Good peacekeeping or good PR?
Canada has enjoyed a reputation for diplomacy ever since Lester B. Pearson came up with a novel solution – peacekeepers – for the Suez Crisis in 1956. We've also been recognized for our involvement in human rights issues, nuclear disarmament, and the International Criminal Court. But have our efforts made for a more peaceful world, or is the image of the "good diplomat" a convenient holdover from the days when Canada actually made a difference?
At the root of questions about Canada's image as peacekeepers is the concern that it's just that: an image. Critics wonder whether Canada is in fact a "cat's paw" -- a surrogate for U.S. foreign policy. Others are concerned that Canadian peacekeeping missions are unjustifiably idealistic. CBC reporter Rob Parker finds out about the kind of peace Canada's been keeping.
• In October 2000, 38,000 military and civilian police personnel from 89 countries were engaged in UN peacekeeping operations around the world.
• Not every Canadian diplomatic effort was a success. In 1996, unrest broke out in Zaire, where Rwandan refugees were waiting to go home after genocide in Rwanda. Canada won praise for offering to lead a multinational force in Zaire to quell the violence and offer the refugees aid and safe passage. But the effort never got off the ground; other countries didn't commit to the force and aid wasn't urgently needed after all.
• In 1981, a Canadian diplomat named Ken Taylor, an ambassador to Iran, won admiration for pulling off what's been dubbed "The Canadian Caper." Six American diplomats were trapped by a revolution in Iran in which 52 of their compatriots were taken hostage. They took sanctuary at the Canadian embassy and Taylor arranged for false passports and their safe passage out of Iran. This act, while heroic, doesn't exemplify good diplomacy, in which negotiation comes first.
Program: Up Canada
Broadcast Date: Nov. 20, 1973
Guest(s): E.L.M. Burns, Lawrence Fabian, George Ignatieff, Mitchell Sharp
Reporter: Rob Parker
Duration: 13:28
Last updated: July 18, 2013
Page consulted on November 7, 2014
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