John Crosbie - Memorable Quotations

Memorable Quotations

• "Why are you yelling at me? I didn't take the fish from the God damn water, so don't go abusing me."

• "They don't need to go berserk. Trying to batter on doors to frighten me. In the first place, I don't frighten. (Referring to protesters outside of his press conference on the Cod moratorium.)

• "Americans were far more popular in Newfoundland than Canadians, so I was never hung up about the United States. There's always seemed to be a hang up with the Toronto cultural literati about the US. But that's never been the feeling in Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada."

• "Someday we're going to have a North American continent that's an economic union. That's inevitable. These economic forces are there, and government policy can't stop them. It's only a question of, How do you get into a more secure position? They're next door and geography dictates. Like it or not, we're going up or down with the US."

• "No, and I'm goddamned not going to either! I'll tell you that, and I'm telling you that there isn't one person in the whole goddamn government who's read it. I'm the only one honest enough to say so... At this stage of my life I don't have to kiss anybody's ass, I can say what I goddamn well like." (on reading the 1988 Free-Trade Agreement)

• "it is better to be honest and sincere in one language than a twister, a trickster and a twit in two." (referring to his own unilingualism and Trudeau's biligualism)

• "No, I don't speak Mandarin Chinese either." (his response when asked if not speaking French would hinder his ability to be Prime Minister)

Reference No Holds Barred - John Crosbie's autobiography