WHY STUDY CANADA?
As discussed at the leadership Conference on Campobello Island which took
place during August, 1990, it is increasingly important that the United
States become more aware of its relationship with Canada and of the
intertwined heritage and distinctive cultures of our two countries.
Therefore attention should be drawn to the significance of current
developments within Canada and in the Canadian-U.S.
relationship. This study can give us a more global perspective by
specifically observing:
-
Canada's commitment to meeting the challenge of governing a vast
country of pronounced regionalism, balancing the needs of individual
regions with those of the society at large, as well as balancing the
concepts of individual rights and responsibilities with those of the
collectivity;
- The emergence of the North American continent as an economic unit,
reinforced by the 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, and the possible
tendency toward "regionalization" in the world economy, implying some risk
of loss of national economic autonomy and perhaps also of reduction of
;interest in wider, more global international economic transactions;
- The heightened awareness of ethnic diversity, linguistic differences,
and exclusive regional consciousness on the North American continent, and
the comparability of these issues to similar ones in other areas of the
world including, for example, the changing Soviet bloc;
- The emerging political presence of indigenous peoples "first nations"
in Canada and the connections being formed by those groups with native
groups in other countries, through such bodies as the Inuit Circumpolar
Conference, in order to protect and advance their traditional values and
interests;
- The efforts being made by our two countries to improve the quality of
the North American environmentèwater and air, forests and fisheriesèfor
sustainable development, and the relevance of this work for
environmentalist activities in other parts of the world;
- The enlightened policy of Canadian governments over many years in
providing universal health services, and the possible partial adaptability
of these mechanisms to the needs of other nations, including the health
needs of the united States;
- The effective assistance being given by Canada to ;countries in
Africa, Asia, and Latin America to aid in their economic, social, and
political development, emphasizing the rule of law, human rights, and
democratic practices as well as physical well-being and the lessons that
can be learned by other countries from this accumulated experience;
- The pioneering work of Canadian government institutions and private
enterprises in overcoming geographical distances with new means of
transportation and communications in building the Canadian nation, and the
applicability of the latest forms of this technology in meeting the
transport and telecommunication needs of other nations requiring similar
services;
- The humanistic insights and artistic accomplishments of Canadian men
and women in the fields of literature, theatre, film and other cultural
media, and the growing international recognition of these expressions as
valuable contributions to human understanding; and
- The emphasis that the Canadian government has placed on international
organizations and multilateral cooperation, especially in the united
nations but also in the Commonwealth, la francophonie, and the North
Atlantic Alliance, and the increased appropriateness of the Canadian
multilateral diplomacy in a more diverse, complex, and functionally
interdependent world.
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