    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1991, Book I)]
    [March 13, 1991]
    [Pages 254-257]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks by the President and Prime Minister Brian Mulroney of Canada at
    the Air Quality Agreement Signing Ceremony in Ottawa
    March 13, 1991

        The Prime Minister. Mr. President, distinguished guests: I'm very
    pleased to welcome President Bush to Canada on his first foreign trip
    since the end of the Gulf war. He comes to Canada today as a President
    who is greatly admired at home and widely respected abroad, and one
    whose skill and resolve provided the international community with a
    stunning success in a war over Iraq.
        In my many meetings and conversations with President Bush since
    August 2d I have been struck both by his grasp of the issues and by the
    breadth of his vision in regard to this remarkable problem. He
    instinctively chose to work within the United Nations. He painstakingly
    constructed and nurtured a great and disparate coalition of sovereign
    nations. He provided the perspective and the patience required for
    successful statecraft. And when, at the 11th hour, a diplomatic solution
    was again rejected, President Bush provided the strength and the
    decisiveness required for the successful prosecution of war.
        I'm not entirely certain how history will interpret the expression
    ``defining moment,'' which appears to be pretty much en vogue in certain
    quarters these days. But I assume it means the crystallization of great
    need and wise, confident leadership in a manner that indelibly affects
    succeeding generations. In that regard, the conduct of the Gulf crisis
    and the war, from its uncertain beginnings to its triumphant end, was in
    fact, a defining moment for the United Nations, the United States, and
    the world. And for this extraordinary achievement the name George Bush
    will live proudly in the history of free men and women.

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        In fact, this Presidency in my judgment will always be remembered
    for the uncommon courage and the strong leadership that President George
    Bush of the United States of America demonstrated throughout an
    exceptionally challenging and potentially explosive period in world
    history.
        Canada and the United States are close friends and trusted allies.
    And the President of the United States is always most welcome in our
    country. And, Mr. President, I bid you on behalf of everyone a most warm
    welcome here today.
        I have noticed that President Bush has acquired along the way a 91-
    percent approval rating. [Laughter] Because of our close relationship
    and because this is a special day--George Bush and I have been friends
    for many years--I know that the President will want to pool his ratings
    with mine. [Laughter] We can then, George, divide by two, and we both
    come out ahead. [Laughter]
        But it's a particular pleasure for us to welcome you, Mr. President,
    on this visit to sign the Canada-United States Air Quality Accord. This
    agreement has had a long and sometimes difficult history. It has
    involved three United States administrations and five successive
    Canadian governments. You and I, Mr. President, have worked on this
    issue since the days when you were still Vice President. And I see Allan
    Gottlieb here today--when Alan was our Ambassador in the United States,
    and so many others who have played an important role in it. But no one
    has played a more critical role than you.
        You have demonstrated sensitivity to Canadian interests in your
    proceeding with domestic clean air legislation and in signing this
    agreement today. It commits the Governments of both countries, this
    arrangement today, to a series of targets and schedules, and requires
    both to make public the progress that is achieved. The agreement also
    provides a framework for cooperation to solve other transboundary air
    pollution problems.

    [At this point, a telephone rang.]

        That's Gallup calling, Mr. President. [Laughter] I expected a push,
    but not this fast. [Laughter]
        With this agreement and with the control programs now in effect in
    both countries, we are confident that the acid rain menace will be
    eliminated by the year 2000.
        I would like to take this opportunity--there are many people who
    deserve to be thanked today. Davie Fulton from the IJC, and I mentioned
    Allan. And so many others: John Fraser, who is the Speaker of the House
    of Commons, Mr. President, but in his previous incarnation was Minister
    of the Environment, and a most successful one. And I see Bill Reilly,
    who is here from the United States; and Robert De Cotret; and David
    MacDonald, who is Chairman of the Environment Committee of the House of
    Commons; and so many parliamentarians who are with us today who played a
    key role.
        But I would like to thank Michael Phillips, of External Affairs, and
    Bob Slater, of Environment Canada, our negotiators, for a job well-done.
    And I would like to thank their American counterparts and the scores of
    people on both sides, many of whom are present this afternoon, for
    working so hard to make this happy day possible.
        Mr. President, this agreement is very important to Canadians. Our
    national soul takes its breath from the forests and lakes and mountains
    and prairies that give life to our country. The aboriginal peoples of
    Canada have taught us that we hold this magnificent land, as you do
    yours, in trust for future generations. And so, today's agreement will
    help us correct many of the errors of the past.
        With this agreement we are guaranteeing our children that air
    quality will never again be taken for granted on this continent. The
    sensitivity and idealism of children on both sides of the border are our
    environment's best hope.
        Mr. President, your colleagues from the administration, Governor
    Sununu and General Scowcroft, and your colleagues, Ambassador Ney: on
    behalf of Canadians young and old, I would like to express our
    appreciation for your cooperation.
        There is someone here, Stan Darling, Mr. President, who is right
    over there, who, as he says, is a member of the Conservative Caucus,
    soon to be 80 years young, as he

