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Paper Abstract: Examines the role of human rights in Canadian foreign policy. Disagreement regarding Canada's accomodation of human rights objectives in its foreign policy. Contends that Canada can improve the effectiveness of its accommodation of human rights without expanding its scope. Assesses Canada's concern for international human rights. Government policies. Recommends policy changes. Paper Introduction: HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADIAN FOREIGN POLICY: AN ANALYTICAL ASSESSMENT WITH RECOMMENDED POLICY CHANGES Introduction 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 obje Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. The devil, as the old adage goes, is in thedetails, and the disagreements between countries and cultures in regards tohuman rights tend to focus on the specifics of human rights - what they areand what they guarantee an individual. human rights in canadian foreign policy: an analytical assessment with recommended policy changes Introduction Canada enjoys a positive international reputation in relation to humanrights. Notes for an address by the HonourableLloyd Axworthy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, to the United NationsCommission on Human Rights. Although mostnations have accepted the United Nations Universal Declaration on HumanRights, the declaration is not tightly constructed, and, thus, is subjectto different interpretations. Montreal, Quebec: McGill-Queen's University Press. Following this analysis and assessment, the paper presentsrecommended policy changes intended to enhance the effectiveness ofCanada's accommodation of human rights in its foreign policy. The applicationof international law in controversial issues and issues that are perceivedto impinge on national sovereignty, however, has proved to be notablyineffective. Actually, almost all countries do acknowledge theexistence of human rights. (1998, March 3 ). Most Western leaders contend that the Universal Declaration represents andinternational consensus on human rights. Ottawa, Ontario: Department of Foreign Affairsand International Trade. This narrow consensus, however, does not extendto capital punishment, detention without trial, some curbs on pressfreedom, and economic and labour issues other than slavery. Rather, the issue is the uneven application of thepolicies concerning human rights. Recognising that dialogue implies listeningas well as speaking" (p. Canada willingly engages in peacemaking operationssuch as Kosovo and the Gulf War in 1991. Cooperation may be a foundation of humancivilization; however, cooperation in transnational conflict resolution hastraditionally been noticeably absent in the conduct of internationalrelations. This paper examines the issue of the comprehensiveness and theeffectiveness of Canada's accommodation of human rights objectives in itsforeign policy. (1989). The human rights issue is a case in point. Canadian troops joined those from the United Kingdom and the UnitedStates in Kosovo to protect the political rights of ethnic Albanians fromabuses by Serbia. International relations are largely associated with conflictresolution. The conduct of foreign policy in international relations is a functionof international law. LaSalle, Illinois:Open Court. The thesisof this paper is that Canada can improve the effectiveness of itsaccommodation of human rights in it foreign policy without expanding thecomprehensiveness of the scope of the role of human rights in the country'sforeign policy. 7. According to the Foreign Minister, to beeffective, Canada's application of human rights policies must be flexible.While some people in Canada do advocate inflexibility in the application ofhuman rights policies, most people accept the wisdom of a flexible policyapplication in relation to human rights. Noall countries, however, recognise the validity of this conception of humanrights; thus, what is self-evident to one person is not necessarily self-evident to another. Notes for an address by theHonourable Lloyd Axworthy to the International Conference on UniversalRights and Human Values: "A blueprint for peace, justice and freedom."Ottawa, Ontario: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.Retrieved from the Internet 2 1- 6- 3 at: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/english/news/ statements/98_state/98_ 79e.htm Black, D. The initial discussion following this introduction analyses thecontemporary state of Canada's accommodation of human rights in its foreignpolicy. 6. (1998, November 27). Chretien, J., Prime Minister of Canada. 4. The Canadian federal government policies on human rights recognise thebroad spectrum of issues included within the framework of the concept ofhuman rights (Axworthy, 1998). The adhere to its own conception of human rights, however,Canada can and should implement the following policy changes related tohuman rights: 1. Most Asian leaders, by contrast,holds that the Universal Declaration represents a consensus that is quitenarrow in scope that includes opposition to genocide, murder, torture, andslavery (Kausikan, 1993). This criticism, essentially, remains valid in2 1. Asia's different standard. O., & Pratt, C. Conflict and disagreement are endemic in the contemporaryinternational environment. Canada should suspend all trade with countries that permit(either overtly or tacitly) the practice of female circumcision to occur. Canada should deny Canadian International Development Aid(CIDA) participation to countries that export goods produced by workersreceiving less than subsistence wages. Matthews, R. Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy (1998) defends the approach of theCanadian government to the administration of the human rights element ofthe country's foreign policy on the ground that, in the contemporary world,the safety of the individual must be the paramount human rights concern ofCanada's foreign policy. 