Welcome
address for U.S. Consul Lisa Bobbie Schreiber
Hughes
Notes for an address by the Honourable David
Kilgour, Secretary of State
(Latin America & Africa)
at a welcome luncheon for Lisa Bobbie Schreiber
Hughes, U.S. Consul General in Calgary
Calgary, Alberta, November 28, 1997
It is a pleasure
to speak at this luncheon to welcome the newly
appointed Consul General of the United States
of America, Lisa Bobbie Schreiber Hughes.
Ms. Schreiber
Hughes has served in several posts in Latin
America and the Caribbean during her most
impressive career. It is a region that is
very much on my mind at present, and I hope
to compare a number of notes with our guest
of honour. I have just returned from a brief
visit to Peru and Colombia, and I am busy
taking Spanish lessons. My teacher assures
me, after 12 or 13 lessons, that with just
one more lesson, I'll be fluent. For now,
though, I'll have to speak in English.
The United
States has a much longer history of ties
with Latin America. Canada has long had
close ties with the Caribbean, but our involvement
in Latin America has been more recent. In
recent years, even the United States has
had to become much more engaged with its
neighbours to the south -- the setback in
Congress on fast-track notwithstanding.
The Mexican
writer Carlos Fuentes has said: "Every
North American, before this century is over,
will find that he or she has a personal
frontier with Latin America. This is a living
frontier, which can be nourished by information
but, above all, by knowledge, by understanding,
by the pursuit of enlightened self interest
on both parts."
Fuentes meant
"North American" in the sense
that some Latin Americans still use the
term -- to refer to citizens of the United
States. But today it is equally true that
no Canadian is unaffected by our relationship
with Latin America.
Latin America
and Canada
I am excited
that my area of responsibility deals with
some of the most dynamic areas in Canada's
foreign relations. In 1995, the government
identified Latin America as a region in
which our geographic location gives us an
important advantage.
For many
years, when Canadians looked southward,
we tended not to see beyond the United States.
Our entry into the Organization of American
States [OAS] in 1990 was a clear political
signal of our desire to play a more active
role in hemispheric issues. We hoped that
our involvement in the OAS would lead to
a revitalization of regional intergovernmental
institutions.
In the early
1990s, Canada negotiated the North American
Free Trade Agreement [NAFTA] with the United
States and Mexico. It was the first regional
trade agreement in the world involving so-called
developing and developed countries. During
the same period, we extended our resident
diplomatic representation to most countries
of the region.
The Miami
Summit
In 1994,
Prime Minister Chrétien participated
in the Miami Summit of the Americas, where
leaders of 34 democratically elected countries
agreed on a partnership for development
and prosperity. This partnership would be
based on a commitment to democratic practices,
economic integration and social justice.
In April
next year, the process will continue with
the Summit of the Americas in Santiago,
Chile. These talks aim to lay the groundwork
for a Free Trade Area of the Americas [FTAA]
by 2005. They will also address other important
social development issues, including all-important
education.
Meanwhile,
Canada has been pursuing closer trading
relations throughout the region. This year,
Canada and Chile concluded a bilateral free
trade agreement. This was an expression
of Canada's desire to continue with a trading
agenda at a time when some in the U.S. Congress
are reluctant to give fast-track approval
for negotiations to include Chile in the
NAFTA.
Canada is
also talking trade with other regional groupings,
such as MERCOSUR, the Andean Pact, CARICOM,
and the Central American Common Market.
We look forward to trade partnerships with
members of these groups as we move toward
hemispheric free trade.
MERCOSUR
Let me draw
your attention to Canada's efforts to develop
enhanced trading relations with MERCOSUR,
which in a trade pact includes Argentina,
Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Canadians
exported nearly $1.7 billion to these four
countries in 1996, and absorbed imports
of $1.4 billion. The Canadian government
is trying to lay a groundwork that will
allow more and smoother trading between
MERCOSUR and Canada.
In January,
a Team Canada trade mission will visit Mexico,
Argentina, Brazil and Chile. It will be
patterned on previous successful Team Canada
missions to Asia, which have brought together
our Prime Minister and Premiers in promoting
economic growth for all of us.
Commonwealth
Caribbean
I might note
that although my formal title is Secretary
of State (Latin America and Africa), I am
also responsible for the Caribbean, including
the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Although
the Caribbean is geographically close to
Latin America, our trading relationships
with the two regions have been quite different.
Canada has enjoyed a long historic relationship
with the Commonwealth Caribbean. We share
a common language, and common political
and legal traditions, based on our ties
with Britain. The Bank of Nova Scotia had
a branch in the Caribbean before it was
in Toronto. We don't need to talk about
the rum trade between Canada and the Caribbean.
We have sometimes been inclined to take
the Caribbean peoples for granted. This
is a serious mistake. The countries of the
Commonwealth Caribbean are among our closest
friends on the international stage. In our
recent bid for Calgary 2005, 11 of the 25
votes we got were from CARICOM states.
African Renaissance
Africa's
emergence as a stable, prosperous continent
is important to every other continent. 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 what it is
capable of contributing. I am an Africa
optimist.
The end of
apartheid in South Africa and the spread
of democracy in other African countries
gives the world increasing hope that Africa's
potential will finally be realized. We Canadians
must continue to lend assistance.
In September,
I visited Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya, and
saw how central 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
— although certainly not all —
since the catastrophes of 1994, and the
government in office there is genuinely
seeking reconciliation among its constituent
communities.
In Kenya,
despite large problems, there appears to
be a national stepping back from the abyss.
Our delegation arrived shortly after a multiparty
committee of Members of Parliament had agreed
on a comprehensive package of reforms, which
now appears to have been enacted fully before
the December elections. In short, there
is cause for optimism in all three nations.
Canadian
Foreign Policy
I would argue
that Canada's foreign policy in the 1990s
has not only been for the most part intelligent;
it has often been exciting, particularly
in recent years.
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 doesn't personally concern many important
people around the world.
Important
people don't spend a lot of time walking
through fields and down 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
100 million landmines 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.
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. I was pleased to see that Americans
too were recognized in this campaign, with
the recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize
to Jody Williams and the International Campaign
to Ban Land Mines.
Next week,
approximately 100 countries are expected
to sign a treaty toward this end in Ottawa,
as one more step in what has become known
as the "Ottawa Process." Canadians
should be proud.
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 he
has twice advanced in formal presentations
to the United Nations General Assembly.
A next important project will be efforts
to limit the global trade in small arms.
Human Rights
Canada has
also found a niche for itself in the area
of human rights. Our 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
non-governmental organizations [NGOs] and
to develop a space in which civil society
can grow.
Support for
improvements in human rights 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'll all 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.
To be certain,
we have work to do in our own backyard on
issues of the environment and human rights
-- issues that are so important 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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