Posts Tagged 'Commonwealth'

Canada and the Commonwealth: Hissy Fits, Shouting and Bullying

Canada and the Commonwealth: Hissy Fits, Shouting and Bullying

McLeod Group Blog, April 21, 2014

The Harper government’s announcement that it will cut $20 million over the next two years from its funding to the Commonwealth Secretariat because of human rights abuse in Sri Lanka is surely one of the most illogical things it has done in a fast-growing list.

The Prime Minister of Sri Lanka currently serves as the Chair-in-Office of the Commonwealth because Sri Lanka hosted the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in 2013. The Chair-in-Office is ...

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How to Hijack an Aid Program

AN OPEN LETTER TO AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT

from Ian Smillie

October 29, 2013

Dear Tony Abbott,

The day after you led your Liberal/National Coalition to a landslide victory in September, you announced that AusAID, the Australian government’s aid agency, will be integrated into the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Because many have likened this move to what Canada has done in merging CIDA with DFAIT, I thought I might give you some background information on what has happened ...

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The Harper Government’s Foreign Policy Record

October 22, 2013

There has been a lot of noise about a new realism in Canadian foreign policy—principled, not going along just to get along—and it seems a great deal of rushing around the globe by the energetic Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird. But what do we have to show for all of this? There has been a flurry of comment in the last few weeks about Mr Harper not addressing the United Nations General Assembly fall session, unlike many ...

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