Strengthening Democracy

From April 20 to 22, 2001, in Quebec City, Canada hosted the Third Summit of the Americas, a meeting of the Western Hemisphere's 34 democratically elected Heads of State and Government.

Summits of the Americas are held to discuss the state of the region and to devise a plan of action for guiding governments in their efforts to work collectively in improving the lives of the peoples of the Hemisphere. The Quebec City Summit addressed a wide variety of issues, including democracy, human rights, justice, the rule of law, human security, civil society, gender equality, Indigenous peoples, the environment, migration, health, education, cultural diversity and trade-all issues of concern to Canada and to the wider community of the Americas.

The Quebec City Summit resulted in a Declaration and detailed Plan of Action, making major commitments and launching an impressive set of initiatives. These were grouped under 18 major headings, all of which contribute to strengthening democracy, creating prosperity, and realizing human potential.

The quintessential achievement of the Quebec City Summit, the "Democracy Clause," stated that respect for democracy is the sine qua non for participation in the Summit process. Foreign Ministers then negotiated an Inter-American Democratic Charter, which sent a powerful signal that democracy is the fundamental defining value for our Hemisphere. Together, the Clause and the Charter set new standards forming the basis for further cooperation by countries of the Americas. Whatever differences may arise, all agree that democratic institutions and practices are vital to progress.

A Hemispheric Framework for Democracy

Canada has been a consistently strong voice for the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, peacebuilding, human security, and the advancement of democratic values in the Hemisphere. Canadians can feel pride, and confidence for the future, in knowing that their values are shared throughout the Hemisphere. The willingness of countries in the region to adopt the Democracy Clause and create the Democratic Charter was unprecedented. The Charter has been tested several times since its adoption in September 2001, and has quickly become a key feature of the inter-American architecture. The existence of the Charter led to an Organization of American States (OAS) process in Haiti that prevented further deterioration in that country's situation. In Venezuela, Charter invocation signalled the Hemisphere's zero tolerance for coups and opened a dialogue led by OAS Secretary General César Gaviria during more recent tensions in that country. The Charter was also evoked in 2002 by the Nicaraguan government in its fight against corruption, and it served as a guiding force towards the peaceful resolution of tensions in Bolivia in early 2003. Each incident has demonstrated that the framework is a sturdy one. Not only has there been a greater shift towards democracy in much of the Hemisphere, but a stronger commitment exists to uphold democracy, realize its full potential and address any threat to its viability.

Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

Canada places the protection and promotion of human rights at the forefront of engagement with the Americas. It continues to play an active role in promoting human rights in the Hemisphere.

The Quebec City Summit Plan of Action mandated concrete measures to strengthen the inter-American human rights system, particularly through efforts to support the functioning of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. These measures have been carried out successfully. Canada was pleased to introduce the OAS resolution encouraging member states to ensure that both key hemispheric human rights institutions be given adequate resources to perform their duties.

Justice, Rule of Law and Security of the Individual

The Summit of the Americas process affords jurists throughout the Hemisphere the opportunity to exchange ideas on how to combat crime while respecting the rule of law and ensuring the security of the individual. The Summit process also serves as a catalyst, increasing awareness of the richness of the Hemisphere's legal and judicial systems while enhancing the effectiveness of the multilateral approach to realizing the potential of each system.

Ongoing initiatives seek better communication among hemispheric experts in jurisprudence and penal systems. With better understanding of the systems of each member country, the level of cooperation improves and judicial experts can respond more appropriately to diverse demands for assistance. In addition, democracy is strengthened as justice is more accessible to citizens and government effectiveness is enhanced. As a direct outcome of the Summit, Canada is actively working through the Justice Studies Centre of the Americas in Santiago, Chile, to advance judicial reform in the region.

In the Quebec City Summit Declaration, Leaders acknowledged that corruption "undermines core democratic values, challenges political stability and economic growth and thus threatens vital interests in our Hemisphere." This led to the establishment of the Follow-Up Mechanism for the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption. The Follow-Up Mechanism promotes the effective implementation of the Convention, monitors progress made on corruption issues and serves as a forum for the exchange of best practices. The First Round of Review is under way. In February 2003, the Committee of Experts approved the "Report on the Implementation in the Republic of Argentina of the provisions of the Convention selected for review within the framework of the first round"; this document has been published.

