There are so many demands on your time, on your resources, and on the prestige of the government.
Trudeau's contribution was not to build Canada but to destroy it, and I had to come in and save it.
We created the Cabinet Committee on the Environment to review the environmental implications of all government initiatives. I think what made us successful was the fact that it was a sustained approach. We did something new every year.
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 accumulate political capital to spend it on noble causes for Canada. If you're afraid to spend your capital, you shouldn't be there.
You can't be chasing 15 rabbits. Otherwise, the public mind cannot follow you.
You cannot name a Canadian prime minister who has done as many significant things as I did, because there are none.
You have to spend your political capital on great causes for your country.
We decided that the environment was an integral part of our policies and the political thrust of our government. We gave it the priority and we sustained it with the money required to make it happen.