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canadian foreign policy
Many of the world's most powerful landlords are meeting for the Refugee and Migration Summit. Heads of state from all over the world, including our own Prime Minister Trudeau, will discuss the fate of more than 21.3 million refugees -- more than any time since the Second World War.
Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan's inaugural speech at the Shangri-la Dialogue this past weekend -- the Indo-Pacific's premier gathering of defence ministers and officials -- marked a promising beginning to a new security partnership with the region.
"Responsible conviction" is a strange combination of words that summarizes the guiding principle that the new Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion is proposing to follow in order to fulfill his mandate. However, Mr. Dion didn't say a word on how the "responsible conviction" can help cases of Canadians detained abroad.
Women's organizations, governments and United Nations entities celebrated the 15th anniversary of Security Council Resolution 1325. This landmark resolution stated that women's participation, security and protection were essential in the prevention and resolution of armed conflict. This resolution was much heralded at the time and was followed by seven additional resolutions on women, peace and security. However, civil society organizations have observed again and again that these strong words have not been translated into action.
You can argue -- as I do -- that Canada's too immigrant-friendly and too multicultural, but the reality remains that ethnic diversity is now a basic Canadian fact of life. Upholding this nation's territorial and political integrity therefore requires a staunch commitment to the principle that national governments have a right to govern multicultural populations, and even stauncher opposition to any notion that foreign nation-states possess a right to infringe the sovereignty of others in order to protect "their" people living abroad. Canada is a country that worries about foreigners. But it's also a country that has a right to worry about itself.