Friends,

I'd like to tell you about what we can achieve, together, for Canada.

We can have the strongest economy in the world. We can have the healthiest environment in the world. And we can have the fairest society in the world.

Those are lofty ambitions, but Canadians are up to the challenge. We are blessed with a terrific head start. We still have abundant natural resources, fresh water, forests, arable land, minerals and energy. We have a well-educated, multilingual workforce with strong ties around the world. We have a long history of peaceful coexistence and cooperation among our people. These and other advantages provide Canada with a deep history and a bright future.

Canada's copyright and digital policies aren't working. That's what I'm hearing from artists, independent Internet service providers, and consumers.

Our laws are out of date; they were written before file sharing or Facebook, before iPods or BitTorrent. If they ever worked, they don't anymore. They don't support the information commons or encourage creativity in the arts. They don't help people.

I was born and raised on the Quebec side of James Bay, across from Attawapiskat, a community that has been in the news lately. A lot of credit goes to people like my colleague, Charlie Angus, for raising the profile of the housing crisis there and getting people involved. If you haven't heard yet, Attawapiskat is a First Nation where many people are without homes for the winter. They will go without running water. They have gone without a school for a generation of children.

This is not unusual.

People may recall the stories about Kashechewan that were in all the media a few years ago, or Pikangikum. There are many others. Sandy Bay First Nation in Manitoba wants people to know they are in similar circumstances.

After the success of the May 2 election, New Democrats were elated. Short months later, with the loss Jack Layton, we were devastated. Now, with a leadership election going on, people have begun to turn their minds to the future, to where we are going as a party and how we can defeat Stephen Harper.

Obviously, we must re-elect the people we have in Parliament now. We cannot step backward. That means maintaining our social democratic values, acting as a responsible and responsive opposition and solidifying our new base in Quebec.

Most of us are familiar with the basic facts of Canada's population and geography. We proudly refer to being the second largest country in the world and one of the least densely populated. This is not news. Nor is the trend toward urbanization a new idea, with well over 80 per cent of Canadians now living in cities.

What receives less attention is the effect of this reality on rural Canada. As every year passes, more and more people are forced to leave home looking for work elsewhere. Rural communities are hollowing out.

Sadly, successive governments have also failed to take notice.