Canadians and citizens of the United States. And he wondered about this and he asked a hotelkeeper if he didn't notice any difference between the people from the two countries. "Monsieur," he said to Hemingway, “Canadians speak English and always stay 2 days longer at any place than Americans do." [Laughter] Well, as you know, I shall be returning to Ottawa in July, and if you don't mind, I'll plan to stay as long as everyone else. [Applause]

I'm not here today to dwell on our differences. When President Eisenhower spoke from this spot in 1953, he noted his gratitude as Allied Commander in World War II for the Canadian contribution to the liberation of the Mediterranean. This touched my curiosity, and even though I'd participated in that war myself, I did a little research.

In the Second World War, there was something called the 1st Special Service Force, a unique international undertaking at the time. This force was composed of Canadians and Americans, distributed equally throughout its ranks, carrying the flags of both nations. They served under a joint command, were taught a hybrid closeorder drill, and trained together as paratroopers, demolition experts, ski troops, and then as an amphibious unit.

The 1st Special Service Force became famous for its high morale, its rugged abilities, and tough fighting in situations where such reputations were hard-earned. Alerted to their availability, General Eisenhower requested them for special reconnaissance and raiding operations during the winter advance up the Italian peninsula. They were involved in the Anzio Beachhead campaign in Italy and were at the spearhead of the forces that captured Rome. The 1st Special Service Force made no distinctions when it

11 The reference is to Eisenhower's address before a joint session of the Parliament of Canada on November 14, 1953, in Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953 (Washington, 1960), pp. 767-775.

went into battle. Its men had the common cause of freedom at their side and the common denominator of courage in their hearts. They were neither Canadian nor American. They were, in General Eisenhower's term, liberators.

So, let's speak no more of differences today. Certainly, your Ambassador, Ken Taylor, didn't when he first sheltered and then spirited six Americans out of the center of Tehran and brought them to their freedom. Their daring escape worked not because of our differences, but because of our shared likenesses.

A final word to the people of Canada: We're happy to be your neighbor. We want to remain your friend. We're determined to be your partner, and we're intent on working closely with you in a spirit of cooperation. We are much more than an acquaintance. Merci. Thank you.

Document 276

Statements by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and President Reagan, Ottawa, March 11, 198112

U.S.-Canadian Relations

THE PRIME MINISTER. The point has been made many times that we are happy to have received President Reagan and his ministers and officials. We want to report briefly this morning on the conversations and discussions that took place between us. I would merely preface them by saying that at the beginning of a new administration we were surprised and delighted that so much ground could be covered in such a positive way. There's no subject and no grievance, if I could use the word, which the United States wasn't prepared to discuss and indicate a will to settle.

We discussed yesterday morning mainly the area of international affairs, and we had a very wide-ranging tour d'horizon. Nous avons parlé de l'Afghanistan, de la Pologne, du Proche-Orient. [We discussed Afghanistan, Poland, the Near East.] We talked a fair amount of the Caribbean and Central

12 Source: Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, March 16, 1981, pp. 283–286. These statements were made in the Railway Committee Room at the Centre Block.

America. And on El Salvador in particular there was agreement, as I could sense it, that the solution there should be a political solution and that we would work in whatever way we could to ensure that the moderates were those who took over and not the extremists of the right or of the left.

We, as you know, reached an agreement on NORAD, which will be signed imminently. We reached an agreement on social security also. Much of the work in these two areas had been done before we even sat down to talk, because you realize as we do that every day of the week there are contacts between officials of both governments on a multitude of subjects. And what we concentrated on in our brief meetings was mainly in the area of disagreement or a need to clarify our respective positions, and I would say that on the two main areas of bilateral concern we were very pleased with the ultimate response of the President of the United States.

It began, of course, with an expression of our deep disappointment at the fact that the fisheries treaty had been withdrawn from the United States from ratification, because from the outset we had argued, when these discussions began several years ago, that linkage between the boundaries settlement and the fisheries 13 was not only necessary, but it was obvious from the very nature of the two agreements. And we are disappointed at the delinkage, and that has been expressed very clearly to the United States. But as I said in the House of Commons a few days ago, I think it's fair to put the best possible light on this, and that is certainly in keeping with the attitude that the discussions assumed.

The fisheries treaty was bogged down for a couple of years in the Senate, and we view the United States gesture of withdrawing that treaty as an indication of their determination to solve the problem in other ways, because we made it quite clear that the two problems have to be solved. It is not just a matter of having the courts determine the boundaries; it is a matter of making sure that though there will be no fish war-we gave each other the assurance of that, and we will take measures to make sure it doesn't happen—no one would benefit if the fish ultimately were fished out by the extraordinary capacities of the Canadian fishermen to go ahead and fish if they see

13 Regarding the U.S.-Canadian Maritime Boundary Treaty and Fisheries Agreement, see documents 272, 273, and infra.

that there are no limits and that the Americans are not respecting them. So, in this sense, we are very happy that the United States administration has undertaken to assure fish conservation measures in that area. And we are hopeful that the problem will be settled in that way. Indeed, we're more than hopeful; we are confident that it will.

The other area, of course, of great concern to Canada was cross-boundary pollution, either through acid rain, Great Lakes water pollution, or the particular case of the Garrison diversion.14 And on all these matters I think it's fair to say that the United States, as the President had occasion to repeat in the House of Commons a few moments ago—we have the assurances that the United States has the will and the determination to cooperate with us in preserving the environment for ourselves and for posterity.

We talked about the pipeline, the northern gas pipeline, and you heard the President of the United States give us the assurance that they were determined to see it to its successful completion and therefore to carry on the undertakings we'd had from the previous administration. We talked about many other bilateral subjects in the area of trade. We said that the auto pact discussions should be pursued and continued. In the area of mass transit transportation, the United States has agreed to consider ways in which agreement and the buy-American provisions can be made to operate in a fair way to Canada.

We discussed other economic subjects. But I think it's important, in conclusion, to remind you that the impression that I got from our discussions with the American President and ministers was that we were doing this in the best possible of spirits and attitudes. We didn't approach this as a zerosum game. We think that there can be beneficiaries on both sides in all these areas, whether it be from the environment or trade.

We don't see the negotiations as terminating in a victory for one and some losses for the other. On the contrary, the spirit and reality of these discussions and, I am convinced, of the future of our relations with President Reagan and his administration, will be that both sides can come out the gainers if we solve problems of the

14 Regarding acid rain, water pollution, and the Garrison diversion, see the speech by Eagleburger on October 1, 1981, document 278.