NEWS RELEASES
CANADA TO HOST MEETING OF HEMISPHERIC ANTI-DRUG EXPERTS IN OTTAWA
August 19, 1999 (2:45 p.m. EDT) No. 183
CANADA TO HOST MEETING OF HEMISPHERIC
ANTI-DRUG EXPERTS IN OTTAWA
Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy and Solicitor General Lawrence MacAulay today announced that
Canada will host a meeting of a working group of anti-drug experts from the 34 countries of the Organization of
American States (OAS) August 31 to September 2, 1999.
The intergovernmental working group will finalize the development of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism
(MEM), which is an unprecedented initiative to establish a common standard for the mutual evaluation of
national and hemispheric efforts to deal with all aspects of the drug problem and related crimes.
This will be the sixth meeting of the working group, which was created by heads of states and government
leaders at the Second Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile, in 1998.
"The fight against the threat to human security that is posed by the trafficking in and the abuse of illicit drugs
requires a co-ordinated multilateral approach," said Mr. Axworthy. "The MEM will result in more information
sharing, better assessment, and a more integrated approach to tackling the problem throughout the
Hemisphere."
"I am proud that Canada has been leading the process to develop the MEM," said Mr. MacAulay. "We believe
that this meeting has the potential to achieve a breakthrough in hemispheric anti-drug efforts."
For the past year, Canada's Deputy Solicitor General, Jean T. Fournier, has been leading the MEM working
group in co-operation with the OAS's Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD). Under Mr.
Fournier's chairmanship the goal of the Ottawa meeting is to complete the MEM, which will then be formally
adopted by CICAD at its October meeting in Uruguay. This will be followed by a first round of evaluations that
will take place in the year 2000. The final MEM will be presented to leaders at the Third Summit of the
Americas, which Canada will host in Quebec City in 2001.
The MEM will consist of a series of in-depth questions, or indicators, for national governments on their anti-drug
policies. The indicators examine the five main categories described in the 1996 Anti-Drug Strategy in the
Hemisphere: national plans and strategies; prevention and treatment; reduction of drug production; law
enforcement measures; and the cost of the drug problem.
All 34 member countries will provide data in response to a standard questionnaire. A governmental expert
group will use the results to prepare evaluations on a country-by-country basis. The reports will indicate results
achieved and best practices that could be applied elsewhere, as well as identify where improvements can be
made. They will also identify obstacles faced by countries and areas where assistance could be offered.
The working group meeting will take place at the Government Conference Centre in Ottawa. For more
information, media are invited to visit the MEM site on the Solicitor General Canada Internet site at
http://www.sgc.gc.ca
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Debora Brown
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
(613) 995-1851
Blaine Harvey
Office of the Solicitor General
(613) 990-2743
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
It can also be found on the Solicitor General Canada Internet site:
http://www.sgc.gc.ca
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