The
Commonwealth: A Force for Change in Support
of Democracy and Human Rights
Notes for a Statement by Hon. David
Kilgour, Secretary of State (Latin America
& Africa)
to the National Student Commonwealth Forum
Lester B. Pearson Building, Ottawa, May
6, 1999
Thank you for inviting me to speak at the
closing of your forum. It is always a pleasure
to speak to young Canadians, particularly
those who have demonstrated an interest
in our foreign policy. You have done so
this week by participating in a number of
activities which I hope you found interesting,
educational and fun. The two young people
from Alberta staying with my own family,
Brett Ireland and Lindsay Anderson, were
very pleased.
As student representatives from across
Canada, you have chosen to spend time together,
share perspectives and cooperate among yourselves.
So too have the countries of the Commonwealth
chosen to freely participate in the Commonwealth
club – a global family of 54 countries
and 1.7 billion people. In addition, like
the delegates here today, chosen across
Canada, many countries apply to become members
of the Commonwealth. All Commonwealth countries
must adhere to the basic principles of democracy
and human rights and have had constitutional
association with an existing Commonwealth
member. Those who have been suspended, as
seen with Nigeria, spend considerable energy
and diplomatic resources to seek re-admittance.
Peoples and governments clearly value their
Commonwealth connection. Whether it be for
reasons of historical associations, shared
values of democracy and respect for human
rights, similar political and legal institutions,
common language, or flexible mechanisms
for technical assistance, all of our countries
and many of our citizens invest considerable
human and financial resources in our Commonwealth
ties.
Canadians are proud of our long association
with the Commonwealth in which we play a
very important role.
For me, the promotion of democracy and
good governance continue to be defining
features of the modern Commonwealth. In
addition to the Commonwealth’s advocacy
of democratic and human rights, there are
a number of practical actions that the Commonwealth
is pursuing to make the 1991 Harare Declaration
a reality. These are important to Canada.
They are among the reasons that we continue
to value our Commonwealth membership.
There is one area in particular which I’d
like to mention, the 11th Commonwealth Ministerial
Action Group, CMAG, meeting in London which
I attended last week, and the discussions
held there on Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
Canada is one of the eight member countries
in the CMAG which works together to implement
collective Commonwealth action in support
of the Harare principles of democracy and
human rights. Personally, that forum has
been my main Commonwealth interest. Since
becoming Secretary of State, I have, together
with Minister Axworthy, regularly attended
CMAG meetings and participated in the group’s
mission to Sierra Leone.
At last week’s CMAG Meeting in London
(UK), I, on behalf of Minister Axworthy,
along with the Foreign Ministers of the
other seven member countries, again discussed
the situation in Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
In the past, Nigeria has rightly been the
primary focus of CMAG concern since its
inception three years ago coincided with
the suspension of Nigeria’s Commonwealth
membership by Heads of Government at the
Auckland CHOGM. Given the positive events
in Nigeria over the past several months,
at our meeting last week, we had the happy
task of discussing, not further sanctions
against Nigeria, but rather coming to the
decision to recommend that Heads of Government
welcome Nigeria back into the Commonwealth
family with the inauguration of the new
democratically elected government on May
29.
As you probably learned yesterday during
your briefing on Africa, Canada through
the Commonwealth played an active role in
supporting the transition in Nigeria, in
particular participating in election monitoring
over the five sets of elections earlier
this year. This is just one of the ways
in which the Commonwealth works to assist
countries in their transition to democracy
and supports human rights and good governance.
Indeed, CMAG has become a real jewel in
the modern Commonwealth crown.
A new critical area of concern for CMAG
is Sierra Leone and the dire humanitarian
and security situation which presently prevails
there. As you know, human security, human
rights and peacebuilding are particular
interests of Canada and of our Foreign Minister.
Canada is clearly deeply concerned by the
deteriorating conditions in West Africa.
Canada, and other member countries, support
the Government of Sierra Leone and their
efforts to pursue dialogue with the rebels
to reach a lasting peace settlement. The
ministers also decided to name publicly
the two governments which are assisting
the rebels in Sierra Leone – those
of Liberia and Burkina Faso.
In London, we all commended the continuing
important role played by the Economic Community
of West African States Monitoring Group (ECOMOG), the continued good offices role
played by the Secretary-General, and called
for further material and logistical assistance.
Canada has already contributed $1million
in support for this Force in Sierra Leone.
As CMAG has in the past been a flexible
instrument to pursue our concerns about
the need for change in non-democratic countries,
Canada believes that it should remain a
tool in the international arsenal. I believe
CMAG should re-emphasize its role as one
where ministerial support can be mobilized
for Commonwealth and bilateral action in
support of positive steps being undertaken
by member states in accordance with the
Harare principles.
Today I have concentrated on one aspect
of the Commonwealth of interest to me and
to Canada's foreign policy: support for
our common values of democracy and human
rights.
This is not to deny much of the valuable
work of the Commonwealth in many areas.
The Commonwealth is many things to many
people. I know that Ministers of Finance,
Education, Youth, and Health among others
find the Commonwealth a valuable forum to
discuss policy issues. Indeed our heads
of government also do so. Professional associations
and non-governmental organizations likewise
find common ground on many issues with their
counterparts from Commonwealth countries.
All of these groups report to the biennial
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
In November, 1999, the CHOGM will take place
in Durban, South Africa. At the Senior Officials’
Meeting in November, it was agreed that
the theme for the next CHOGM should focus
upon "the impact of globalization,
not only in its economic terms but also
with respect to it political, human and
people-centred ramifications." This
theme will be refined further over the course
of the next year in consultation with the
Secretary-General, the host South African
Government and other Commonwealth governments.
We are now in the process of reflecting
upon this theme.
Looking at the agenda of the last National
Student Commonwealth Forum, I notice the
theme was globalization. Perhaps you are
one step ahead of us and have already provided
some new ideas to us throughout this week.
I am also very interested in the theme
you have chosen to discuss this year –
poverty. As your negotiations today no doubt
underlined, fighting poverty is a multi-faceted
challenge which must address both social
and economic aspects. Canada promotes the
development and realisation of these basic
needs in the developing countries of the
Commonwealth through our bilateral and multilateral
aid programs and through our economic and
trade negotiations. The Commonwealth supports
poverty alleviation, education and health
through a number of different channels including
the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Assistance,
the Commonwealth of Learning, Commonwealth
Health, Education and Finance Ministers’
Meetings, as well as through the Commonwealth
Secretariat Economic Division. I commend
you for tackling such a critical and complex
subject, and hope that your discussions
have borne many useful lessons for us all.
Finally, thank you delegates for participating
in the National Student Commonwealth Forum
and for coming to the Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade. I hope
you will take away from this conference
and this week of learning not only knowledge
and facts, but also appreciate the sharing,
understanding, cooperation and negotiation
that are even more valuable and form the
cornerstone of basic Commonwealth values.
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