[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.