So that was Reagan's political problem. As a rancher in California, he was an environmentalist himself. But the President of the United States doesn't control everything that happens in Washington.
In politics, madame, you need two things: friends, but above all an enemy.
When I appointed the Minister of the Environment to major cabinet status, the Planning and Priorities committee, the signals that that sent through Ottawa were major, because that's what the bureaucracy understands.
You have to spend your political capital on great causes for your country.
You accumulate political capital to spend it on noble causes for Canada. If you're afraid to spend your capital, you shouldn't be there.
First, President Reagan was not enthusiastic. But I built up a relationship with him in other areas and then persuaded him that this was important to us and to me, and that we had to at least be in the process of looking at this seriously.
You can't be chasing 15 rabbits. Otherwise, the public mind cannot follow you.
The biggest trading partner of the United States is not West Germany or Japan, it's right here.
