Canada & the World

(1980s & 1990s)

Band Aid (1984) & Live Aid

Globalization• Jean Chretien’s priorities in 1993 was to expand

Canada’s trading opportunities with other countries.

• “Team Canada” was sent on trade missions to Asia and Latin America to secure deals for Canadian investment and exports.

• Free trade agreements were signed with Chile and Israel, and FTA expanded to Mexico (NAFTA).

• Can joined APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Group) to promote freer trade among Pacific countries.

• These trade initiatives were spreading across the world by the end of the 1990s – Globalization (a network of business, communications, and cultural links among countries).

• It was partly the result of rapid changes in communications technology and the fall of communism.

• List some of the pros and cons of globalization from p. 157-8.

Canadian Foreign Aid1.) Official Development Assistance (ODA)• Gives financial aid to the countries of Africa, the

Middle East, the Americas, Asia and parts of Central and Eastern Europe.

• Provides assistance in various ways:a. gov’t to gov’t (bilateral)b. Supporting non-governmental orgs (NGOs)c. Supporting private sector enterprisesd. Supporting multilateral institutions (UN, World

Bank, and La Francophonie)

2.) Can International Development Agency (CIDA)• ODA program is managed by CIDA• CIDA promotes sustainable development in developing

countries and focuses on:a. Basic human needsb. Women in sustainable developmentc. Infrastructure servicesd. Human rightse. Democracy and good governancef. Private sector developmentg. The environment• Has also expanded 4 social development sectors: basic

ed, health and nutrition, HIV/AIDS, and child protection.

Linking Aid to Human Rights

• Until the late 1970s, Can gov’ts were not concerned with human rights (HR) criteria when considering recipients for Can dev assistance.

• By 1986, focus had shifted, and HR became a fundamental part of official Can aid policy.

• This is linked to the notion that Can has a responsibility to ensure that its dev assistance is not used to support gov’ts that deny citizens their basic econ, social, and cultural rights.

Cold War Fears• Played an important role in determining foreign aid

policy.• Aid to communist or strongly anti-Western countries

(Indonesia, Vietnam and Cuba) was terminated when they engaged in oppressive military interventions.

• On the other hand, it was common practice not to jeopardize important econ relations and aid was only fully suspended to countries in which Can’s interests were limited.

• 70% of Can aid still went to countries whose violations of basic security rights ranged from serious to extreme.

Recent Performance• Gov’t has taken a much more assertive position in

recent years by introducing a cabinet review, human rights training, a CIDA division on human rights, and the creation of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development.

• But there is still a reluctance to cut aid to abusive states such as China and Indonesia.

• Canada is not unique, as many countries are not willing to stop trade interests in the name of human rights.

Peacekeeping• Is a technique developed by the United Nations to

prevent conflict and make peace by deploying UN military and/or police presence and frequently civilians as well.

• Although the first peacekeeping mission was in 1948 in the Middle East, the first deployment was in 1956 in response to the Suez Crisis.

• Peacekeeping was initially developed as a means to resolve conflict between states achieved by deploying unarmed/lightly armed personnel, creating a ceasefire, and being a presence in the area.

• After the Cold War, there was an increasing demand for UN peacekeeping missions, but rather than keeping peace “between” states, the UN was now charged with creating peace “within” states.

• At the peak of UN activity in the mid 1990s, there were 80,000 UN peacekeepers deployed around the world.

• Peacekeeping is no longer a matter of simply standing between 2 armies and keeping peace. I has increasingly become a matter of creating a peace where none exists.

• Traditional tasks involved patrolling contested borders, and unarmed monitoring of ceasefires.

• Modern tasks involve training and restructuring local police forces, de-mining, conducting elections, facilitating the return of refugees, monitoring human rights, demobilizing and reintegrating former soldiers, and promoting sustainable democracy and economic development.

Canadian Troops Overseas

Class Activity:• Persian Gulf War, 1990-91• Yugoslavia, 1992• Somalia, 1992• Rwanda, 1994• NATO Bombing of Kosovo, 1995• Landmines, ongoing