Jeffrey SimpsonThe Globe and Mail
"In two election campaigns and one Throne Speech, the Harper government promised to create a new agency to promote democracy abroad. Not only has it failed to deliver on that repeated promise, but it has whittled away, tampered with or completely eliminated some of the agencies that were doing just that," writes Jeffrey Simpson, The Globe and Mail's national affairs columnist in Wednesday's column.
Mr. Simpson took reader questions about Canadian efforts to promote democracy. Excerpts from the discussion:
Question: I think there is a big difference between supporting the development of democracy, and doing things that look good. Many things that support greater freedom look pretty dull, like free trade and open immigration. I would heartily agree that the war in Afghanistan is anything but pro-democracy, but I also doubt that paying bureaucrats and academics to wag their fingers at dictators is useful either, even though that option seems to be popular with the public.
Jeffrey Simpson: Anyone who thinks the hard and often thankless work of promoting democracy and human rights is paying bureacurats and academics to wag their fingers at bureaucrats doesn't know what the work is about. Obviously, there are countries where no dictator is going to allow any kind of work at all to be gone. In other countries, and Egypt was one, it was possible to work with civil society groups to help them prepare for eventualities. This kind of work was very helpful in eastern Europe after the defeat of Communism, for example, and it important in the Middle East.
Question: Many people would think that democracy promotion is a natural strong point for a Conservative government. What do you believe is the reason for this government's failure to follow through?
Jeffrey Simpson: I don't honestly know. It's not as if the government hasn't been thinking about this. They've mentioned it in election platforms and a Throne Speech. I was told that they were ready to act a few years back, but put things off to announce in an election campaign. I cannot vouch for that information being accurate. Perhaps they got lobbied to death by all the little existing agencies. Perhaps they were so busy chopping away at the Foreign Affairs budget that this intiative lost its way. Perhaps the minister(s) just aren't very keen on it. Maybe they are holding it back for the next election campaign. Maybe in the aftermath of Obama coming into office and cooling the Bush ardor for promoting democracy, this government lost its enthusiasm. I honestly do not know. I would have seemed a gimme for this kind of government.
Read the full transcript below: