A country is more than the sum total of its governmental institutions - local, provincial, or national. It is certainly more than a fictional "national identity" and a flag. It is far more than its art, music, or picture shows.

A country is about its people and their needs, the preservation of the natural environment and all forms of life, and the survival of a peaceful and civil society. In short, a country is about the quality of life of all, not just of the wealthy or the fortunate.

Today's aboriginal peoples' needs are many. Years of isolation, exclusion, and neglect of our rights have resulted in our displacement from our lands, the breakdown of our economy, the loss of our culture, the denial of our power to govern ourselves, and the deplorable poverty that is now an integral part of our identity within Canada.

To ignore the needs of aboriginal peoples, as Canada's political and economic élites have often attempted to do, or to dismiss them as irrelevant to the higher goal of building a strong united country, is to jeopardize the future of Canada. Quebec has long argued that outmoded concepts of federalism can no longer sustain unity.

In other words, we need to build a better country: a statement that implies Canada can be perfected.

To that end, building a country based on principles of inclusiveness would be preferable to maintaining a state that primarily serves the needs of urban dwellers. In this necessary enterprise to strengthen Canada, the hopes and aspirations of aboriginal peoples, visible minorities, women, the West, and Quebec cannot be ignored.

The greatest ambitions of aboriginal peoples are to restore and reclaim their assaulted cultures and languages, to own land and resources, to rebuild their economy, and to re-establish governments based on indigenous concepts of consensual democracy that will provide their people with the legacy of good government Canada has failed to offer.

Our vision includes respect for civil and human rights, and the freedom of individuals to participate in Canada's national life, free from discrimination, racism, or poverty. It is a vision that would allow our people to be themselves, to advance as distinct peoples, and yet remain active and contributing citizens of a country that has finally stopped hurting them.

So let us assume that one day Canada achieves its cherished unity. Let's assume that federalism has been modified to accommodate the needs of aboriginal peoples, Quebec, visible minorities, women, and the West. All these gains mean very little unless accompanied by concerted and sustained action by governments and the people.

It is the day after national unity: What needs to be done?

The condition of aboriginal peoples must be a priority. For the first time in Canadian history, the Constitution guarantees that concrete efforts must be made to uphold the rights of the First Nations, the Inuit, and the Metis. Only such constitutional guarantees can end the marginalization of indigenous peoples.

A top priority for the new Canada is to increase opportunities for aboriginal youth, who until now have, in one of the world's richest countries, watched their future -- and that of their people -- leading nowhere.

As a result of the constitutional reforms, the aboriginal peoples are now free from the indignity of having to prove that they have treaty rights to land, resources, self-government. Now they can begin to direct their energies towards rebuilding their cultures, languages and economies, instead of wasting scarce human and fiscal resources fighting white governments' reluctance to recognise their indigenous rights.

Another priority task of the new Canada is to care for all its people. A national plan to end poverty involving all governments -- including the new constitutionally recognised governments of aboriginal peoples -- must be developed. In a civilized country, the quality of life of its citizens cannot be left to the gambles of a free enterprise system that generates wealth for some, but not for all. A Canada that has affirmed new, inclusive, egalatarian values must do business in a different fashion than has been its practice for the past century.

In developing this new approach, Canada's poor must be given a voice in shaping a way out of their poverty. Sharing the wealth of this new country through a more equitable distribution of fiscal resources to all governments, and generating new wealth through an economic development policy that reaches out to all regions of the country, will prove to be a major task. And without strong government support for free education and health, opportunities for individuals to improve their standard of living will be few.

(Did I neglect to mention the new constitution states that education and health are two of the most fundamental human rights of all citizens of the new Canada?)

A third important task for the new Canada is to take a hard look at how past governments, working in collusion with industry, have spoiled the environment. A national plan is needed to rescue the natural environment. Such a policy need not be anti-development, but it needs a more meaningful commitment to clean air, earth, and water than is embodied by the idea of "sustainable development".

(By the way, according to my crystal ball, the new Constitution has a provision for the protection and enhancement of the natural environment for the benefit of future generations. As it turns out, environmental preservation is one of those aboriginal management ideas the new Canada decided to adopt to guarantee its own survival.)

Our new Constitution also says racial and cultural tolerance are two of our fundamental constitutional principles. Canada's face has changed in colour over the past century, as a result of improved immigration policies. A national plan needs to be devised to begin building a society with zero tolerance for racism and discrimination of all kinds.

In a world full of ethnic and racial tensions, a new Canada that embarks in this direction will demonstrate much-needed leadership in racial and ethnic harmony.

A new Canada also needs new institutions of government that increase citizens' participation and supplement a system of representation that now only protects only the power élites and the provinces with the largest populations. Of course, the Senate has vanished and a new co-governing body has been established at the national level to implement the changes needed to accommodate aboriginal peoples and Quebec.

Sharing power and revenue on an equitable basis are now regarded as better guiding principles for governing the new united country than maintaining the power and resource struggles that characterized the former federal state.

The day after the new vision for Canada and the new Constitution is accepted by all the people, the hard work of building a true civilization begins.