bout de papier, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1999) — Spring 1999 // Printemps 1999, pp. 3–5
The idea of Team Canada originated with senior officers of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and at the Privy Council Office (PCO), not long after the current government came to power in 1993. Initially, the intention was to propose a mechanism that would approach federal-provincial relations in a radically different way. It was hoped that, by aiming at unusual, indeed novel and creative, settings outside Canada the Prime Minister and his provincial colleagues could get to know one another better and also be able to discuss issues less formally than was possible during their rather structured meetings at home.
The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) showed immediate interest in the idea and, when the discussions that ensued between DFAIT, the PCO and PMO came to the Left to right: Kapil Madan, Lisa Rice, Minister Prime Minister’s attention, he accepted the initiative enthusiastically. He displayed a continuing and lively interest in the project as it evolved. It was he who proposed that it be given trade and marketing objectives and that Canadian businessmen should be invited to take part. He considered that this would provide the missions with a practical focus that would appeal to the premiers, while being of direct interest to the Canadian business community as well. In later stages of the planning process, education, culture, science, technology and tourism came to be added to the mandate, particularly on the marketing side.
And, thus, as baptised by the Prime Minister, Team Canada was born.
One of the earliest decisions taken was that the Premiers and their parties would be the guests of the Federal Government, while businessmen would be asked to contribute a fee for their participation in the = missions. This would vary with the length of the tour, the number of countries scheduled to be visited, the living costs prevalent there, and so on. For the Latin American mission in January 1998, for example, it was set at roughly $10,000 per business participant, depending on the number of countries they visited on the tour. Another early decision was that preference would be given to media participation from outside Ottawa.
While many government departments and agencies would eventually become involved in the Team Canada missions, particularly the PMO and PCO, it was decided early on that DFAIT would be the lead department in the planning, organization and conduct of the tours; it had the basic infrastructure and resources — administrative and personnel — both at home and abroad, for the purpose. Team Canada missions would require a tremendous amount of concentrated effort on its part if each one was to be carried out successfully. Indeed hundreds of departmental personnel, across Canada and abroad, were eventually called upon in one way or another, either full-time or part-time, to assist with the missions. The resources of just about every departmental branch and bureau, whether political, trade, administrative, cultural, technical, academic relations, communications, media relations or protocol, would be involved.
Embassies abroad, in the countries to be visited, would of course have to be heavily engaged in the preparation and actual carrying out of each mission. Advance teams from DFAIT were sent out periodically to assist them during the preparatory phase. In this respect, special briefing sessions were held at each mission. A particularly pressing issue facing both Ottawa and the posts was the need for secure communications with the premiers’ offices across Canada. In addition numerous contracts would have to be negotiated by each post in such specialized areas as simultaneous interpretation, translation, transportation, and so on. Lodging would have to be arranged and stand-by provisions for handling possible health problems would also have to be in place.
Thus post personnel would have to be fully mobilized to deal with the sudden mass of visitors descending upon them. entrance on Sussex Drive. The suite carries a large sign “Team Canada Inc.” over its “ over its entrance which reflects the department’s view that trade promotion is basically team work. It does not come under the direct jurisdiction of the Team Canada Task Force as such; its primary purpose is to provide a handy on-site focal point at headquarters The largest Team Canada mission was to Latin America from mid-to-end January 1998. It became known familiarly as “The Tango Tour”. All premiers accepted the Prime Minister’s invitation and about 500 companies — many of them small and medium-sized — accepted that of the International Trade Minister. This brought reports indicate that, despite the complexities and difficulties, particularly on the representational and social side, they did so effectively, considering the numbers involved. Luncheons for a thousand guests, for instance, signing ceremonies bringing together similar numbers of participants, and large-scale press conferences, are not the easiest gatherings to hold.
In the department a new division — the Team Canada Task Force — came into being in the International Trade Branch to ensure that a central point of planning, organization, coordination, and general reference would be available at all times; also to ensure continuity between tours.
As a focal point for businessmen interested in trade promotion the department also set up a complex of attractive offices with specialized staff and equipment on the main floor of the Pearson Building near the for trade promotion purposes. It also offers a convenient means of contact for appointments, meetings, etc., with departmental officials and it is in this way that it is most useful to the Task Force.
