Canadian
Foreign Policy in an Ever-Shrinking World
Notes for an Address by the Honourable David
Kilgour, Secretary of State
(Latin America & Africa)
at the October meeting of the Diplomatic
Press Attaché Network National Press
Club
Ottawa, October 15, 1997
Your Excellencies,
ladies and gentlemen:
There are
pressures on Canadians to look at the world
through parochial eyes.
When you
are located as close as we are to the United
States -- the country the rest of the world
tends to focus on, given its political and
economic might and its ubiquitous entertainment
industry -- it is sometimes difficult to
look beyond and realize that there is a
lot more out there. Just past Texas and
a tad beyond Hawaii . . .
Parochial
Doesn't Work Here
The truth
is that Canadians cannot afford to be parochial.
It is in our interests to look outward as
it is in the interests of those who are
less prosperous. Much of our personal security,
and our national security, depends upon
what happens elsewhere. A great deal of
our economic well-being depends upon what
happens elsewhere -- evidently no other
nation in the world depends more on foreign
trade to create jobs and prosperity. Approximately
40 per cent of our GDP [gross domestic product]
today consists of exports of goods and services
-- that's millions of Canadian jobs.
Think about
a country that features some of the most
remote and lightly populated land in the
world. Then think of some of those pristine
places rapidly turning into repositories
for pollutants -- some of which have been
spewed into the air by us and some by others.
Think about
a country within the confines of a world
with immense military, economic and population
pressures. Can that country afford to stick
its head in the sand and pretend that all
those massive migratory pressures are never
going to show up on our doorstep?
Canada's
Foreign Policy
I am speaking,
of course, of Canada. And I am saying that
foreign policy is of real concern to Canadians.
As you know, Canada's foreign policy is
based on the three pillars of national prosperity,
national security, and the projection abroad
of our values and culture. I am proud to
be associated with it. If you look behind
this convention, that UN vote, this protocol,
and that initiative, I think you will find
a rather firm set of Canadian values that
serve us well at home and abroad.
They are
a mix of idealism and practicality, based
on the concept that you aren't likely to
achieve practical results if there isn't
some degree of idealism to your approach.
Idealism is usually caught up in some kind
of quest to make things better for people.
What Can
Canadians Contribute?
My job is
to promote Canadian interests generally
in the areas for which I am responsible
-- Latin America and Africa. Trade has become
an ever-growing focus at the department,
as you might expect with the world economy
opening up so much over the past decade.
It goes without saying that we at the Department
of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
have an obligation to do everything we can
to enhance the opportunities for Canadian-based
entrepreneurs to operate abroad, and to
attract investment to Canada that will create
jobs here. Only last weekend, I met a Brazilian
now landed in Canada who exports Canadian
made anti-theft devices to 15 car dealers
in Rio. A friend in southeast Edmonton publishes
books there, which he sells on the Internet
to Asians, Europeans and Latin Americans.
But what
else can we do to help create the kind of
world that is likely to value the kind of
society that Canadians have put together
-- rather than threaten it?
An Independent
Voice
Since 1989,
we have moved from a bipolar world to one
in which one superpower dominates the international
scene. By necessity -- but also through
shared values -- the United States is to
many Canadians our best international friend.
Most Canadians
appreciate the role which the United States
plays in intervening in difficult situations
around the world. And we all celebrate the
end of the Cold War, which fuelled so many
conflicts in so many places between 1945
and 1989.
The current
unipolar world obviously doesn't come problem
free. If medium- and small-sized states
do nothing more than acquiesce to one country's
leadership, then whatever brand of thinking
prevails in that country at any given time
will also prevail internationally.
That isn't
humanity's way, and it certainly isn't the
American way. We can't abdicate our responsibilities,
and it isn't in any Canadian interest that
we do so. Thankfully, we have not. We have
worked hard in many forums -- including
the G-7 -- to make our influence felt.
We work in
partnership with the United States on most
important issues because the two countries
share a lot of values. But we Canadians
must speak up -- as we have in the past
-- when we have something different to say.
That is the very essence of democracy. And
democracy is what we are counting on to
help bring self-determination and relative
prosperity to billions of people around
the world.
Appointment
to the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade
If I may
enter a personal note here, the two passions
to which I have just referred -- a determination
to maintain an independent voice, but a
complementary one to play a role as part
of a team that can do things to make the
world a better place -- these are two things
that have sustained me in political life.
There have
been times when I stood alone. I had to;
because I believed in what I was saying;
and wasn't about to swallow convictions.
Now I am
a proud member of the Government of Canada
-- part of a great team. My appointment
by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien as
Secretary of State for Latin America and
Africa was a great honour. I think it shows
that people who aren't always yes men --
or yes women -- can command respect on both
the national and the international scene,
and that is what Canada aspires to.
