Canada-Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Heads of Government Meeting

It is great to be here, on this beautiful island of Grenada to spend time with the leaders of countries that have been friends of Canada for decades. In fact, in the case of Canada's Atlantic provinces, these friendships go back before any of us were independent countries.

We have an ambitious agenda, and I know that we will have some frank and detailed exchanges along the way.

At this point, I would like to make a few remarks that give a sense of Canada's international approach and where the Caribbean fits in.

Canadians see our country as an active participant in international affairs, with strong attachments around the world.

This is partly because of our tradition as a trading nation, and partly because we have worked hard to make a home for people from every corner of the globe.

This openness, this connection with people and countries around the world, has been our greatest strength.

And that brings me to the Americas. Our government took office in 1993 pledging to work for a "Western Community of Nations."

We are making good on the promise. The Miami Summit of the Americas set out on an ambitious agenda for our hemisphere, and we are moving on it. Our membership in the OAS provides an important focus for our efforts.

Economically, Canada wants to ensure prosperity for all by building the free trade area of the Americas.

Politically, we want to see democracy, strengthened civil societies and respect for human rights take root and flourish everywhere in the Americas.

Our commitment to the Western hemisphere has required a major shift in our perceptions of the future. We know that you too are thinking about your future in the hemisphere, and we encourage you to take these steps with us.

It is true that we must work together to shape the future of the Americas.

For decades, Canada has sought the support of Caribbean countries in the United Nations and the Commonwealth to defend democracy and individual freedoms.

Today, we are also pursuing that task within the Organization of American States.

Since 1990, when the leaders of our countries last met, 13 of the 15 countries represented in this room changed governments democratically and peacefully. You have demonstrated for many years that democracy can work in small countries as well as large, in developing countries as well as industrial ones. Freedom is not an afterthought. It is not something to consider after everything else is done.

That is a lesson that people throughout the world believe in, and that people throughout the Western hemisphere can now hope for because of the great wave of democratic development sweeping the Americas.

It is a lesson that the Commonwealth Caribbean can, and should, bring to the great act of hemispheric construction before us.

We value the Caribbean countries as old friends and strong partners. Our commitment to you is firm. I will make that clear over the course of our discussions.

Despite a global reduction in Canadian development assistance, the Caribbean remains the highest per capita recipient in the world. New fiscal restraints, and new development priorities, require us to maximize the impact of our programs.

That is why we are working with you on projects to develop the kind of expertise, the human infrastructure that you want in order to meet the challenges of the next century.

The meeting of trade ministers in Cartagena in a few weeks will mark another step towards the goal of a free trade area of the Americas by the year 2005. We know this raises concerns in the Caribbean, and that some of you worry about the costs of adjustment. We in Canada have been making our own adjustments to new trading regimes. But our experience shows that if it is done well, the gains are much greater than the drawbacks.

We encourage you to approach trade issues with confidence. We are prepared to offer you assistance in working through the trade policy questions that will arise.

As leaders, but also as individuals, we share concerns about the impact of drugs on our societies. I am here to listen, but I pledge that Canada will continue to work with you -- bilaterally, and in the OAS and the UN -- to defeat this serious menace to the health of our citizens and the integrity of our political and judicial systems.

If we are to build strong countries for future generations, we have to get our environmental policies right.

That is why environmental protection forms a cornerstone of our development policy framework in the Caribbean.

We will talk about these issues later, but at this point I want to express our sincere thanks for your support during the negotiations of the UN Convention on straddling stocks. I hope you will be able to ratify the convention as soon as possible.

International debt is another area that I know you care about. In recent years, Canada and the Caribbean have been working on the issue, and I want to discuss how we can continue to cooperate in this area, especially in the multilateral development banks.

So I think we have a lot to talk about: trade, democracy, human rights, development cooperation, the challenge of narcotics, the importance of the environment, and the problem of debt.

Most of all, I want to make it clear that the Caribbean remains important to Canada. We are, all of us, dealing with the enormous challenges that are transforming the world. But change should not, and will not, erode the friendships that we have built up over the years. We count on your friendships towards Canada. I want you to know that you can count on us, on our continuing high regard for you, and our active engagement with the countries of the Caribbean.