"The bad news is that this country is in a far worse condition - and I'm not kidding you - than anybody in this room even suspects," warned Trench, "and that includes me. Every single day I hear a new horror story. The good news is that at last the public seems to be becoming aware that there's something not quite right and maybe, just maybe, we can do something about it. But that really is up to you."
With that, Trench took his listeners on a tour through the highlights of his book, bringing all up-to-date with developments and additional observations relating to the many political, economic, and social issues discussed in his book.
After reviewing many of the problems and concluding that current political trends are responsible for the deterioration of Canada's social environment, Trench offered the following suggestion: "Now to get the country we need we require two things: One, we need an informed citizenry that demands changes and two, we need a government that is responsive to the citizen's wishes. We need a government that protects our freedoms to make our own choices in life."
To help point the way to a possible means of achieving this goal, Trench elaborated on some of the obstacles and opportunities that will be faced on the road to a free society:
"The question is: Do you care?
"You see, I'm not interested in people who don't care. I don't care about people who don't care. It's easy not to care. That's how we got into this mess - because people didn't care. The only way we can got out of it is by caring."
"Well, I'm sorry to bring you the bad news. The cold hard horrible truth is that ONLY YOU CAN SAVE CANADA. If you think I'm being a little ridiculous, I'll be even more ridiculous: I'll make some other suggestions as to who's going to save Canada. Brian Mulroney? Joe Clark? ("Mr. Canada" they called him.) Sheila Copps maybe?
"You see, you can hear how ridiculous it sounds.
"It's only the individual citizens who can do something about it. Personally."
"Maybe you'll be able to answer: 'I gave $25 a year to Freedom Party.' Because the question you'll ask yourself then, is 'Could I have done anything more?' You know, I'm getting on in years and I'm beginning to realize that the only regrets I have in life are the things I didn't do. So don't let yourself have those regrets because then it will be too late.
"This is critical: We are living in the most incredibly exciting time in the last, probably, couple of hundred years. Certainly, these are the most exciting times in Canada. and probably in the world. There is change taking place daily, monthly. Become part of this. Get involved. Don't sit on the outside watching it. Be a part of it. You can make a difference. You really can. It's the most amazing time in human history. I think it may be the birth of freedom - the final breakthrough. Let's hope it is. Because nothing else works. And it's becoming more and more obvious."
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last updated on April 30, 2002
