Partners
in Peace and Prosperity
The Hon.
David Kilgour, Canadian Secretary of State
(Asia-Pacific) and Member of Parliament
for Edmonton Southeast
at a luncheon
for Business, Peace, and Human Rights Organizations
Trans-Asia
Hotel
Colombo,
Sri Lanka, March 26,
2002
*Check against delivery
Member of
Parliament, John McKay, and I are delighted
be here today. Sri Lanka is one of the first
bilateral visits undertaken since John was
elected Chair of our Ontario caucus and
Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed me
Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific).
Thanks to
Joe Bolger and the Governance and Institutional
Strengthening Project (GISP) for hosting
this event. GISP, which is funded by the
Canadian International development Agency
(CIDA), supports Sri Lankan organizations
involved in education and awareness raising
on human rights issues, strengthening the
judiciary, public accountability and conflict
resolution.
The two of
us have come to listen and to learn, representing
a government and people who are your friends
of long standing. From the early days of
the Colombo Plan, when Sri Lanka was the
first recipient of Canadian development
assistance under it, Canadians have helped
Sri Lankans to build roads, improve the
rail system, develop power projects, and
address the enormous challenges and human/economic
costs of conflict.
Canada-Sri
Lanka relations go well beyond those initiated
a half-century ago through the Colombo Plan
and through our common membership in the
Commonwealth. Canada has become home to
thousands of Sri Lankans and “people-to-people”
relationships have strengthened in recent
years. More than 200,000 persons of Sri
Lankan origin now reside in Canada.
Our new Foreign
Minister, Bill Graham, John McKay, and I
all have significant expatriate communities
in our own constituencies - and through
our years of work with them have come to
care deeply about this beautiful country.
The unique blend of culture evident to Canadians
living in Sri Lanka, is now evident in Canada,
where Sri Lankans of all backgrounds contribute
to our distinctively Canadian cultural mosaic.
The large
expatriate Sri Lankan community living in
Canada is a great asset to us - one we seek
to engage in our efforts to support the
peace process. Misinformation is death to
the peace process so it is critical to engage
the expatriate community in a meaningful
dialogue.
As a nation
with decades of managing the many challenges
inherent to a multi-cultural and diverse
society, Canadians have followed the political
developments in Sri Lanka with intense interest.
As exemplified by the presentation of the
Canadian contribution to the business-led
Sri Lanka First Campaign, never before have
political events been so closely linked
with economic development and the potential
for foreign direct investment.
My colleague
and I were reminded of Canadian participation
in the early development of Sri Lanka as
an independent country when we drove along
the Canada Friendship Highway from the airport.
We’re told, although we haven’t
seen it for ourselves, that if you look
closely while stopped at a railway crossing,
you will still see Canadian diesel locomotives
providing passenger rail service forty years
after the original Colombo Plan contribution.
Our two countries
share much today from an economic perspective
as well: as countries dependent on trade
and exports, we have both looked to free
trade agreements with our respective large
neighbours to encourage job creation, economic
growth, and more fulfilled lives for our
people.
Today, development
in Sri Lanka will depend more and more on
the availability of foreign direct investment
by the private sector. Private investors,
of course, will first and foremost insist
on a secure and stable environment for their
investments. As our Prime Minister has said,
“Nothing is more nervous than a million
dollars.”
The Canadian
private sector is looking increasingly towards
Sri Lanka as an investment partner, particularly
following the recent cease-fire agreement.
Canadian expertise in the transportation
sector, in port, airport and rail development,
could find many opportunities here. Our
companies have the experience and expertise
in developing countries to help address
the critical challenges you now face in
your power sector. And Canada’s world
class information and technology sector
are joining with our more traditional agrifood
industries in looking for joint venture
partnerships.
The Canadian
government is also ready to help: to encourage
private sector investment in Sri Lanka,
to support joint ventures, and to promote
increased trade between our two countries.
The Industrial
Cooperation Program (CIDA-INC) of the Canadian
International Development Agency supports
business partnerships in developing countries
and projects that translate Canadian know-how
and technology into sustainable partnerships.
CIDA-INC has three objectives for Canadian
businesses:
- to promote
Canadian investment in developing countries;
- to help
transfer expertise to developing countries
and
- to help increase
the infrastructure base in developing countries.
The Canadian
Commercial Cooperation (CCC) is a unique
export agency, wholly owned by the Government
of Canada, with a broad legislated mandate
to assist in the development of trade between
Canada and other nations. The CCC offers
a Canadian government-backed guarantee of
contract performance and puts the authority
of a government agency behind an export
project guaranteeing its full and satisfactory
completion. Since inception, the CCC has
helped Canadian companies in a range of
industry sectors in more than 100 countries.
Finally,
the Export development Corporation of Canada
(EDC) is a financial institution devoted
exclusively to providing trade finance services
to support our exporters and investors in
200 markets. EDC services include credit/political
risk insurance, direct loans to buyers and
lines of credit in support of Canadian investment.
EDC has already negotiated a line of credit
with the PSIDC of Sri Lanka in support of
private sector infrastructure development
to the value of $25 million.
In short,
Canadians, particularly in the private sector,
are paying close attention to the opportunities
presented by a reform agenda in a stable
environment. And, of course, a stable environment
requires, first and foremost, peace.
Canada is
strongly supportive of the efforts of the
Government of Norway to help facilitate
discussions towards a peaceful resolution
to your 18-year-old conflict. We believe
that it can only be brought to an end through
a political settlement. We believe that
for any solution to last it must satisfy
the legitimate aspirations of all Sri
Lankans,
regardless of language, ethnicity or religion,
while preserving the country’s unity
and territorial integrity.