Latin America
and Africa
Latin American,
Caribbean and African countries have made
it clear to us that it is important to have
us around, often because Canada doesn't
always feel compelled to say yes.
Africa's
emergence as a stable, prosperous continent
is important to every other continent in
the world. The Canadian bond with Africa
has continued to build since the days of
John Diefenbaker and Mike Pearson. Both
leaders saw what Africa means to the world
and is capable of contributing. I am an
Africa optimist.
The end of
apartheid in South Africa and the spread
of democracy in many other African countries
gives the world increasing hope that Africa's
potential will be realized. We Canadians
must continue to lend assistance.
As for Latin
America, I can remember when it was a peripheral,
far-away place for most Canadians.
How things
have changed! Canada and Latin America have
recognized each other's political and economic
importance within the hemisphere. In the
1990s, Canada has clearly become, finally,
a nation of the Americas. The other big
change is democratization. Suddenly the
whole western hemisphere is home.
Canada's
decision to occupy its long-vacant chair
at the Organization of American States [OAS]
and our new free trade agreement with Chile
are two indicators that this is going to
be an increasingly meaningful relationship
in the 21st century. Through the OAS, the
Summit of the Americas, the NAFTA [North
American Free Trade Agreement], and the
FTAA [Free Trade Area of the Americas] process,
Latin American and the Caribbean are beginning
to take their rightful place in the Canadian
public eye.
Prime Minister
Chrétien and Foreign Affairs Minister
Axworthy have made it clear through recent
visits that they consider Central and Latin
American a Canadian priority. Much can be
gained by better bonding the northern and
southern extremities of this hemisphere.
There is strength in regional unity, and
that strength should be as balanced as we
can make it in the circumstances.
Between January
11 and 23, Prime Minister Chrétien,
along with provincial and territorial leaders,
will lead a Team Canada mission to Mexico,
Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Team Canada
missions are an important component of Canada's
international business development efforts.
Exports are vital to the Canadian economy;
every $1 billion in exports creates or sustains
11 000 jobs in Canada. The mission to Latin
America will send a strong signal to prospective
partners in the region that Canada is committed
to doing business with them.
A Recent
Visit to Chile and Bolivia
Recently,
I had an opportunity to see just how useful
a hemispheric role Canadians are capable
of playing. When I visited Santiago -- the
capital of a country that in a very short
time has become an important trading partner
for Canada -- I was presented with clear
evidence of how a very good business deal
for Canadians can dovetail with improved
living conditions for all Chileans.
Smog is a
huge concern in Santiago and the problem
is heightening because of the high terrain
surrounding the city. The week before my
visit to Chile, the great tenor Pavarotti
had called off a concert because vocal chords
don't respond well to heavy levels of pollution.
I swallowed
my share of smog, and I listened to local
health authorities express their fears about
the long- and short-term health dangers
it presents to Chileans. I also got a chance
to attend the opening of the GasAndes Project
headed by Nova Corp., and to rejoice in
the fact that Canadian technology, Canadian
management expertise, and Canadian governmental
assistance is going to help make things
better -- perhaps to the point that Pavarotti
will eventually show up. I hope he wears
a Canadian flag crossed with a Chilean flag
on his T-shirt when he sings.
I also visited
Bolivia. The bad news is that I saw a people
that for too long have suffered from endemic
poverty. The good news is that I was able
to witness the beginning of a turnaround
that is creating major investor interest,
and that is also beginning to provide tools
-- such as microcredit and a government
pension fund -- to give all Bolivians a
chance to make something more of their lives.
Bolivians,
of course, are creating their own destiny,
but Canada is going to play at least something
of a supportive role in that turnaround.
Visit to
Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya
Recently,
I have visited Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya
and have seen for myself that Africa is
changing and our stereotypes are obsolete.
In Kampala, I learned that fully 2000 companies
have located operations in Uganda in recent
years. Similarly, in Rwanda, close observers
say that there has been real economic progress
for some -- certainly not all -- since the
catastrophe of 1994, and that the government
in office is genuinely seeking reconciliation
among its constituent communities. In Kenya,
despite large problems there appears to
have been a national stepping back from
the abyss recently. Our delegation arrived
shortly after a multi-party committee of
Members of Parliament had agreed on a comprehensive
package of reforms, which now appears to
be on its way to enactment in full before
the election, which must be held in this
calendar year. In short, there is a basis
for optimism in all three nations.
Those are
positive stories. Canada's relations with
those countries have helped bring about
positive changes.
