Civil Society Guidance for Canadian Foreign Policy

What do Canadian citizens believe to be a socially and culturally responsible foreign policy?

How should Canada conduct herself realistically in the complex future of international relations?

What ought to be the most critical objectives for Canada’s social license to act in global affairs?

We continue our Canadian peacefinding series with a dialogue to co-create foreign policy principles and proposals for a complex 21s century society. No administration since 2003 has reconnected with the citizens to understand our positions, concerns, or proposals for a Canadian foreign policy that reflected citizen concerns, or at least to some extent, a more democratic (and less elite-driven) model of foreign relations. There have been formal debates, but no citizen engagement.

The corporate-concentrated Canadian media presents few alternative positions among its editorials and reporting on allies, adversarial relationships, terrorism, or human rights. There are authoritative voices proclaiming the dominant narrative, and the alternative narratives and values are brushed aside. Among these alternatives we might explore:

• Proposing a mandate for an honourable and transparent diplomacy model
• Identifying a set of clear guidelines for the proposals to endorse war or state violence.
• Articulating a mandate for decolonization of Canadian government interests, ensuring corporate and special interests are not colonizing (determining) or marginalizing rights and freedoms of cultures anywhere in the world.
• Providing for a clear path of state representation that fully includes Indigenous people, as rights holders to treaty lands of Canada, in diplomatic and foreign affairs decision making.
• Actively seeking positive relationships with all people and cultures.