bout de papier, Vol. 29, No. 2 (2016), pp. 41–44
As promised (or threatened) in previous issues ofb and final installment of the “McGill Report” on the the earlier extracts, this one was distributed to post circular document (in this case, Admin. No. 41/76 the full text of this memorandum was 54 pages I ons his collaborators, as well as Basil Robinson, the uni keen to demonstrate that the department had wort} By the way, attentive readers (and students of thea of a word of more recent resonance — “globalization lengthy persuasive treatise, however, we have decide more widely read by the overworked and underappr document in any case. As with the earlier extracts, t my possession.
PART III. “WHAT IS THE ROLE ;
The Scope of Canada’s External Relations Canada’s active role in world affairs is likely to continue and become more complex. Contributing factors include the globalization of issues and consequent increase of “multilateral diplomacy” as well as continuing concern for peace and security, increasing emphasis on economic issues, new or newly prominent issues such as environment and energy, technological development in communications and transport, government efforts to control or actively intervene in new areas and provincial government activity. The Mandate of the Department The mandate of the Department of External Affairs is not authoritatively delineated except on a few points and may need clarification but it is doubtful that the role of the Department is susceptible to comprehensive legislative definition. The Functions of the Department The functions performed by the Department are characteristically comprehensive in the way they mesh with other government activities. ‘They include: (a) The Policy Role (including policy formulation, implementation, coordination and research and analysis); (b) The Communications Role (including official communication with other governments, reporting, negotiation, and public diplomacy); (c) The Management Role (including managing the Government’s external operations at home and abroad and managing visits and conferences); (d) The Service Role (including services to the Government and consular and other services to the public).
The Policy Role Foreign policy is infinitely complex and must take account of all sectoral national policies and unpredictable events abroad. Despite the difficulty of achieving an explicitly defined foreign policy there is greater demand for some over-arching set of principles as the situation becomes more complicated.
Although foreign policy making in Canada is largely incremental, External Affairs is expected to meet the demand for a more structured, planned and deliberate process. Foreign policy has a substantial component of reaction to events abroad that are less predictable than domestic events but it also contains a major component of domestic initiatives.
The central problem in the policy role is that decisions affecting Canada’s external relations are increasingly initiated by agencies other than the Department of External Affairs. The Department should be aware of any domestic development affecting external relations. Its contribution to domestically-initiated policy formulation should include: (a) information about and interpretation of international developments, (b) knowledge of linkages and cross-impacts with other Canadian policies, (c) advice on tactics, timing and instruments. As international events impinge more frequently and deeply on domestic life, External is more often required to go beyond the role of collecting and analysing information to that of catalyst for policy change in areas regarded hitherto as domestic.
Leadership is expected of External Affairs in devising a broad framework for foreign policy, maintaining an overview and establishing national policies and objectives in the international sphere. External’s leadership role in developing policy and objectives toward countries or international organizations is accepted but is less clear in the extension abroad of functional policies. Domestic departments initiating policy developments that extend to the international sphere must ensure External is brought into the process early. When External takes the initiative because the impetus comes from abroad, it must involve all relevant domestic departments. When the impetus is a mixture of domestic and foreign, as in the law of the sea, it is appropriate for External to play a leading role. External does not have over-riding authority and has to rely on knowledge, clear thinking and persuasion as the instruments of leadership.
Preoccupation with “policy coordination” should not be overdone at the expense of creativity and initiative. The I[nter-departmental|C{committee on]E[xternal] R[elations] system is useful for consultative purposes but policy coordination is effected by other channels. External’s greatest contribution to coherence in external relations lies through ensuring that the conceptual framework, goals and objectives of foreign policy and sectoral policies take full account of all Canadian interests. External has adequate access to the information required for its policy role but does not have adequate capacity to research, analyse and assess the available information.
The Management Role There is no clear consensus on External’s role in managing the Government’s external relations and responsibility for management functions is divided among departments. Recommendations for a comprehensive management system and integration of the foreign service were not accepted in 1970. What was established was collective management, through ICER, of a partly integrated system of foreign operations, chaired by External.
The ICER system is a consultative or coordinating mechanism. The annual country program exercise is now its major activity. Although it serves useful purposes, and is probably required if collective management prevails, the time and manpower devoted to country programming is excessive.
Establishing objectives and priorities are continuing difficulties. External Affairs can provide a more rational basis for managing external operations to the extent that it can identify national policies and objectives with Cabinet blessing and get agreement on priorities among external objectives.
The collective management principle is applied abroad. Heads of Mission, despite moves to clarify their authority, do not have control over the resources allocated to their mission. The personal force of character and ability of Heads of Mission therefore determines whether posts are managed effectively. There are other desirable qualities in Heads of Mission besides managerial ability.
The External Affairs role in coordinating Canadian participation in international conferences was made clear and explicit in a recent Cabinet Directive but has not been defined as regards general official travel abroad. External should know about all official visits and should facilitate arrangements, advise on timing, on special circumstances, on the context of other Canadian objectives and ensure reports are made available. It may have little role to play in technical visits to friendly countries pursuing established contacts. External’s role in hospitality and arrangements for high level foreign visitors to whom hospitality is extended in the name of the Government, is fairly clear but the Department faces major difficulties in managing, as opposed to simply servicing, incoming visits.
The Department’s role in international conferences held in Canada is not clear. The SSEA should put proposals for major conferences to Cabinet with the concurrence of other ministers. External’s role should be advisory and consultative where the subject of conference clearly falls to another department, it should be fully responsible when the subject is purely international relations and in the case of broad spectrum conferences, External should initiate action to have a task force or ad hoc secretariat set up with Cabinet authority.