3. The Department of Foreign Affairs andInternational Trade (2 1) states, in relation to the implementation ofCanada's human rights policies, that: In seeking to advance human rights internationally, the essential question is how a country like Canada can most effectively influence others to respect international human rights principles. This point assumes significant proportionswhen Western governments and organizations attempt to impose their ownethnocentric perspectives on Eastern societies. Canada has a great record and a great international reputation as apeacekeeper nation. Canada's record of applying itshuman rights policies to economic issues, especially so in the case ofcountries where Canadian companies hope to become major traders, is muchless exemplary. Thus, there is little argument concerningthe comprehensiveness of Canada's accommodation of human rights in itsforeign policy. Foreign Policy,92, 24-41. (p. References Axworthy, L. Responses to specific situations require a careful balancing of many considerations: a government's relative commitment to human rights, the range of Canadian interests at play and above all the effectiveness of the means of influence at our disposal. Canada should suspend all trade with countries that exportgoods produced by workers in confined in prison conditions. Canada should suspend all trade with countries that exportgoods produced by workers receiving less than subsistence wages. Within Canada, however, political and social factionsdisagree with respect to both the comprehensiveness and the effectivenessof Canada's accommodation of human rights objectives in its foreign policy(Black, 2 1). The conduct of foreign policy within a framework ofinternational law resulted in transnational agreements in someuncontroversial areas, such as telecommunications, mail, health, weatherforecasting, air transportation, and sea transportation. Assessing Canada's Accommodation of Human Rights in Its Foreign Policy Matthews and Pratt (1988) contended more than a decade ago that, whilea concern for international human rights is entrenched in the rhetoric ofCanadian foreign policy, the application of its international human rightspolicy is uneven at best. The Canadian government has a comprehensive human rightscomponent in its foreign policy. Individuals and their rights. Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, (2 1). Canada should deny CIDA participation to countries thateither overtly deny or tacitly allow others to deny to workers the right toorganize and bargain collectively. (1993, Fall). 5. Human rights in Canadian foreignpolicy. The International Journal of HumanRights, 5(1), 56-75. Canada should suspend all trade with countries that eitherovertly deny or tacitly allow others to deny to workers the right toorganize and bargain collectively. Retrieved from the Internet 2 1- 6- 3 at:http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/human-rights/forpol-e.asp Kausikan, B. Prime Minister Chretien (1999) said that thedeployment of Canadian troops in Kosovo was to promote human rights. Canada should deny CIDA participation to countries thatpermit (either overtly or tacitly) the practice of female circumcision tooccur. Transcriptof a speech to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg. Vital Speeches, 65(13), 389-392. Canada should deny CIDA participation to countries thatexport goods produced by workers in confined in prison conditions. The Canadian government cannot impose its will on othercountries. This conception of human rights is foundationalist incharacter and represents a rationalist interpretation of human rights. This element of Canadian foreign policyis less effective that it might be, however, because of unevenness inapplication. Effective conflict resolution requires international consensus. The above situation reflects the dilemma facing the Canadiangovernment in the application of human rights precepts as a part of itsforeign policy. 1) While this policy approach may be admirable, its application remainsboth uneven and slanted toward more toward Canada's own internationalpolitical and economic objectives than to the country's concern foruniversal human rights. Machan, T. The concept of universality in relation to human rights implies thatsuch rights are self-evident and that they exist in one form acrosscultures, regardless of whether all cultures recognise and practiced them(Machan, 1989). 8. The definition of humanrights is in and of itself a source of conflict in the contemporary world.Global harmony, thus, requires an understanding of the perceptions andbeliefs of other cultures, as opposed to an attempt by Western industrialnations to pursue policies holding that the concept of human rights meanswhatever they think say it means - or else! 392). Retrieved from the Internet 2 1- 6- 3 at:http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/ english/news/statements/98_state/98_ 24e.htm Axworthy, L. The world generally perceives Canada as a country with a humanface that protects the human rights of its own citizens while pursuinginternational relations through policies designed to promote human rightsin all countries. When the issue is prison labour in China or child labourin India or below subsistence-level wages in Indonesia, however, theCanadian government opts for an emphasis on "quiet diplomacy" and"constructive engagement" (Black, 2 1, p. 59). (1999, April 15). (2 1, Spring). Our ultimate aim is not to punish offending governments, and certainly not their innocent citizens, but rather to influence governments to respect their people's rights. Specifically, the paper addresses the following question:What role should human rights play in Canadian foreign policy? Human rights in foreign policy: Lessons forSouth Africa from Canadian experience? 2. Withrespect to concerns for human rights in China, however, the Prime Ministersaid in the same address that "... (1988). Recommended Policy Changes The concept of human rights is complex. Humanrights in Canadian foreign policy. one of the most important elements ofour foreign policy is dialogue. What they tend to reject,however, is an interpretation of flexibility in policy application thatallows certain types of human rights abuses to continue in the absence ofovert diplomatic and economic pressures being brought to bear on offendinggovernments by the government of Canada regardless of the merits of thesituation. The Canadian government (led either by Prime Minister Jean Chretientoday or by Brian Mulrooney a decade ago) tends to be much more forceful inapplying pressure in the name of human rights when the right is at issuethan when the right to a fair wage and human working conditions are atissue. Ottawa, Ontario: Department of ForeignAffairs and International Trade. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.