In October 2002, the Global Organization of Parliamentarians against Corruption was created. A complementary initiative by Canadian Members of Parliament has created Latin American Parliamentarians Against Corruption. This network, with support from the Canadian International Development Agency, is committed to fighting corruption "from the inside" by supporting strong anti-corruption legislation and holding the governments of participating parliamentarians accountable for their actions.

Creating a Civil Society That Spans the Hemisphere

In assuming the Chair of the Summit, Canada understood the importance of engaging citizens in the project of building a community of the Americas. One of the highlights of Canada's mandate as Chair was the further opening up of the Summit process. The result has been an unprecedented degree of participation by Canadians, along with citizens from throughout the Hemisphere.

The Canadian vision of transparency and engagement is being embraced by our partners in the Summit process. From the Fifth Meeting of Trade Ministers (Toronto, Ontario, 1999), through the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (Windsor, Ontario, 2000) to the Quebec City Summit (2001), the scale of contributions made by civil society organizations has grown strikingly.

With Canada as Chair, the lead-up to Quebec City featured an unprecedented level of dialogue with civil society organizations in Canada and throughout the Hemisphere. As a result, the concerns of these groups were taken into consideration in the development of the Quebec City Summit Plan of Action. Further reflecting our values of engagement and transparency, Canada invited 60 organizations from Canada and the Americas to participate in the Quebec City Summit, at a round table discussion with Foreign Ministers from the Hemisphere. In short, by advocating citizen participation, Canada has been recognized for genuinely helping to change the way the Hemisphere organizes itself.

Bolstering Hemispheric Security

The Quebec City Plan of Action called for a Special Conference on Security to be held by 2004, with a view to concluding a review of all issues related to approaches to Hemispheric security. Following the tragic events in the United States on September 11, 2001, this conference was advanced to late 2003. In addition, the events of September 11 revitalized the fledging Inter-American Committee Against Terrorism (CICTE), an OAS institution. The Committee quickly took stock of the ability of states to guard against terrorism and identify areas needing to be strengthened.

The Plan of Action also called upon states to become party to international agreements related to the fight against terrorism. Canada participated actively in the creation of a new instrument, the Inter-American Convention Against Terrorism, and was the first to ratify it in December 2002. All of its provisions have already been implemented. Canada also contributed significantly to the second (2002) and third (2003) regular sessions of CICTE, which further strengthened hemispheric cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Canada helped fund CICTE development of an on-line reference and referral database system for both government entities and specialized experts on terrorism issues in the Americas.

Canada has been a leader in the fight against drugs in the Americas-both within the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and in developing the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism, which provides a peer-review mechanism for monitoring the progress of individual and collective efforts of member countries. In December 2002, Canada was elected CICAD Vice-Chair, and will host the CICAD session in autumn 2003, when it takes the chair. In recent years, Canada's annual contributions to CICAD have supported initiatives related to the fight against drugs, including training for judges and prosecutors on money laundering, and support for the Andean Community Regional Anti-Drug School.

Canada is committed to cooperation in the fight against money laundering. Canada is a Cooperating and Supporting Nation of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), an organization that implements anti-money laundering measures on a coordinated basis. Canada provided financial support to the 2002-03 CFATF Typologies exercises, and it contributed training in handling the proceeds of crime under the Caribbean Anti-Money Laundering Program.

Canada was the driving force behind the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (the Ottawa Convention) and ensured that the Santiago (Chile) and Quebec City Summits supported this initiative. The Americas are poised to become the first mine-free hemisphere: 33 of the 34 Summit countries have signed the Ottawa Convention, and 32 have ratified it to date. Canada has taken on several initiatives to ensure that the Hemisphere succeeds in implementing the Convention, that the needs of mine-affected communities are met and that more resources are allocated to mine action.

In recent years, it has been recognized that security encompasses both matters of territorial integrity and national sovereignty, as well as emerging, non-traditional threats to the state and to the safety, security and well-being of people in the region. In an age of globalization and regional integration, there is a need to consider how to address threats that affect people, states, regions and the world as a whole in order to consolidate hemispheric security. Canada has been at the forefront of efforts to expand traditional security concepts and approaches in order to address new and non-traditional threats; these include political, economic, social, health and environmental challenges that can endanger individuals and societies, and can compromise the ability of legitimate democratic governments to govern effectively.