HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADIAN FOREIGN POLICY: AN ANALYTICAL ASSESSMENT WITH RECOMMENDED POLICY CHANGES
Canada enjoys a positive international reputation in relation to human rights. The world generally perceives Canada as a country with a human face that protects the human rights of its own citizens while pursuing international relations through policies designed to promote human rights in all countries. Within Canada, however, political and social factions disagree with respect to both the comprehensiveness and the effectiveness of Canada's accommodation of human rights objectives in its foreign policy (Black, 2001).
This paper examines the issue of the comprehensiveness and the effectiveness of Canada's accommodation of human rights objectives in its foreign policy. Specifically, the paper addresses the following question: What role should human rights play in Canadian foreign policy? The thesis of this paper is that Canada can improve the effectiveness of its accommodation of human rights in it foreign policy without expanding the comprehensiveness of the scope of the role of human rights in the country's foreign policy.
The initial discussion following this introduction analyses the contemporary state of Canada's accommodation of human rights in its foreign policy. Following this analysis and assessment, the paper presents recommended policy changes intended to enhance the effectiveness of Canada's accommodation of human rights in its foreign policy.
Assessing Canada's Accommodation of Human Rights in Its Foreign Policy
Matthews and Pratt (1988) contended more than a decade ago that, while a concern for international human rights is entrenched in the rhetoric of Canadian foreign policy, the application of its international human rights policy is uneven at best. This criticism, essentially, remains valid in 2001. The Canadian government (led either by Prime Minister Jean Chretien today or by Brian Mulrooney a decade...