Hon. Francis Fox:

Honourable senators, it is with considerable emotion that I rise here today to address you for one last time as a member of the Senate of Canada.

Two days from now, I will celebrate my 72nd birthday and I will have spent over 20 years on Parliament Hill since arriving here in Ottawa in 1969 as an assistant to the Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

The time has come not to turn a page or to start a new chapter, but to close the book on my parliamentary career, effective at midnight on December 2. During a period of twelve years in the House of Commons and six years in the Senate, I was given the great privilege of participating actively in the political life of our country.

I wanted to contribute my time and energy to the noble task of helping to build a fairer and more prosperous society in Canada, a legacy that we would be proud to pass on to future generations.

I gave it my best effort, not only as an MP and a senator, but also as a member of a large political party that has made its mark on the history of our country. Over the years, this commitment has allowed me to work alongside hundreds of colleagues, people of all political stripes who, although we did not always have the same objectives, always brought the same passion to our parliamentary life in the pursuit of their ideals for the benefit of Canadians.

Because of and thanks to them, I also came to know and appreciate Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Thus, I was able to better understand that, no matter where we are from, generally speaking, we all share the same values of mutual support that characterize our country, and the same aspirations for a better future for us all.

Like many of my contemporaries, I was drawn to serving our country in response to the appeal made by Pierre Elliott Trudeau in the late 1960s. He urged us to build a more just and even more prosperous society, one that would ensure a better place for all, regardless of their origin, gender or age.

The repatriation of the Constitution, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, official bilingualism, social measures — Pierre Elliott Trudeau left an indelible mark on the history of our country. I am proud to have answered his call and made my modest contribution to the tremendous work he carried out for the common good.

His achievements are exceptional and are remembered together with those of Macdonald, Laurier, King, Saint-Laurent, Pearson, Clark, Mulroney, Chrétien and Martin, who all were able to rise to the challenges of their era. The Canada of today is the product of the relentless efforts of their successive administrations. Through their efforts and their dedication, they improved the lives of their contemporaries and left their successors a country that is still the envy of the entire world. And that is a challenge that every government of this country must continue to take up.

How could I have been involved in Canadian politics for the past 40 years without being engaged by the situation in Quebec?

I was born into an Irish-French family in Quebec, so I have direct experience with the Canadian duality. I have been in a position to appreciate its richness and also its complexity and fragility. Above all, I have been able to recognize the dangers posed by our inability to resolve certain differences that continue to create tension between our two communities. The challenge of national unity remains, and it is the responsibility of each successive government. It is up to each government to create winning conditions for federalism and to ensure that each generation renews its attachment to this great country.

The absence of Quebec's signature on our Constitution is a symbol of a serious rift to many, the extent of which cannot escape us. For almost 30 years this situation has cast a pall on the political landscape of our country and has been used by many to slow the building of an even stronger nation.

Previous attempts to resolve the issue should be commended. I salute in particular the attempts by Brian Mulroney to conclude the Meech Lake Accord. Not everyone on this side of the Senate agree with me, but I believe that Mr. Mulroney really did all he could to try to bring Quebec back into the Constitution.

We can only hope that new attempts will be made and will be successful. They could then help build a stronger nation.

Making a difference is what politics is all about. I leave Ottawa proud of having been involved in developing policies in a number of areas. Let me name a few: Telecom Canada, with its seminal influence on the film and broadcasting industries; and the three major museums, which have contributed so much to making our national capital a place Canadians want to visit and be proud of.

I was also very proud to be the minister who was given the privilege of sponsoring legislation making O Canada our national anthem. I am also proud to have been the minister to introduce cellular telephony into Canada; and perhaps the one piece of legislation I am most proud of is the access to information legislation, which I was charged with bringing to fruition.

The Access to Information Act, which was entrusted to me by Pierre Elliott Trudeau, is today one of the pillars of our democracy.

I fully recognize the commitment of Jed Baldwin in spearheading the access movement in Canada and also the proposed legislation introduced by Mr. Clark when he was Prime Minister. Our successor legislation was adopted thanks to the contribution of a few main parties.

This legislation deserves to be constantly updated and can only be updated with the cooperation of the government of the day. This pillar of our democracy calls for a constant recommitment by the authorities to ensure that transparency is part of our political DNA.

Under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, we are equal before the law and we are protected from discrimination. The Access to Information Act allows Canadians to know what their government is doing and to make the government more accountable for its actions.

Nearly 30 years after the coming into force of the legislation, our access to information system needs to be reinvigorated in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century and remain effective. It often takes so long to process requests for information that it would seem the government is denying people information.

