From the Quiet Revolution that heralded the rise of a francophone business class to the James Bay project and its 100,000 jobs, the primacy of economic development has always been the trademark of the Quebec Liberal Party.  The ever-renewed challenge of wealth creation has always focused the minds of Liberals, and is always thought of as the prerequisite to fulfilling other liberal values, from social justice to intergenerational equity.

In years to come, Quebec can no longer rely entirely as it has in the past on a young labour force, abundant natural resources, trade protection or the relative weakness of the Canadian currency.  The Quebec Liberal Party is the only one to figure out the new landscape of the world economy and the scale of the changes that transform it, and the only one with the foresight to see great opportunities for Quebec ingenuity in this brave new world.

This is why, eversince coming into office, the Liberal government has sought to remodel our economic strategies to deal with the new challenges, and to do so with three core priorities in mind:  dealing with manpower shortages by improving the quality and mobility of the workforce; investing in innovation to increase productivity, and improving access to world markets to make the best of our resources and talent for doing business. During the recent recession and financial crisis, the Liberal government has stepped in decisively, and successfully, to prop up domestic demand and help affected workers. Quebec now boasts one of the smallest budget deficits and the lowest unemployment rate in North America. From this point forward, Jean Charest is determined to harness the incipient recovery to breath new life into wealth creation and propel Quebec among the continent's most prosperous and ingenuous societies.

Following a noticeable increase in the employment rate since 2003, the Liberal government has set up the Employment Pact Plus to make training more relevant and available to Quebec workers. Jean Charest has modified our immigration procedures to retain foreign students, accelerated the process of recognizing foreign credentials and struck historic agreements with both France and other Canadian provinces to improve labour mobility.

It all amounts to nothing less than expanding our economic horizons, founded on the conviction that Quebec businesses have ultimately more to gain from new market opportunities than they do from new barriers and protections. Other major economic initiatives are soon to follow, including:

A new innovation strategy that features the creation of large new start up and venture capital funds as well as a 10-year fiscal holiday for firms that invest in the commercialization of research ideas developed here.

The deployment of the North Plan, a Canadian free trade agreement and formal free trade talks between Canada and the European Union.

The Quebec-Ontario free trade accord, which gives rise to North America's fourth economic power, and new trade relations with China, India and Russia.

In the aftermath of one the worst financial crises in world history, Quebec finds itself in better shape than most of its neighbours. The challenge ahead is to capitalize on our good fortune and the nascent recovery to move ahead of the pack, to create wealth at a faster pace, and thus remain faithful to the provision of good public services without forcing our children to pick up the tab.