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    says every Wednesday. He was one of the often unmentioned guiding lights
    who fought the fight over many long and difficult years to make this
    possible. And while you and I get to sign it today, Mr. President, what
    we sign is a tribute to Stan Darling and so many Members of Parliament
    and Members of Congress and members of the administration on both sides
    who deserve this tribute today.
        So, I would like to express our appreciation for your cooperation,
    and I want to thank you for your vital contribution to preserving the
    common environment we both hold in trust for future generations. I'm
    aware, Mr. President, of the pressures on you. There are actually some
    pressures on us in the same ways up here in Canada. And to have moved as
    you did the environmental question so quickly within your own borders,
    so far and to such heights, is a tribute to the commitment that you made
    to the American people and to the Government of Canada--that if elected,
    you would make this your highest priority and you would try to bring
    about a day like today. Well, we're here, Mr. President, and we're here
    on a happy day in very large measure because you provided that principal
    leadership. You followed through when you gave your commitment. And for
    that and many other reasons I express our thanks. And I give you the
    warmest of welcomes to Canada.
        Minister De Cotret. President Bush has certainly demonstrated an
    unprecedented interest in the bilateral environment affairs of Canada
    and the United States. Mr. President, Canadians look forward to making
    further improvements to our shared heritage. Allow me to add my
    appreciation to that of the Prime Minister. Ladies and gentlemen, the
    President of the United States.
        The President. Thank you all very much for that welcome to Canada.
    And, Mr. Prime Minister, it's a delight to be with you and Mrs. Mulroney
    again. And to Minister De Cotret, why, thank you, sir, for presiding at
    this historic occasion, one that we've been looking forward to very,
    very much.
        To the Members of the Parliament and to our able Ambassador, Eddie
    Ney, it's a great pleasure to be up here and then to add my name along
    with our country's commitment to an agreement of great environmental
    importance. I, too, would like to pay my respects to Mr. Darling. I
    can't say I have felt his lash or his determination as much as others in
    this Parliament have felt--[laughter]--but I would like to assure him
    that while he was fighting the domestic battles here, sensitizing
    Canadians--and sometimes it spilled over to sensitizing those south of
    the border here--Ambassadors Gottlieb and Burney were no paper tigers.
    They were on us like ugly on an ape, I'll tell you. [Laughter] And they
    stayed on us, and appropriately so, because I think because of their
    leadership they had brought many in the United States Congress and many
    in the administration to understand just how important a priority this
    was to the Prime Minister and to the Members here. And so, I salute them
    as well.
        Before I speak about this agreement briefly, let me just make a
    brief comment to underscore my sincere appreciation for the key
    contribution made by your country to the coalition's recent victory in
    the war to liberate Kuwait. Mr. Prime Minister, since the very first
    minute that you and I talked, Canada and the United States were
    appropriately, significantly side by side. And I thank you, sir, I thank
    the Canadian people, I thank the Members of this Parliament for standing
    in partnership for the principles that gave justice real meaning in the
    world. I once again want to say that I would talk--I'm sure it seemed to
    him endlessly--but to your Prime Minister, and the American people knew
    from day one exactly where Canada stood. And we are very, very grateful
    for that.
        This agreement that we're fixing to sign is added proof that the
    challenges we face require a new partnership among nations. Last year at
    the Houston economic summit, we agreed to give this effort real
    priority. Our negotiators gained momentum with the passage in the U.S.
    of our landmark environmental legislation, the clean air act of 1990.
    Credit for this accord belongs to the EPA in our country, its able
    Administrator, Bill Reilly, who is with us today. And of course, credit
    goes to the negotiators on both sides for the spirit in which they
    completed this task. Let me thank our special

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    negotiator, Dick Smith, and his colleagues, as well as their
    counterparts across the table on the Canadian side for a job well-done.
        Beyond our common interest in our shared environment, this agreement
    says something about our overall relationship. The fact that Canada and
    the United States were able so quickly to craft a wide-ranging and
    effective agreement on such a complex subject says a lot about the
    extraordinarily strong relationship between our two countries.
        Mr. Prime Minister, I do recall our own discussions on environmental
    issues, and especially our meeting before I became President back in
    January of 1987. I made a comment then that made its way into more than
    a few Canadian news reports, that I'd gotten ``an earful'' from you on
    acid rain. That was the understatement of the year. [Laughter] So now, I
    came up here to prove to you that I was listening, and all of us on the
    American side were listening. And again, we appreciate your strong
    advocacy, your articulate advocacy of this principle that I think will
    benefit the American people, the Canadian people. And I like to think it
    goes even beyond the borders of our two great countries.
        So, thank you very much. The treaty that we sign today is testimony
    to the seriousness with which both our countries regard this critical
    environmental issue. And here is one that did take two to tango. Here is
    one where each had to come give a little and take a little, and it's
    been worth it. And I think we're doing something good and sound and
    decent today.
        Thank you all very, very much.

                        Note: The Prime Minister spoke at 3:50 p.m. in the
                            Reading Room at Parliament Hill. In his remarks,
                            the Prime Minister referred to Allan Gottlieb,
                            former Canadian Ambassador to the United States;
                            E. Davie Fulton, Chairman of the Canadian
                            Section of the International Joint Commission--
                            United States and Canada; John Fraser, Speaker
                            of the Canadian House of Commons and former
                            Minister of the Environment; William K. Reilly,
                            Administrator of the Environmental Protection
                            Agency; Canadian Minister of the Environment
                            Robert de Cotret; David MacDonald, chairperson
                            of the House of Commons Standing Committee on
                            the Environment; Michael Phillips, Canadian
                            Assistant Deputy Minister for External Affairs;
                            R.W. Slater, Canadian Assistant Deputy Minister
                            for the Environment; John H. Sununu, Chief of
                            Staff to the President; Brent Scowcroft,
                            Assistant to the President for National Security
                            Affairs; Edward Ney, U.S. Ambassador to Canada;
                            and Stan Darling, Canadian Member of Parliament.
                            The President referred to the Prime Minister's
                            wife, Mila; Derek H. Burney, Canadian Ambassador
                            to the United States; and Richard J. Smith, U.S.
                            Special Negotiator for Acid Rain Talks With
                            Canada.