I would like the current Prime Minister to send a clear message to every component of the machinery of government: the culture of proactive disclosure of documents must take precedence over the culture of secrecy. Nothing could better serve the cause of access to information than a firm commitment on this from the government, the ministers and the deputy ministers. I have already suggested to the Leader of the Government in this chamber that departmental access to information performance be an integral part of the management evaluation criteria for the deputy ministers. If we believe it is important for Canada to help other countries to become more democratic, then it is important for Canada to maintain the tools it has developed to protect its own democracy.

We must each set out to leave a mark on public affairs, to ensure that our efforts make a difference, regardless of where we are or where we come from. I want to let the next generation know that serving as a parliamentarian in a provincial legislature, the Parliament of Canada or a city hall is a unique opportunity to make that difference.

I have been sitting in the Senate for six years, and let me say that I strongly believe in the concept of an upper chamber. There is a potential here that is not fully utilized, for a number of reasons. Like many, I would like there to be less partisanship in the upper chamber, and I was very happy to hear Senator St. Germain's approach. But I recognize, as a realist, that in the current context, this is not really possible when dealing with legislation. I would like to say that our Access to Information Act, which was passed under a majority regime, was considerably improved by the amendments suggested by the opposition parties. Openness and better legislation go hand in hand, since no party has a monopoly on the truth.

However, things seem particularly promising in the Senate committees. Whether it is the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications, chaired by my colleague Senator Dawson, which tabled an excellent report on Canada in the digital age, or the other committees, such as legal affairs, chaired by Senator Fraser — and there are so many more — I am very impressed by the quality of the work they are doing. The ideas and discussion we see there will significantly advance public discourse in Canada.

I would also like to commend the excellent work of our francophone senators outside Quebec to promote bilingualism in the country every day. You are absolutely fantastic. I salute my Senate colleagues from Quebec for their huge contribution to promoting the interests of their province. I have worked with many of them for 30 years, including Senators Joyal, De Bané, Dawson, Massicotte and Hervieux-Payette and, today, Senator Fraser. I also see Senator Fairbairn, with whom I served in the Trudeau government. I am very pleased to salute them all. They have been a source of motivation and inspiration, and I thank them for that. I will miss them greatly. It makes me very happy to see Denis Coderre, the chair of the Quebec Liberal caucus, who is here from the other chamber.

My congratulations to the Senate leadership, to Senator Cowan, Senator Tardif and our whip, who do excellent work for us. I also want to pay tribute to Senator LeBreton, whom I have known for many years and whom I hold in the highest regard, and to Senator Carignan, who was once the mayor of the largest city in my former riding. I sometimes wonder whether he voted for me when he was young and I was the member for Argenteuil—Deux-Montagnes, but I am not sure if he did.

As I leave, honourable senators, I would like to thank all of my Senate colleagues on both sides of the chamber.

I wish you well in your deliberations and hope that excessive partisanship may give way to openness and to consensus building that will ensure solutions will outlive the life expectancy of a given government.

Thank you also to you, Your Honour. I greatly admire the way you direct the work in this chamber. Thank you to the Clerk, his team and the Senate staff. Thank you also to our security personnel, who do their job effectively and with a smile.

I would now like to thank my own team: Charles Dufour, who is in attendance today and who has been my senior advisor since I arrived in the Senate, and Arlene Taillefer, my executive assistant.

My entire gratitude to my family, whose understanding and support allowed me to pursue my dreams. To my wife, Viviane, who has been a constant source of support over the years but who could not be here today, my heartfelt thanks, and also to my children who are here with me today; to my son John who is, and I am proud of it, former vice-president of the Toronto Community Housing Development Corporation and now CEO of Batawa Corporation; to my only daughter, Julianna, whom I always call ma fille préférée and who is legal counsel with Air Canada; to my son Daniel, who is a CA and who was a candidate for the Liberal Party in the last federal election, and he did it with a lot of courage and dignity; to my sisters, Marie-Hélène and Elizabeth; and to all of my friends and their friends who are with us here today, thank you for everything.

Thanks to you, I have had a fulfilling and fascinating political career; however, I recognize that, after so many years, it is time to move on to something different and to look at the future in a new light. My future holds a return to Montreal to be with my family and a return to other challenges outside the political sphere.

The true richness of this country is its people. I am confident that future generations will be inspired by the same search for the common good and will be able to meet the challenges of their time with great success. They will thus provide their constituents with a vision and direction that will continue to make our country a society in which justice and prosperity triumph.

Thank you, and long live Quebec and Canada.

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