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<meta name="DATE" content="3/20/2003">
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<title>MR. GRAHAM - ADDRESS TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE - OTTAWA, ONTARIO</title>
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<p><font size="+1"></font><font size="+1"><strong><u>CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY</u></strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>THE HONOURABLE BILL GRAHAM,</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS,</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>TO THE </strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>STANDING COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND</strong></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font size="+1"><strong>INTERNATIONAL TRADE</strong></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><strong>OTTAWA, Ontario</strong></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><strong>March 25, 2003</strong></font></p>
<p>I'm pleased to be here today to report to my fellow parliamentarians at this moment, which is so important for the future of
our international relations. The war in Iraq is probably foremost in your minds these days, as it is in mine. We hope that it
will end soon, with minimal loss of life. And when it does, Canada will join the international community in a UN post-conflict reconstruction of that country, which will improve the lives of the Iraqi people. </p>
<p>But, of course, we have other important matters to deal with. One of them in my current portfolio is the Dialogue on
Foreign Policy, which I'm pleased to discuss with you today. As you know, in January I launched these national public
consultations on foreign policy, which are running until May. </p>
<p>It might strike you, as it has me in recent months, that these are rather busy times in which to be launching public
consultations on long-term directions in foreign policy. Certainly, when we were doing the planning, we did not anticipate
conducting the consultations amid the Iraq crisis now playing out. </p>
<p>But this crisis brings to the fore exactly the kind of broad questions that need thinking about from a long-term perspective:
our commitment to multilateral institutions and processes, our relationship with the United States, the shape and purpose of
our military, the components of global security, and the application of Canadian values to global contexts, to name just a
few. </p>
<p>As I've been telling people around the country for two months now, we can and must continue to address the broad, longer-term issues of concern to Canadians even as we deal with the urgent issues that arise in our international relations. And, as I
ask Canadians to help us reflect on choices and priorities for the future, I've also been reminding them that the government
is working in its own way to strengthen Canada's foreign policy capacities by improving planning and coordination among
the many departments whose work extends to international affairs. The development of an International Policy Framework
will show citizens that we in Ottawa are determined to ensure that all branches of government work together in promoting
the values and interests of Canadians, both at home and abroad.</p>
<p>The Dialogue consultations are being carried out on many fronts, including through the traditional means of public
meetings, expert roundtables and written submissions. And, more innovatively, we're also using a Web site that enables
people to read the Dialogue paper on-line, respond to the questions it poses, consult information resources and engage in
discussion with other Canadians on topics of their choice. I'm asking to receive all contributions by May 1, and will report
to Canadians on what I've heard in June. </p>
<p>As fellow parliamentarians, all of you here have a vital role to play in the Dialogue process. In your capacity as MPs, I hope
that all of you will take up my proposal to hold townhall meetings on foreign policy in your own ridings, and to pass on
what you hear from your constituents. </p>
<p>As SCFAIT [Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade] members, you have already made a major
contribution to this process through the report you delivered last December on our North American relationships. The fact
that you chose to have it translated into Spanish is, in my view, an innovative and laudatory testimony to the new reality of
North America. The Government will, of course, deliver its response to this report, which also serves as a significant part of
the ongoing Dialogue process. Your findings and the recommendations you give--on topics from sovereignty to trade,
security and diplomatic relations--will be invaluable.</p>
<p>I understand that your next report is on a topic that is also central to the Dialogue, namely Canada's relations with the
Muslim world. One of the issues I'm asking Canadians to consider is how we might seek out opportunities for fostering
global intercultural dialogue and interfaith understanding. And as part of the Dialogue process, I've also been conducting
outreach efforts with Canadian ethno-cultural communities in order to foster discussion about how we can ensure
harmonious intercommunal relations here at home. I strongly believe that this committee, which is broadly reflective of
Canadian political opinion, can make an important contribution to our understanding of this issue of great global
significance, and of potential Canadian contributions to dealing with it.</p>
<p>Now I'd like to tell you a bit about what has come out of the Dialogue process thus far. To begin with our Dialogue Web
site, we've had plenty of interesting and diverse responses coming in, and a lively usage of the discussion sites as well,
where individuals engage one another in topics of their choosing. Unsurprisingly, a large number of people are weighing in
on topics of security, and an even larger number are responding to the general question of how Canada's foreign policy can
better reflect the interests and values of our citizens.</p>
<p>Both on the Dialogue Web site and in the townhall meetings I've conducted, the Iraq crisis weighs heavily on people's
minds. And that has been a mixed blessing in this context. The concern with immediate events does crowd out long-term
and broader issues for some people; but on many occasions I've been struck by the fact that this crisis has focused
Canadians on long-term questions about where our country should go in global affairs, and it has produced some
remarkably sophisticated and insightful remarks on the connections between questions of security, prosperity and the values
that Canada stands for. </p>
<p>I've been to quite a few townhalls now--in Winnipeg, Montreal and each of the Atlantic provinces--and everywhere the
Iraq crisis has prompted broader reflections on the question of our relationship with the United States: to what degree can
and should we forge our own distinctively Canadian foreign policy, and to what degree does our own economic welfare
compel us to support U.S. agendas in world affairs? In every townhall so far, there's been a strongly voiced call for Canada
to take a broad, long-term view of security for ourselves and others by putting more money into Third World development
and poverty eradication, and more effort into making a fairer international economic system. Canada's record of
peacekeeping and our promotion of human rights are themes often mentioned by individuals in discussing how we can have
a distinctive international role in promoting global security and prosperity.</p>
<p>And not just security and prosperity but the third pillar of our foreign policy has also been much discussed. As I mentioned,
there's a great desire among Canadians these days to talk to one another about what Canada stands for, and what the
deepest values are that shape the interests we have. Particularly in the Atlantic provinces, I was struck by how foreign
students spoke up to say how glad they were to be studying in Canada, how much they have learned about our society and
institutions, and how much they hope to be able to return to their own countries and work to make them a bit more like
Canada. Their comments, and the responses of native-born Canadians as well, show the importance of making educational
outreach and exchanges a central part of our third-pillar efforts. And on one final third-pillar theme, I've just returned from
discussions with representatives of our leading arts organizations at the Canadian Arts Summit, and they too have spoken
eloquently about how much we can gain by doing more to present our arts and culture abroad. </p>
<p>These are all themes that I plan to study carefully in the coming months. I look forward to drawing on your insights and
experience in doing so, and again extend thanks to you for the contribution that SCFAIT's report has already made to the
Dialogue. This committee spends a great deal of its time consulting with Canadians, and I am sure that you will agree with
me that this is a vital aspect of democratic government. It will stand us in good stead as we craft long-term priorities and
directions for our country's foreign policy. </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
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