The first Team Canada missions took place in the Far East and and South and Southeast Asia in 1994 and 1996. The basic objectives of the South and South East Asia tour, for instance, were: (1) to promote trade and investment between Canadian and South and Southeast Asian partners; (2) to demonstrate Canada’s commitment to sustainable development through support for Canadian development projects and Canadian-designed technologies; and (3) to market Canadian educational services in such a way as to attract more international scholars to Canadian educational institutions. With variations taking into account local conditions, these objectives were basically the same for the Far East and Latin America tours. the business total to more than 550 participants, including 64 women. The tourist industry was strongly represented this time and also the education sector, which had 56 participants with seven university presidents present. Including federal officials and advisors, the Premiers and their parties, academic and media representatives, well over 600 people took part.
The problems connected with transporting, lodging, feeding, so many people can well be imagined, to say nothing of the many meetings, interviews, press conferences, social functions at the highest levels of business and government, that had to be organized if mission objectives were to be achieved. Moreover, pleasant and useful weekend activities had also to be arranged and special programmes were organized for spouses and other accompanying tour members. All in all, a tremendous logistical challenge.
Advance planning for the mission to Latin America started about 10 months before the proposed departure date. This dealt mainly with the selection of countries to be visited, the invitations to be extended, the objectives to be aimed at, the preparation of country studies, market reports, and other briefs, particularly as regards Canadian exports, the first drafts of the many statements, speeches, and press releases required on the tour.
The final preparations for the mission, that is, the actual game plan on the ground when the early planning was refined and pretty much put into final shape, took some six months of concentrated daily work. Under the responsibility of the Assistant Deputy Minister in charge of Latin America and with direct PMO and PCO participation, and that of other departments and agencies as required, the detailed arrangements for the mission were carried out by a range of committees and sub-committees under the leadership of the Director General of the Latin America Bureau and Director of the Team Canada Task Force. Apart from the broad objectives to be achieved, as outlined above, sectors of prime focus for Latin America included: agri-food, energy, health and the environment, telecommunications, transport, and tourism.
As the departure deadline approached, the pace of work quickened of course, and long hours were the rule, week-end assignments normal. In particular, the department’s communications facilities were placed under heavy stress owing to frequent exchanges with the provinces, participating businessmen, media representatives, the transportation companies, the posts abroad, the local embassies of countries to be visited, e.g., for visas, if necessary, health regulations and other useful information.
Special briefings for the premiers and their parties took place the day before departure. Briefings for business representatives were also held. Incidentally, to brief a group of 500 business persons proved to be not quite as smooth a process as the organizers would have liked! As the mission became airborne, huge sighs of satisfaction and relief could probably be heard echoing along Sussex Drive.
Assessment: Team Canada’s initial objective — its Federal-Provincial aspect — was reached. All premiers appear to have found their participation in the missions constructive and useful in one way or another, particularly in their exchanges and dealings with their federal, as well as their provincial colleagues. Also, most seemed of the opinion that the missions were generally advantageous for their provinces, especially in the education sector, if not as fully profitable economically as some might have hoped. As a fringe benefit on the political side, the jurisdictions and interests of the provinces within the constitutional complexities of Canada were brought directly and personally to the attention of their foreign hosts in ways that would otherwise have been difficult or at least time-consuming to achieve: a kind of crash course on Canadian constitutional affairs!
That being said, as luck would have it, the visits to the Far East and Southeast Asia took place not long before the profound and widespread economic crises that beset the area, the so-called “Asian flu” • Also, the mission to Latin America preceded by a few months the severe fiscal and monetary problems that Brazil has had to cope with recently. These developments have of course affected the final Team Canada business results in those areas. On the other hand, for the long haul, the missions brought Canada’s reputation and business accomplishments in fields such as education, science, transportation and technology, tellingly to the attention of important countries of the world with eventual benefits for us as they overcome their economic difficulties. In particular, the scholarship and education programmes resulting from the Team Canada missions will certainly produce a range of positive benefits.
Current economic difficulties around the world have cut into the sites and possibilities for future Team Canada missions and have already resulted in a down-scaling of the size and objectives of one of them: the recent tour of Eastern Europe. It was led by the Prime Minister, but was not called a Team Canada tour as such. It was described as a Business Development Mission, with both federal and business participation on a smaller scale and no separate provincial delegations as such. This format could well prove to be the Team Canada pattern for some time to come.
In conclusion, it can be said with no fear of contradiction that never before in its long and varied experience had the department been called upon to undertake a task of such size and complexity. As models of organizational prowess, the Team Canada missions were without parallel in its history.
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1999) — Spring 1999 // Printemps 1999, pp. 3–5. Read the rest of this issue →
