OTTAWA, TORONTO & HALIFAX – In three speeches today, Liberal MPs committed to restoring Canada’s global leadership through a new approach to international trade, defence procurement and our role in Afghanistan that stands in stark contrast to five years of Conservative decline and the NDP’s cynical and misleading position.
“Canadian foreign policy is about building a world where peace and security prevail, and where human development can happen,” said Liberal Foreign Affairs Critic Bob Rae, who spoke to the Canadian Club in Toronto. “We need a new approach to rebuilding Canada’s damaged international relationships in the wake of the Conservatives’ failure to win a seat on the UN Security Council, costly diplomatic battle with the United Arab Emirates, and massive trade deficit.”
“The Harper government’s failure to nurture Canada’s relationships has harmed our best traditions,” said Liberal Treasury Board Critic Siobhan Coady, in a speech at Dalhousie University’s Centre for International Trade and Transportation. “Our engagement with the world in the coming years must better reflect our interests, values and capabilities – because our long-term prosperity, our exports and our jobs depend on it.”
“The NDP fails to understand what Lester Pearson set out years ago – that you can’t promote peace unless you put force behind the law and behind the collective will of the international community we are a part of,” said Liberal Defence Critic Dominic LeBlanc, in a speech hosted by the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Ottawa. “At the same time, Conservative defence spending has come at the expense of diplomacy and development.”
The Liberal MPs each spoke about a new approach to fix our foreign policy that builds on the Global Networks Strategy announced by Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff in June.
“A Liberal government will balance the 3-Ds of defence, development and diplomacy, starting by limiting the growth of the National Defence budget to the rate of inflation,” said Mr. LeBlanc. “We will conduct a full procurement review to ensure we get value for money – starting with the cancellation of Stephen Harper’s $16-billion mistake on the F-35s.”
“Starting with India and China, Liberals will pursue Global Network Agreements to catch up to other countries that are getting a bigger share of import markets,” said Ms. Coady. “We will increase not only our exports, but the flow of people, knowledge, culture, innovation and investment needed to create jobs – and then pursue new agreements with Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and other emerging economies.”
“Canada must appoint a Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, as part of an ongoing strategy to build schools that counter the madrassas and allow women to take their place as equals,” said Mr. Rae. “We need to better coordinate CIDA’s efforts with Foreign Affairs, and end wasteful duplication while steadily increasing foreign assistance.”
