● Introduction
● Political Geography
● From Junior Partner to Middle Power
● Canada's Military Commitments
● Canadian-American Relations
● Overseas Development Programs

Overseas Development Programs

For a number of historic reasons, Canada has felt a special commitment to helping the Third World develop strong societies and economies. In the past, Canada was a colony, and therefore feels that to some extent it can empathise with the problems countries face when they try to break away from their imperial past and become independent. For instance, like many colonies and territories, in the past much of its wealth was removed and taken to Britain rather than remaining in Canadian pockets.

(Canadian International Development Agency) CIDA

Another similarity with developing countries is that, traditionally, Canada's economy has been heavily based upon the export of raw materials like forestry products, fish, oil and grain. This means that like other resource—based economies, economic well-being has been at the mercy of fluctuating world commodity prices over which Canada has little control. Economic wealth lies in selling finished products and services—making furniture rather than selling logs, for example—and Canada has often lagged behind in such value-added activities.

Canada has also, obviously, been very dominated by the United States economy, so shares similar concerns with smaller economies which run the risk of being swallowed up by bigger ones. If it were not for the active financial and legal support of the Canadian government, things like the domestic film and publishing industries would have a hard time surviving. There is a constant fear that Canadian culture will simply be swamped by American culture. These are some of the areas in which Canada feels its problems are not so different from poorer countries.

It has been noted how Canada believes the best way to ensure its security is to promote peace and security in the international system, and therefore it is no surprise that it should feel it has a special commitment to helping the Third World. It has pursued this agenda in three ways. It contributes actively to UN peacekeeping missions and is a staunch supporter of the UN; it takes an active diplomatic role in solving disputes through peaceful means; and it spends a lot of money on international development assistance.

Following World War II, Canadian overseas aid was quite small. Canada was merely following—somewhat reluctantly—in the footprints of the US, which was trying to use economic aid to achieve foreign policy objectives. But gradually, Canada began to take a more proactive role in international affairs and by 1970, Canada was contributing a higher percentage of its GNP for overseas development aid than the US or Great Britain were.

Aid became an important component of Canadian foreign policy, and both Pearson and Trudeau pressed hard for international organizations like the World Bank and the International Labour Office to make humanitarian development assistance the priority of aid programs. Political and commercial concerns should be secondary, and aid should be targeted at the most needy sectors of populations. Despite this high-sounding rhetoric, Canadian practice has been less noble in recent years as, through the 1980s and 1990s, the Canadian aid program has grown more conservative.

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