"As a people, we know what we can do, we know how to do it, and we just want to get on with it. How? By ensuring that Canada's place in the world is one of influence and pride"
About this Quote
The voice is collective and confident: Canadians know their strengths, possess the skill to act, and are impatient with delay. The pivot comes with the how. National fulfillment, Paul Martin suggests, flows through an outward-looking ambition: securing a place for Canada that commands influence and inspires pride. Personal competence and national self-belief are not ends in themselves; they are tools for shaping the international order.
This line captures the middle-power ethos Martin advanced as finance minister and later as prime minister. He helped create the G20 after the Asian financial crisis, a practical move to widen the circle of global problem-solvers. As prime minister, he pressed for a comprehensive international policy that integrated diplomacy, defense, development, and commerce. The phrase pride and influence was the watchword of his 2005 International Policy Statement, which argued that Canada should be present where decisions are made and values are tested, from peace operations and development initiatives to global trade and environmental agreements.
There is also a domestically strategic note. Get on with it echoes his managerial reputation for execution, built on balancing the federal budget and restructuring public finances. It reassures Canadians weary of constitutional wrangles and scandals that the country can convert competence into meaningful action. Pride is not mere sentiment; it is the legitimacy that comes from contributing and being seen to contribute.
Yet the aspiration acknowledges a tension. Influence requires resources, clarity of purpose, and choices about alliances, especially alongside the United States. It demands reconciling the Canadian self-image of peacekeeper and mediator with the realities of combat in Afghanistan, climate commitments that strain domestic industries, and a limited but targeted military and diplomatic capacity. Martin’s formulation turns that tension into a challenge: match national confidence with sustained investment and principled engagement so that Canada’s identity is affirmed not by rhetoric, but by results visible on the world’s hardest problems.
This line captures the middle-power ethos Martin advanced as finance minister and later as prime minister. He helped create the G20 after the Asian financial crisis, a practical move to widen the circle of global problem-solvers. As prime minister, he pressed for a comprehensive international policy that integrated diplomacy, defense, development, and commerce. The phrase pride and influence was the watchword of his 2005 International Policy Statement, which argued that Canada should be present where decisions are made and values are tested, from peace operations and development initiatives to global trade and environmental agreements.
There is also a domestically strategic note. Get on with it echoes his managerial reputation for execution, built on balancing the federal budget and restructuring public finances. It reassures Canadians weary of constitutional wrangles and scandals that the country can convert competence into meaningful action. Pride is not mere sentiment; it is the legitimacy that comes from contributing and being seen to contribute.
Yet the aspiration acknowledges a tension. Influence requires resources, clarity of purpose, and choices about alliances, especially alongside the United States. It demands reconciling the Canadian self-image of peacekeeper and mediator with the realities of combat in Afghanistan, climate commitments that strain domestic industries, and a limited but targeted military and diplomatic capacity. Martin’s formulation turns that tension into a challenge: match national confidence with sustained investment and principled engagement so that Canada’s identity is affirmed not by rhetoric, but by results visible on the world’s hardest problems.
Quote Details
| Topic | Pride |
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