The Summit of the Americas: Is Hemispheric Cooperation Relevant to the Citizens of the Americas?

Some argue that there is growing scepticism about Summits and Summit processes. Let me tell you why I think the Summit of the Americas process matters deeply to all of us, including Canadians and all citizens of the Americas. But before I do that, let's look at the key reasons why some people may be sceptical.

Since the Quebec City Summit, the region has faced a number of serious political, economic, and social challenges. Bolivia is the most recent example, but before that it was Venezuela, and before that Peru, and Argentina and Ecuador. Concern is increasingly expressed with respect to the increasing vulnerability of democracies, economies, and societies across the Americas. Furthermore, the FTAA is now entering a critical juncture following Cancún.

We know that many of these issues are not new, and that their root causes extend back decades and even hundreds of years in some cases. But what has changed fundamentally is the context of democratic transformation in our hemisphere over the past 15 years, and the growing expectations of citizens of the hemisphere concerning jobs, health, education, and the accountability of the political process.

It is now clear that formal democracy and elections are not enough, and that many of the promises of structural reform and sustainable economic growth in much of the Americas have not been sufficiently delivered upon. Growth alone - especially sporadic growth - is insufficient to guarantee social equity. Social and economic inequality in Latin America remains among the worst in the world. However, the severe hardships experienced in some member countries should not obscure the remarkable progress we, as a region, are continuing to make. Summit countries have kept sight of their common endeavour to put forward a coherent and balanced agenda, and we must remain mindful of that.

In the Inter-American Democratic Charter, a mandate from Quebec City, we have built a platform unique in the world to address the challenges to democracy that may arise. We have also negotiated new inter-American Conventions Against Corruption and Terrorism which demonstrate that together we are capable of defining collective responses to evolving governance and security challenges.

We are making substantive progress through the regular hemispheric meetings of our sectoral Ministers, including those responsible for Education, Labour, Health, Environment, Natural Resources, Cultural Diversity, the Advancement of Women, Science and Technology, Justice, Agriculture, Transport, and Trade.

A telling example is the recent hemispheric Special Conference on Security, which took place October 27-28 in Mexico City, another key Summit mandate which has resulted in a new, shared, wide-ranging concept of security which incorporates social and economic dimensions, including human security. We know that our prosperity has depended on the peace and security which Canadians have enjoyed both at home and abroad. We firmly believe that enhanced peace and security throughout the region will benefit us all.

The Summit process has also defined and strengthened crucial linkages with partner institutions, including the Organization of American States (OAS), the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and the Andean Development Corporation (CAF).

Canada is committed to the region not because it is problem-free, but because we have worked diligently since joining the OAS in 1990 to construct a shared vision, one that reflects Canadian values and interests, and a viable process for confronting challenges, head-on. I believe that our hemisphere holds limitless potential, and Canada must remain committed to the challenging process that is the title of your conference, "Building the Americas".

We need to understand the Americas within the context of Canada's wider foreign policy, in particular (i) the priority we place on multilateralism; (ii) our desire to work towards open economies and societies as necessary, though not sufficient conditions for development; and (iii) our commitment to exploring avenues and opportunities to project Canadian identity and values, in particular the emphasis we place on human rights, good government, and democratic development. From these optics, the Americas are very attractive indeed. We have a long established and sophisticated set of multilateral institutions in the hemisphere. In recent months, multilateralism has faced daunting challenges within the global United Nations system, but hemispherically the story is quite a positive one.

"Democracy is essential for the social, political, and economic development of the peoples of the Americas.". This key sentence, taken from the Inter-American Democratic Charter, represents the maturing of our hemisphere with deeply shared, fundamental principles of democracy, and a willingness to cooperate to ensure that these principles are upheld.

The Inter-American Democratic Charter is a unique instrument in the world. It commits governments to promote and defend democracy, and it provides a shared definition of democracy. Nowhere else in the world have governments done this. It was invoked for the first time by OAS member states in Venezuela in April of 2002, where the Charter became the foundation of efforts by Secretary General Gaviria to help resolve the crisis. Nicaragua "evoked" the Charter in September 2002 in support of its own, internal campaign against corruption, highlighting the preventive and the promotional aspects of the Charter. It is no exaggeration to say that the Charter has quickly become a key feature of our hemispheric architecture.

Through the OAS, we also have a longstanding regional human rights system, complemented by a series of regional institutions such as the Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and its Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism.

I mentioned earlier the hemispheric Security Conference in Mexico. The danger of outright conflict between states in the Americas has virtually disappeared, but it has been replaced in some cases by crime, violence, new diseases, environmental deterioration, and growing social needs within states. Canada's people-centred human security agenda is succeeding in changing the discourse in our hemisphere, and will have an impact in how we collectively analyse and resolve these issues.

