We will further our lead by establishing up to 10,000 community access sites and by building the fastest network in the world by March of the year 2000. Under the able leadership of our Prime Minister, the federal government has been focussed on an agenda that points to one goal - creating the conditions where Canadians can see reason for optimism about the future of their individual lives, the communities in which they live and a country that is fit to wear the reputation as the best place in the world to live. On Tuesday, the Finance Minister delivered a budget that gave meaning to optimism. After years of difficult choices, the finances of the nation are on a solid footing and the government has finally reached a point where it can act on those things that matter to Canadians. By far, the greatest priority for Canadians was the strength of our public health care system.
Health care is an obvious element of our quality of life.
And the quality of life is clearly dependent on our standard of living - this is what I am here to talk about today. Since 1987, we have done OK - our standard of living has grown by 7 percent but when we look at our American friends, we see that in the same time, they have increased their standard of living by 17 percent. And in that 10 years the gap has been widening. If this is a trend, then we should all be very concerned. Productivity - the measure of the efficiency with which people, capital, resources and ideas are combined is the most important determinant of our standard of living.