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Question 10: Values and Culture

Are values such as human rights, democracy, respect for diversity and gender equality ones that Canada should continue to advocate in all parts of the world? If so, what are the best ways of doing this?

 

 
 
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Contributor:Canada_IsraelCommittee
Date: 2003-05-01 19:35:06
Answer:
Canadians support their government’s use of foreign policy to project the values and traditions that Canadians hold dear, such as democracy, respect for political and religious diversity, gender equality, and the resolution of disputes through dialogue and compromise rather than the resort to violence. Therefore, the government must continue making the promotion of Canadian values a central goal and tool of our foreign policy agenda. Moreover, the level of Canada’s bi-lateral relationship with various states should be contingent on their respect for democratic values. To this end, Canada’s relationship with the democratic world at large should be fundamentally different (e.g., in terms of trade, governmental visits, and cultural, scientific and educational exchanges) from those states that continue to repress their citizens and demonstrate contempt for human rights.

Unfortunately, in the Palestinian Authority and most of the surrounding Arab and Muslim countries, which lack a basic affinity toward democracy and democratic principles, Canadian efforts to transmit such values fall on deaf ears. By contrast, Israel has a flourishing democratic tradition that shares the social and political values Canadians cherish. Canadians should understand that the broadening and institutionalizing of bilateral ties with a fellow democracy, Israel, will establish the firm foundation upon which Canada can continue its efforts to promote democratic values to the anti-democratic countries of the Middle East.

There is growing concern that Canadian development assistance to the PA areas, administered mainly by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), is being used in ways inconsistent with the values that Canadians wish to project through their foreign policy. Ostensibly “humanitarian organizations” that receive direct or indirect Canadian assistance might in reality be fronts for terrorist groups. The bulk of Canada’s assistance goes to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, an anachronistic institution whose behaviour has become increasingly dubious in recent months. UNRWA-administered refugee camps in the West Bank and Gaza have become major centres of terrorist activities, and UNRWA vehicles, including ambulances, have been used to smuggle terrorists and weapons past Israeli checkpoints. UNRWA, using funds contributed by Canada and other donor countries, purchases controversial Palestinian textbooks. Objective analysts have determined that these textbooks contain anti-Israel and even anti-Semitic elements and, as such, promote among Palestinian children maximum hatred and rejection of Israel – the type of attitudes that lead Palestinian children to become suicide bombers. As a stakeholder, Canada has a responsibility to ensure that UNRWA remains fully accountable for its activities in the disputed territories.


Recommendations

A. The strength by which Canada engages in any bilateral relationship should be measured by that country’s respect for Canadian values.

B. The promotion of Canadian values should be a key component and goal of Canadian foreign policy.

C. A bilateral consultative forum should be established through which Canadian parliamentarians and their Israeli counterparts will jointly engage in efforts to enhance and expand the scope and quality of bilateral relations for the benefit of both countries. As the political regimes in the PA areas and in neighbouring Arab and Muslim countries democratize, the bilateral consultative forum should be broadened to include their political representatives as well.

D. Canada must ensure that its development assistance to the PA areas is used in ways consistent with Canadian values, such as respect for religious and political diversity, and the negotiated resolution of political differences.

E. Canada must demand full accountability from international humanitarian agencies, such as UNRWA, to which Canadian funds are contributed. Canada must also ensure that Canadian agencies, such as CIDA, responsible for the direct or indirect distribution of aid to the PA areas, behave in a manner consistent with Canadian policy and practice.

F. Canada must link its Middle East development assistance programs to a demonstrable commitment to democratization and opposition to terrorism on the part of groups in the PA areas and in neighbouring Arab countries.
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