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Address to Hiroshima-Canada Association

by the Hon. David Kilgour, 
Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Southeast
Hiroshima, Japan
July 8, 2003


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Ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for my colleague, Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre, Karen Redman, and me to be with you. Karen has been active in our Japan-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group for five years and currently serves our or Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you President Tada for allowing us to share this special occasion. 

This city and its people are truly remarkable. Just before leaving Ottawa, I met with Japan’s Ambassador to Canada, Kensaku Hogen. When he found out that our visit brought us to your great city, he was elated. He told me - and he was right - that we would be struck by Hiroshima’s ability to balance an inconceivably tragic past with a strikingly positive and constructive focus on the future. 

This positive outlook is shared by just about any observer of relations between our countries. Even 74 years ago (a date subject to some debate, as I’ll get to in a minute), Japan and Canada recognized one another as close allies and dear friends. Japan honoured Canada by sending Prince Iemasa Tokugawa, the grandson of the last Shogun, as its first Ambassador in 1928. Reciprocally, Canada’s fourth embassy in the world was established in Tokyo in 1929. 

This technical one year discrepancy in the establishment of embassies by our two countries has proved to be quite a challenge, as we debated when exactly to set the date to celebrate our 75 wonderful years of diplomatic relations. Ambassador Hogen, with typical Japanese creativity, found that although Japan established its embassy in Ottawa in 1928, the Ambassador did not present his credentials our Governor General until early 1929, allowing us to celebrate our 75 years together at the same time next year! 

The partnership between Canada and Japan over those 75 years spans the economic, political, and social spheres. Trade between our countries totals over $23 billion per year; we have adopted similar responses to threats to international security; and have united as committed multilateralists to support peacekeeping missions and provide aid to developing and post-conflict societies. 

This relationship was not exclusively built between governments. Organisations such as yours are the backbone of the friendship between our nations. You supported, for example, the establishment nearly three years ago of the first Trade Section outside of the diplomatic offices in Yokyo. Hiroshima citizens and businesses now have easier access to information on Canada, and the Trade Section has had a steady stream of requests for assistance from Japanese companies in the areas of production, food, wine, tourism, education, and biotechnology. The twinning of Montreal and Hiroshima as sister cities five years ago has fostered trade and promoted a cultural education. The academic exchange programme between students and professors of Hiroshima Shudo University and York University in Toronto gave insight and experience to those who participated. The Youth Experience Canada Programme provides young Japanese men and women first hand encounters with Canada and Canadians. These personal ties make Canada-Japan relations uniquely fulfilling. 

Economic integration

Economically, the health of our nations depends heavily upon our partnership. Japan is, after all, the world’s second largest economy and is larger than all of the economies of Asia combined! You are Canada’s most important national trading partner after the United States, and by far the most significant in Asia. Japan receives nearly $7 billion in Canadian exports annually. Japanese industries are Canada’s third largest source of investment. As the world’s largest creditor nation, largest aid donor, and a key developer and use of high technology, Japan projects its influence around the world. 

At the same time, Canada serves as a healthy market for Japanese industry and businesses. As a trade partner, we import nearly $13 billion each year from Japan, and the agriculture, forestry, and energy products we export are particularly essential. Our economy is sophisticated and knowledge-based, making it a natural strategic partner for Japan. We are blessed with an abundance of natural resources, but are also a world leader in the new economy industries like IT, biotechnology, and environmental technologies. Our bilateral and regional trade agreements have made Canadian producers highly competitive in a larger, more integrated and efficient economic arena. Canada is also a prime destination for investors, especially in the new economy and NAFTA has made Canada an ideal location from which to serve the North American market. 

BSE

Our community to community ties and shared international outlook allow for constructive and open dialogue on critical issues such as BSE. As a Member of Parliament from Alberta, I can tell you that this is a very serious issue weighing heavily on the minds of hundreds of thousands of Canadians. Since the early 1990s, we have maintained one of the most stringent prevention and detection programmes in the world, always far exceeding the international requirements. The very detection of our one and only BSE case and the subsequent quarantines and animal destructions are a testament to the robustness of our anti-BSE strategy. We have been working very hard to assuage the fears of our trading partners; we spared no effort in conducting a thorough, transparent investigation. The results of this investigation are clear: there is no scientific reason to keep the border closed. Issues of health and food safety are, of course, paramount for both Japan and Canada and should be the primary concern in this situation. In appreciation and understanding of Japanese concerns, we have been working diligently to prove that Canadian beef is among the safest in the world and to demonstrate that all scientific research clearly science supports the resumption of trade. 

A Global Partnership

Our friendship runs much deeper than trade and economic interdependence. Our peoples share a common vision of the world. We both face rising trans-border threats from illgal drugs and crime, tackle similar environmental challenges, and share deep concern about conflicts and tensions around the world. Our two peoples have said in a common voice that managed globalization must be embraced, while respecting human rights and the environment. We have called for multilateralism and diplomacy practised within the UN system. We have served side by side as peacekeepers in the Golan Heights and East Timor, and contributed to the reconstruction and development of healing states. It is not just that we have strong cross-border relations; it is that the people of Japan and Canada consider ourselves united global citizens. 

Conclusion

The future of our two peoples is thus intimately tied together. The bonds between Canada and Japan are vibrant, and the city of Hiroshima is an integral link. The Hiroshima Canada Association’s 400 members are making a huge impact in both of our nations by promoting trade and the exchange of youth, academics, and ideas. The third Montreal Day to be held here tomorrow is testament to the strength of our sister-city relationship.

A young woman, Miss Yano, who participated in the 5th Youth Experience Canada Programme in the summer of 2002, said that her image of Canada is “Dynamic Canada.” I could not think of a better description of the economically robust, culturally diverse, and socially concerned Canada of today, nor of a more appropriate description for Japan. 

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