The Communications Role The SSEA and his Department are legally responsible for all official communications to other governments. The ideal of speaking to other governments with one voice is now unattainable but inconsistencies can be dangerous. External has a major responsibility for clear definition of Canadian policies and objectives and their dissemination to those in contact with other governments and other agencies have a responsibility to inform themselves of the foreign policy context. In communications with other governments and international organizations, some desirable principles are:
(a) Communications stating the views of the Canadian
Government, creating commitments or materially
affecting relations should be approved by External; (b) External is responsible for ensuring consistency with
all the objectives of national policy;
(c) External should consult other interested departments
before initiating official communications to other
governments and organizations;
(d) External should not hold up communications
prepared elsewhere for formalistic reasons;
(e) Other Departments should communicate direct with
Canadian missions abroad only on routine matters not affecting other programs or intergovernmental
relations;
(f) Communications from Ottawa should be addressed
to the mission and not to an individual or section; (g) Heads of Mission have the right to see all communi-
cations received at their mission and to approve all communications to the government or organization
to which they are accredited.
External has a responsibility for reporting the views of other governments and for analysing and commenting on developments abroad that are significant to Canada. The public media report events but they often purvey misinformation. The vast demand for reporting on specialized subjects by Canadian missions abroad should be subjected to rigorous criteria of relevancy. Occasional analytical reports on broad trends, routine collection of published material, negotiation of umbrella agreements and facilitation of exchanges and visits between experts is mostly what is required. Professional foreign service officers may be equipped to play this role or specialists absorbed into the foreign service. Ability to analyse complex situations and identify what is relevant to Canadian interests is required more than ever.
External Affairs is the logical place to house a common communications system with missions abroad. In some respects the Department may not have faced up to the consequences of operating a network that serves every part of the Government.
Negotiation External Affairs should be aware of all formal negotiations with other governments. Its primary role is to develop broad policies and identify national aims and objectives within which negotiations can take place. It has a reservoir of negotiating skills and knowledge but it does not have a monopoly, cannot match the depth of expertise existing elsewhere on many subjects, and does not have the manpower to participate fully in every specialized negotiation. It should facilitate arrangements for negotiation, ensure other departments are aware of the foreign policy context and of factors known to External. Where the subject of negotiation is broad and External has the initiative, it should be scrupulous about consulting others. Approval by Cabinet and authority to sign formal agreements is the responsibility of the SSEA and the External Affairs Treaty Section is the repository. The Department should have copies of all informal agreements and understandings entered into by Canadian Government agencies and have an opportunity to advise on form and content in the interests of consistency.
Consultation with provincial governments, where required, should be done by the federal department with responsibility for specialized subjects or by External Affairs where the agreement is broad and general.
Public Diplomacy Informing other countries about Canada and seeking to influence them in a public way is an accepted part of the Department’s role. The Department has to operate a public affairs program serving broad national objectives, capable of serving diverse objectives and supporting all other programs abroad. Every policy decision should include consideration of public diplomacy. Broad-spectrum public diplomacy, aimed at creating or maintaining a receptive and friendly attitude toward Canada is also required.
The Department’s role in public affairs at home is less well delineated than abroad. Journalists and officials do not cooperate as effectively as they should to inform Canadian about their country’s external relations. The Department has developed a dialogue about foreign policy with various interest groups in Canada but has tended, with some exceptions, to wait until approached before responding. It has been suggested that the Department should do something about informing Canadians about events abroad as well as about Canada’s part in them.
The Service Role Many functions of External Affairs involve services to the Government as a whole or to other departments and a characteristic of the Department’s role is that it is a service agency to a greater extent than many others. The service aspects are interlocked with its policy and managerial roles. The most extensive services to the public are embraced in the consular program, aimed at providing protection and assistance to Canadians, within international norms, and treatment at least equal to that accorded nationals of other countries. The consular role is growing steadily and there are problems in meeting the demand. The great variety of other services provided to Canadians abroad are a substantial part of the role of most missions. A more systematic service for Canadian businessmen might be developed in consultation with the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce.
Capacity to Perform the Role Although there is a feeling in the Department that its role points in External for each Government department or major government program. The geographical divisions of External need to be strengthened in their knowledge of the Canadian scene and their capability to manage bilateral relationships.
Greater continuity and expertise is thought to be required, especially among personnel who work closely with other departments and recruitment, training, career planning and assignment policy should take account of this requirement. Exchanges of personnel with other departments and recruiting non-rotational specialists need to be further pursued but the system of rotational foreign service is essential in keeping personnel abroad abreast of domestic affairs and in bringing fresh minds to bear on policy problems at headquarters. Other departments have to play a part in ensuring that External is staffed with personnel who are fully capable of understanding all the Government’s activities.
External officers are accused of not being sufficiently Canadian and of intellectual arrogance. Some officers forget they do not wear the mantle of Canada’s official representative when at home. They need to practice diplomacy with their fellow Canadians. The nature of External’s role makes failure to consult the unforgivable sin. Other departments must accept that External brings a valid contribution when it draws attention to international factors and External must work to maintain credibility by showing full appreciation of domestic imperatives. As well as steps to integrate External personnel more closely into the Federal Government structure, other schemes might be tried to bring the Department into closer touch with Canadian life outside Ottawa.
Suggestions for improving the performance of the Department dwell heavily on greater internal cohesion and better internal communication. These should not,
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 29, No. 2 (2016), pp. 41–44. Read the rest of this issue →