We do not always agree, and there are tensions at times over issues like trade policy or international security. But we face these challenges through the collection of mechanisms and institutions I have mentioned, which themselves highlight the areas of convergence in our hemisphere. Because of this, we are making progress in this region as in no other.

Most Canadians agree that free and open trade complements free and open societies. Forty-two per cent of Canada's economy now depends directly on trade. In fact, Canada now exports more products to Latin America and the Caribbean than we do to India, Indonesia, Russia, France, Germany, and Eastern Europe combined. Canada is also the source of growing direct investment in the region, totalling almost $60 billion in 2002.

Canada is strongly committed to the FTAA process and to negotiating, multilaterally, by January 2005, a comprehensive, high-quality agreement, compatible with the WTO. No one ever claimed the it would be an easy negotiation, and each country has its own sensitivities. But, if the FTAA supports regional economic integration, and governments commit to managing national prosperity equitably, it will enable the kind of health, environment and social programs that can so profoundly improve the quality of life of the residents of our countries.

We are also making significant progress in our free trade negotiations with the "Central American Four" (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua), are exploring talks with the Dominican Republic, the CARICOM countries, and the Andean Community. Canada enjoys very successful Free Trade Agreements with Chile and Costa Rica, which have expanded trade and investment between our countries. In no other region of the world is Canada pursuing such an energetic trade liberalization agenda.

However, hemispheric cooperation is more than trade, and the larger question is whether we will continue to realize the full range of objectives that we have set out together. We believe that in the face of the current difficulties facing our region, restoring confidence in our agenda of hemispheric cooperation is both necessary and possible. I am reminded of the "peso" crisis of 1995 - which Mexico experienced not long after implementation of the NAFTA. Just eight years later, much has been achieved - a profound democratic transition, historic levels of exports, a return to economic growth and stability. We are now Mexico's second largest market, with Mexico exporting more to Canada than all of Europe combined. For Canada, Mexico is now our sixth most important export market.

NAFTA has also sparked increased cooperation in a broad number of other areas, including environment, labour, agriculture, and transport, governance and social programs. Mexico now considers Canada a strategic partner, in areas as diverse as border cooperation and foreign policy, a far cry from pre-NAFTA days!

Canada seeks this same kind of strategic partnership with Brazil. Brazil's profound democratic values and its economic success are vital to the success of hemispheric cooperation. We strongly support President da Silva's determined efforts to maintain economic discipline while providing new impetus for a social agenda. This is an agenda which Canada shares.

Ultimately, the issue in our hemisphere - whether in Mexico, or Brazil, Guatemala, Haiti, or Bolivia - is that democracy delivers on its promises. The Summit process and tools such as the Inter-American Democratic Charter represent an excellent start. Canada's continued commitment is critical.

At Quebec City, Leaders laid out a vision for the community of the Americas - a vision based on an agenda designed to strengthen democracy, renew our commitment to the protection of human rights, create greater prosperity, and to foster social justice and the full realization of human potential. That agenda, enshrined in the Quebec City Declaration and Plan of Action, remains the blueprint for a better future for the people of the Americas.

This perspective reflects Canada's confidence in the future of the Americas. Earlier, I spoke of new challenges affecting our region since the Quebec City Summit, and the need to restore confidence. That is why the Prime Minister proposed to his hemispheric colleagues the holding of a Special Summit of the Americas. Canada believes we need a Special Summit to further advance our common agenda and address key hemispheric challenges at the highest level.

We are very pleased that Mexico has agreed to host this important event January 12-13 in Monterrey. The agenda will focus on three main themes - Economic Growth with Equity, Social Development, and Democratic Governance.

We are not expecting to produce a new Plan of Action, but to develop concrete initiatives - such as ways to promote transparency and good governance; improved health and education; and ways to support job creation through the SME sector - to keep our agenda moving forward as we head to the IV Summit of the Americas to take place in Argentina in 2005. We will also be looking at the best ways to implement existing initiatives such as the Monterrey Consensus and the Millennium Development Goals in the hemisphere. By renewing political commitment at the highest level, we will ensure that we remain firmly on our path of implementing the balanced agenda agreed to at Quebec City.

Canada has already embarked on a series of consultations with Canadian civil society on what we can and hope to achieve with the Special Summit. There will be a similar consultation at the hemispheric level under Mexico's chairmanship.

Canada is proud of the place it occupies in the Americas and proud of the gains we have made together to build the institutions that will protect and guarantee our future. Just as Canada can be a model of good governance in the region, so to can the region develop into a model globally, for commitment to democratic principles, prosperity and equity, and an unwavering pursuit of peaceful resolution to conflict. Together with our "Gran Familia", we can build prosperous, safe and healthy communities. Our future, and it is a bright one, lies in our commitment to our hemisphere.

Thank You.