These are
challenges that Canadians understand well.
For more than 150 years, we have struggled
with French-English language and regional
conflicts, as well as with Indigenous persons'
desires for self-determination. We readily
admit that we have continuing problems,
unfairnesses, and injustices that we must
continue to address. However we have also
achieved real successes:
Very few
situations have escalated into high-scale
violence. Millions of French and English
speaking Canadians live and work together
every day. I'm hard pressed to think of
a time when we have ever been more proud
or more united as a country than when our
male and female ice hockey teams - each
led by both French and English stars - brought
home Olympic gold medals in hockey! (As
many of you know, what cricket is to Sri
Lanka, hockey is to Canada.) What a sweet
victory it was for all 30 million of us!
Constitutional
rights and the fundamental principles of
democracy have been the cornerstone of most
negotiations;
although
the process is still evolving too slowly,
we are negotiating self-determination without
secession for our First Nations Communities
across Canada;
we have
attempted to be as inclusive and transparent
as possible - involving the private sector
and the very important civil society;
and we have
attempted to build consensus from the moderate
middle of society outwards;
To the vast
majority of Canadians, just being Canadian
means celebrating multiculturalism and
welcoming inclusiveness and diversity. We
have a model we're immensely proud of -
and obviously quite willing to discuss!
A political
settlement in Sri Lanka must include a continuing
commitment to the protection of human rights
and fundamental freedoms, must respect international
humanitarian norms and standards, and must
offer the space for full democratic participation
for all citizens regardless of where in
Sri Lanka they might live.
Canada, as
a friend, as well as an active participant
in the international community, will continue
to raise human rights issues, as we have
in the past, whether those concerns rest
with governments or with non-state actors.
Later today, if all goes as scheduled, the
Canadian delegate at the Commission on Human
Rights in Geneva, will read our government’s
Country Statement. The statement will welcome
the agreement on a cease-fire in Sri Lanka
and will call on all parties here to build
on these successes. We will also urge all
parties to address, as soon as possible,
issues related to the full enjoyment of
human rights and the application of humanitarian
law in all parts of Sri Lanka, including
those areas under the control of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Business,
government, and civil society have in this
a common cause: without stability and the
impartial application of the rule of law,
business will be reluctant to invest, without
investment there can be little prosperity,
without prosperity, no incentive to remain
engaged in the peace process, and without
peace - continued suffering.
As many of
you are aware, the Canadian government,
as part of our human security agenda, has
long expressed particular concern about
war-affected children. Indeed, the former
Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, together
with a large delegation representing both
government and civil society, as well as
children themselves, participated in the
International Conference on War Affected
Children held a year and a half ago in Winnipeg,
Canada. Here in Sri Lanka, we contribute
to a UNICEF project in the North, which
has as its ultimate objective ensuring that
children in areas of conflict are allowed
to be children, to attend school, and not
to be subjected to recruitment by the LTTE
or, indeed, paramilitary groups.
Although
there were distressing reports in the weeks
immediately prior to the cease-fire agreement
on increased recruitment efforts, particularly
in the East, Canadians were pleased to note
that this concern has some mention in the
agreement. We are also pleased to note early
reports of success on the part of the UNICEF
project, resulting in the return of some
young people to their families.
A third area
of special concern to Canadians revolves
around the issue of anti-personnel landmines.
The International Convention on the Prohibition
of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and
Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on
Their Destruction, signed in December 1997,
has become known as the Ottawa Convention.
In Sri Lanka today, the ongoing conflict
has left a legacy of an estimated 600,000
mines, untold unexploded ordinances (UXO),
between 10 and 20 civilian mine/UXO casualties
each month and a total number of civilian
mine/UXO casualties now believed to be in
excess of 2000 persons. It is estimated
that there are up to 150,000 mines and 30,000
UXO in more than 300 known mined sites in
the western portion of the Jaffna region
alone. A further 400,000 mines are thought
to be in the Vanni.
The presence
of landmines throughout the North and East
in Sri Lanka will inhibit resettlement,
development and a return to “normalcy”
for many years to come, regardless of political
will or even of the availability of the
financial resources necessary for reconstruction/rehabilitation.
Therefore, we call on both parties to the
conflict to make a commitment to stop the
use of landmines, to commit to no further
laying of mines and to move to ratify and
implement the Ottawa convention as soon
as possible.
Finally,
as Foreign Minister Graham has already indicated,
we are ready to help if asked, to provide
technical or other assistance as discussions
progress, particularly in areas where we
have some considerable experience, including
devolved systems of government.
Our own experience
shows that making equality of opportunity
meaningful in a diverse society requires
more than constitutional measures and legislation.
Many must work at it every day. As tensions
are addressed, Canadians have learned to
adapt and relate to one another despite
differences. Through practice, we have come
to understand that the differences between
us do not have to divide us. The Canadian
approach to diversity is based on the belief
that the common good is best served when
all are accepted and respected, and that
this ultimately makes for a resilient, more
harmonious and more creative society. Compromise
is not a bad word; indeed it is a key to
our success as a country.
This faith
in the value of diversity and inclusiveness
recognizes that respect for cultural distinctiveness
is intrinsic to an individual’s sense
of self worth and identity, and a society
that accommodates everyone equally is a
society that encourages achievement, participation,
attachment to country and a sense of belonging.
Our unity comes ultimately from our ability
as a society and government to accommodate
diversity.
John and
I look forward to the day when we can return
to a Sri Lanka that holds its rightful place
among the family of nations - one that is,
as it should be, the jewel of South Asia.
Thank you.
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