Canada
in the Americas
Remarks by the Hon. David Kilgour, MP for
Edmonton Southeast
and Secretary of State for Africa and Latin
America
At the Annual General Meeting of the Canadian
Council of the Americas, National Club,
Toronto, Ontario March 27, 2001
Canada’s
approach to the people and countries of
the Americas is remarkably complimentary
to Simon Bolivar’s vision of the Americas
from two centuries ago. You will recall
Simon Bolivar as a liberator and a visionary
who fought for independence from the old
world and the old ways of colonialism and
subjugation. Bolivar respected the uniqueness
and destiny of each of the American nations
in our hemisphere. If he were alive today
he would agree with the Canadian policy
that continues to respect the democratic
principles of equality, universality and
life with dignity. Like Bolivar, Canada
defends democracies that promote human rights,
the rule of law, shared prosperity, and
access to essential services such as education
and health to all of their peoples.
When Bolivar
lived, globalization as we know today did
not exist, but even in 1815 he denounced
trading restrictions imposed by colonial
powers. From the outset, as the President
of Peru Bolivar recognized the importance
of free trade between all the nations of
the Americas. Most of you will know that
this ran counter to the direction taken
by the U.S. and based on the Monroe Doctrine
of 1823.
For the most
part, Canadians and Canada’s foreign
policy in the Americas remained uninvolved
as these contrary trade positions developed.
Our vision ran east and west and seldom
beyond our borders.
More recently
we’ve taken a stronger role in world
affairs, with greater attention to human
security and the development of civil societies.
Over the last quarter century, we’ve
come to realize that you can’t just
wag a moral finger or talk the rhetoric
of democracy. You have to get your fingernails
dirty and your elbows skinned.
Canada is
now involved in every hemisphere of the
world. On matters that run the gamut from
sharing technology for education to developing
new tactics for dealing with civil strife.
The Americas
present a unique opportunity for Canada
not only because we share many common denominators
in our history, but also many challenges
in our future.
Hosting the
Third Summit of the Americas is a tangible
consequence of our efforts to participate
more effectively in hemispheric affairs.
We decided became a full member of the OAS
only in 1990 and in joining we made a major
political decision to become an enthusiastic
part of our economic, political and geographic
neighbourhood .
The summit
is an important component of a decision
making process for cooperation among 34
democratically elected governments. The
goal is to seek solutions for problems faced
by our peoples throughout the hemisphere.
High unemployment rates, violence, restricted
access to education and health services,
probably the world’s widest income
disparities - these are only some of our
region’s best known problems.
The summit
will have the participation of 34 heads
of Government, 9000 delegates, the Inter-American
Development Bank, the OAS, the World Bank
and the Economic Commission for Latin America.
We expect about 3000 journalists from across
the hemisphere.
The event
is clearly a milestone if not the most important
event ever to occur in our country. Canadians
now have the responsibility to ensure that
we play a leading role in promoting democracy,
creating prosperity for all, and investing
in human potential.
Belonging
to the Americas
Sometimes
we still need to remind ourselves that Canada
really does belong to the Americas. It is
often easy to forget this, given our important
obligations to NATO, APEC, and the G-7.
An increasing number of Canadians actively
identify with their Latin American and Caribbean
roots. According to Statistics Canada, in
1996 approximately two million Canadians
claimed to be at least partially of Latin
American and/or Caribbean origin.
Moreover,
we are part of what Europeans call the New
World. We share with many other peoples
in our hemisphere the ethnocultural diversity
that makes the Americas quite unique in
the world.
There is
a growing symbiotic relationship between
Canadians and all our friends south of our
border. Our natural resources, skill at
technology transfers, long distance learning
are important for the economic and social
well-being of many of our neighbours. The
same holds true in the opposite direction.
Whatever happens in the Andes, whether it
be coca or poppy production or continuing
civil conflict, often has resonance in the
streets of Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal.
Canada has
developed strong political links in the
hemisphere. Our Prime Minister will be the
only head of Government or State in Quebec
who will have attended all three summits.
He took the opportunity at the Summit in
Santiago in 1998 to bring Canada closer
to our neighbours capturing the concept
when he coined the phrase “La gran
Familia”.
Economic
ties to Hemisphere
Enhancing
our hemispheric ties offers excellent opportunities
for Canadian business. The region has a
population of more than 800 million people
and a GDP of approximately US $ 11 Trillion.
This reality
is relevant because we rely so heavily on
exports. About forty-five cents on every
dollar produced in Canada is exported. One
in every three Canadian jobs now is dependent
on exports. Canada is the largest importer
and exporter per capita in the world. Our
well being and our children’s futures
depend in large measure on our ability to
sell our goods and services in other countries.
From 1989
to 1999, our two-way trade nationally with
Latin America and the Caribbean increased
by 173%, compared to only 60% over the same
period with Asia and only 66% with Europe.
Our trade
with the Americas offers an opportunity
to diversify our market beyond the United
States and to build on very substantive
investments in Latin America. In Colombia,
Peru, Chile and Brazil as a group, our total
investments are now close to 25 billion
dollars. Since we joined the OAS, our investment
has grown five fold in the region.