I would argue
that Canada's foreign policy in the 1990s
has not only been for the most part intelligent.
It is has often been exciting, particularly
in recent years.
Landmines
Let's look
at Canada's campaign to ban anti-personnel
landmines. It is perhaps the most obvious
example of this country taking a lead on
an issue that could have been ignored because:
(a) it wasn't
popular in military circles; and
(b) it does
not personally concern many important people
around the world.
Important
people don't spend a lot of time walking
through fields and down bush paths that
are likely to explode under them at any
given moment. Millions of poor civilians
do.
It is an
important issue. It tells ordinary people
that they matter. There are an estimated
one hundred million land mines lurking around
the world, waiting to blow children to bits
-- for no other reason than that these kids
took one false step on land that should
sustain them.
So, as you
know, Canada has played a significant role
in the grass-roots activism that should
lead us -- must lead us -- to a meaningful
international accord on the banning of anti-personnel
mines.
In early
December, more than 90 countries are expected
to sign a treaty toward this end in Ottawa,
as one more step in what has become to be
known as the "Ottawa Process."
Canadians should be proud.
The United
States hasn't come on board yet. This is
a shame -- particularly given the role that
the U.S.-based Nobel Prize-winning International
Campaign to Ban Land Mines has played in
driving this issue since 1992.
Again, this
is why independent voices are so important
on the current international scene.
Human Security
The fight
to obliterate anti-personnel landmines is
just one component of Foreign Affairs Minister
Lloyd Axworthy's commitment to the concept
of sustainable human security, which, as
most of you know, he has twice advanced
in formal presentations to the United Nations
General Assembly.
The concept
recognizes that the ugly face of war has
changed. It recognizes that, while people
around the world are less often victims
of nation-to-nation combat, they are increasingly
coming under other types of more complicated
-- but equally-lethal -- assaults.
Canada's
decision to play a major part in defeating
Naziism during the Second World War involved
a clear-cut decision to declare war and
send troops. In the 1990s, waging war against
tyranny and injustice can be more complicated.
Think of
these threats to world security and well-being:
the needs
of more than a billion people living in
poverty;
clean water shortages, the leading cause
of death in the developing world;
attacks on the human rights of individuals
and groups within their own societies;
terrorism and international crime;
denigration of the lives and livelihoods
of people everywhere through depletion or
pollution of natural resources.
These are ominous and ever-encroaching enemies.
They don't all fit into the old categories
deemed to threaten world order. We need
to find ways to combat them.
We can't
just keep cranking up the fire trucks every
time the flames appear. We need to find
ways of pre-empting these problems. That
is why Canada wants the United Nations and
other international agencies to try to come
to grips with the concept of sustainable
human security. We are proud of our role
as international peacekeepers, but we need
to start developing new tools as well, to
respond to new challenges.
Human Rights
There may
have been a time when the entire populations
of countries could be blindfolded to the
benefits of living freely, but those days
are disappearing. Communications are too
pervasive. People don't want to live in
national prisons, and sooner or later they
are going to find ways of breaking free.
Where Canada
has made a niche for itself in the area
of human rights is in supporting change
from within. This approach is evolutionary,
not coercive. Even if we wanted to force
change, we have to face the fact that Canada
simply does not have the economic leverage
or the international clout to do so. We
can, however, work from within to support
NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and
develop a space in which civil society can
grow.
Support for
human rights improvements can take different
avenues. In countries that are prepared
to engage with us on even a limited scale,
such as Cuba, we will work for evolutionary
change. For regimes that are unwilling to
enter into any sort of dialogue or exchange
whatsoever, such as Burma or Nigeria, we
work for broader international action to
press those regimes to change their ways.
Next year
we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Canada will do its utmost during the year
to convince governments everywhere that
the suppression of human rights can only
lead to the kind of bitterness that creates
political uprisings. Canada will be sponsoring
a broad range of activities during the year,
including a conference on the use of the
Internet on behalf of human rights, development
of a prototype annual report on the state
of human rights worldwide, and an NGO conference
that will analyze and evaluate the impact
of the 1993 Vienna Declaration.
We aren't
perfect. We even have work to do in our
own backyard on issues of the environment
and human rights -- issues that are so important
to us internationally. But while we are
working on our own problems, we have to
be working on the world's problems too.
Because, when the circle is closed, they
are our problems too.
Let me give
the final word to Octavio Paz, the Mexican
diplomat and poet. In his reflections on
contemporary history, One Earth, Four or
Five Worlds, Paz notes that all great nations
have prudence, which he defines as wisdom
and integrity, boldness and moderation,
discernment and persistence in undertakings.
The aim of our country both domestically
and internationally should be this notion
of prudence.
Thank you.
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