Graduation Address

"Cold War thaw brightens future for students: MP" Telegraph-Journal (19 October 1989): 31. (UA Case 69, Box 3)

The thawing of the Cold War and the emerging of a new world economy means a brighter future for students entering the work-force, Veterans Affairs Minister Gerald Merrithew told fall convocation at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John.

The Saint John MP, who was awarded an honorary doctorate of laws, said it’s important to expand Canada’s scientific base, quality of education and the nature of research and development in a competitive age to assure opportunities for future generations. In an information age, the quality of education is critical, he said.

"I’m confident that the emerging trends in Canadian society are not obstacles, but rather challenges that you, the graduates, will respond to with vigor and imagination as we enter the last decade of this century."

Merrithew, a former teacher, said the government wants to study education and enact reforms required to prepare students for the 21st century.

"We are going to focus more and more of our attention and resources on long-term investment in people, education, literacy and the upgrading of skills."

However, it will be difficult to achieve more research and development in Canada, since only three per cent of Canadian-based firms now do research despite attractive tax incentives, he said.

Merrithew said he sees the world entering an age when standard industrial and assembly-line industries are no longer the backbone of the economy, where big labor and big government will become less important.

As well, capitalism and a social democratic system, not communism, have shown themselves to be the model for emerging nations, he said.

"The great divides between East and West and between North and South are becoming mercifully blurred. As they do, Canada is becoming a significant player on the world stage. We have taken a quantum leap in nationhood, and the world is watching our emergence as a mature nation."