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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <meta name="DATE" content="0/0/0"> <title>MR. KILGOUR - ADDRESS TO STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA - VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 97/46 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE DAVID KILGOUR SECRETARY OF STATE (LATIN AMERICA AND AFRICA) TO STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA VANCOUVER, British Columbia November 1, 1997 It is a pleasure to address a group of students and know that I don't need to convince you of the need to look beyond Canada's borders. You already realize that we live in a shrinking world. It is becoming harder to differentiate between "domestic" and "international" issues. More and more, the boundaries are blurred. 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 interest on both parts." Fuentes meant "North American" in the sense that most Latin Americans 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. As Secretary of State for Latin America and Africa, I am excited that my portfolio deals with some of the most dynamic areas in Canada's foreign relations. In 1995, the Canadian government in its foreign policy statement identified Latin America as one region where Canada's geographic location gives it 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. This was the first regional trade agreement in the world involving developing and developed countries. During the same period, we extended our resident diplomatic representation to practically all countries of the region. In 1994, Prime Minister Chrétien participated in the Miami Summit of the Americas, where democratically elected leaders from 34 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 March next year, that process will continue with the Summit of the Americas in Santiago, Chile. These talks aim to lay the groundwork for a future Free Trade Area of the Americas by 2005. They will also address other important social development issues, including 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. Let me draw your attention to Canada's efforts to develop enhanced trading relations with MERCOSUR. This regional trade pact includes Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay. Canada 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 the groundwork that will allow more and smoother trading between MERCOSUR and Canada. Last month Prime Minister Chrétien announced that in January next year a Team Canada trade mission will visit Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. The mission will be patterned on our previous successful Team Canada missions to Asia, which brought together our provincial leaders with our federal leaders in promoting economic growth for all of us. I should 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 -- if you can believe it! We don't need to talk about the rum trade that has been going on between Canada and the Caribbean for years. We have sometimes been inclined to take the Caribbean 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. Africa's emergence as a stable, prosperous continent is important to every other continent in the world. 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 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 be realized. We Canadians must continue to lend assistance. Recently I visited Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya and saw for myself that Africa is changing and our stereotypes are obsolete. In Kampala, I learned that fully 2,000 companies have located operations in Uganda in recent years. Similarly, in Rwanda, close observers say that there has been real economic progress for some -- certainly not all -- since the catastrophe of 1994, and that the government in office is genuinely seeking reconciliation among its constituent communities. In Kenya, despite large problems, there appears to be a recent 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. This now appears to be on its way to enactment in full before the election, which must be held in this calendar year. In short, there is a basis for optimism in all three nations. I would argue that Canada's foreign policy in the 1990s has, for the most part, been not only intelligent, but also exciting, particularly in recent years. Let's 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 does not 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 hundred 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. In early December, more than 90 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. Canada has 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 develop a space in which civil society can grow. Support for human rights improvements 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 will work for broader international action to press those regimes to change their ways. Next year we will 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. We aren't perfect. 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 as well. 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. </body> </html>

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