In Ontario,
the U.S. remains the largest market, with
approximately 92.2%; Latin America accounts
for only 1.4%. Ontario exports to Latin
America, excluding the U.S. totalled $1.5
billion last year.
Already companies
in this province such as Nortel Networks,
Falconbridge, INCO, MITEL and Toronto Dominion
are active investors and exporters to Latin
America. There are many opportunities on
the horizon. Exports support the growth
of many of Ontario’s high value sectors
including manufacturing, high tech, construction
and mining.
For Canada,
the Free Trade Area of the Americas offers
a mechanism to build on our success to date
and to do so under clearly established rules
for conducting business at the international
level. With it comes our defence of democracy
and values that respect equal opportunities
for all, regardless of size and economic
clout. Those who are opposed to the FTAA
should realize that Canada, as a medium
size power in the world, promotes better
trading rules, better conditions for those
who are producing and consuming goods and
a healthy natural environment for all concerned.
Trade Ministers
from the hemisphere will meet in Argentina
next week to review progress in the negotiations
and make recommendations to Leaders on the
way forward.
After the
Summit we hope that the Heads of Government
will agree to an Action Plan that will find
support in the most important financial
institutions in the Americas - the World
Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank
and the Andean Development Bank. This Action
Plan will offer new opportunities for Canadian
businesses.
Prior to
the Summit there are two events that as
businesspeople interested in the Americas
I encourage you to participate. At the beginning
of April the Americas Business Forum will
be held in Buenos Aires.
In Montreal
April 17-20 there is a large meeting of
business people organized by La Conférence
de Montréal. You will have the opportunity
to meet some of the most dynamic business
people in the hemisphere. It is an excellent
networking opportunity. In addition there
will be a special session on how to do business
with the international financial institutions.
Why political
co-operation?
Canadians
believe in working within multilateral institutions
to protect and foster such homegrown values
as human rights, the rule of law, and genuine
democratic principles- which are also increasingly
relevant in our foreign and trade policy
decisions.
Canada needs
to cultivate and build even stronger ties
with other members of the OAS. It would
be very interesting to receive your comments
on how these bilateral relations might evolve
after the Summit of the Americas. For example,
can we capitalize on those sectors of our
population who trace their roots to countries
of the Americas? Their intimate knowledge
of the different languages and cultures
is a major asset for our companies, NGO
s and governments. In Toronto you enjoy
remarkable ethnocultural diversity. I am
sure this wealth in human resources has
contributed to your leading role in opening
doors for our business community in the
Caribbean and in Latin America.
Summit Benefits
to Canada
People from
every part of the political spectrum have
expressed critical interest in the meeting
in Quebec City. The Summit has been three
years in the making; generating academic
forums, media watches and networks of interested
citizens. All of these will ultimately feed
into the deliberation in Quebec City.
Two weeks
ago, I had the pleasure of attending the
Inter-American Youth Forum in Quebec City,
which brought together 240 young people
from 20 countries in the hemisphere and
all parts of Canada. The Ministers of the
environment and the mayors of the largest
cities of the Americas will be meeting in
Montreal this week. The Assembly of First
Nations is hosting the Inter-American Indigenous
Summit in Ottawa this week. The Ministers
of Finance will meet in early April here
in Toronto.
Indeed there
now is a flurry of activity which confirms
our faith in public participation- democracy
in action.
Civil Society
Consultations
There has
been a great deal of consultation with civil
society in preparation for the Summit. The
personal representative of the Prime Minister,
Marc Lortie, and my colleagues John Manley
and Pierre Pettigrew have all been involved
in the dialogue with representatives of
civil society.
I’ve
met recently with civil society organizations
in Calgary Vancouver, Edmonton, Montreal
and Quebec City. As the Summit approaches,
we will continue to meet with civil society
advocates, to ensure that their opinions
are heard.
However,
no matter how much consultation takes place,
the opposition to globalization and fears
generated by a Free Trade Area of the Americas
will continue . This will not compromise
our respect for and the involvement of civil
society in promoting greater cooperation
among our hemispheric neighbours. We have
met representatives of civil society who
have contributed to a better understanding
of the issues to be discussed at the Summit.
We realize that some individuals feel strongly
enough about the issues to be tempted to
use extraordinary means to express their
views. People who wish to demonstrate have
every right to do so as long as they do
so peacefully and we expect demonstrations
on both sides of every experience.
Conclusion
These are
exciting times to be a Canadian. For a short
time in Quebec City all eyes will be on
us as convenors, advocates and champions.
Our history is spiced with controversy and
compromise but always in the interest of
a better world for every citizen. The test
of our mettle will rest on how well we accommodate
diversity and translate rhetoric into a
practical reality that brings sustainable
prosperity for all.
In the final
analysis, there are only three kinds of
people in this world: Those who watch things
happen, those how make things happen and
those who wonder what happened.
I know what
kind of people Canadians are!
Thank you!
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