THE STANDING SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE
EVIDENCE
OTTAWA, Thursday, April 11, 2024
The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade met with video conference this day at 12:33 p.m. [ET] to examine, and report on, Canada’s interests and engagement in Africa.
Senator Peter M. Boehm (Chair) in the chair.
The Chair: My name is Peter Boehm. I am a senator from Ontario and the chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Before we get started, I’m going to ask the committee members to introduce themselves, starting with the senator to my left.
Senator Ravalia: Welcome. We are delighted to have you. My name is Mohamed Ravalia, and I represent the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
[Translation]
Senator Cardozo: I am Andrew Cardozo from Ontario.
[English]
Senator M. Deacon: Good afternoon. Marty Deacon, senator from Ontario.
Senator Woo: I am Yuen Pau Woo from British Columbia. Welcome.
Senator Boniface: Welcome. Gwen Boniface from Ontario.
Senator Coyle: Senator Mary Coyle, Antigonish, Nova Scotia.
Senator Richards: David Richards from New Brunswick.
The Chair: Thank you very much. Welcome to all senators and to those who may be watching our proceedings today across the country on SenVu.
Colleagues, we are meeting today to continue our special study on Canada’s interests and engagement in Africa. We are very honoured to welcome, from the African Union Commission, His Excellency Bankole Adeoye, who is the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security.
Ambassador, welcome and thank you for being with us. You are joined by Patience Zanelie Chiradza, Director for Governance and Conflict Prevention; and Issaka Garba Abdou, Head of Division, Governance and Human Rights.
Before we hear your remarks and proceed to questions and answers, I wish to ask members and witnesses in the room to please refrain from leaning in too closely to the microphone, or remove the earpiece when doing so. This will avoid any sonic feedback that could negatively impact committee staff and, indeed, our interpreters whose task it is to interpret the proceedings.
I would also ask everyone present to please mute notifications on their devices.
I wish to acknowledge that Dr. Shelly Whitman, Executive Director of the Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security, is also with us in the room today.
We are now ready to hear your opening remarks, Your Excellency, which will be followed by questions from senators and, of course, your responses to those questions. Ambassador Adeoye, you have the floor.
His Excellency Bankole Adeoye, Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, African Union Commission: Thank you, chair. Thank you for having our team. I’m really honoured to be addressing the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
Africa is a changing continent. It’s the youngest and some of the richest in terms of resources, with a huge population and changing demography, but also with turbulent political and security issues, dealing with terrorism, violent extremism, transnational organized crime, rebellion, insurrection and civil wars. But it’s democratic in the very essence — democratic in the sense that shared values of constitutionalism and the rule of law remain very rooted in what we call Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. How can we make a difference with Canada — with like-minded partners with links to our continent — making sure that this youth bulge will benefit from their resources, from a strong, resilient continent?
Overall, we are very keen on expanding our partnerships, and focusing on our priorities, which we believe run very concurrent with what you have in Canada. First, conflict prevention, mediation and preventive diplomacy will be good for the domain we work in: governance, peace and security.
Second, we need to build integrated capacity to counter the challenges of insecurity across the continent. Five regions awash with small arms — awash with non-state armed groups — but the commitment to build strong and resilient states remains very critical.
I’m sure of interest to Canada and to your engagement in Africa is a priority that speaks to the strengthening of good governance and democracy for human security. And, most importantly, it’s also about constructing partnerships that work for everyone — win-win partnerships.
In regard to these priorities, how do they fit into Canadian interests and your engagement with Africa? Senators, I must say clearly, since our arrival yesterday, we have met parliamentary secretaries and ministers, including foreign affairs and international development. One thing is clear: Canada can play a stronger role in this new transforming continent called Africa while also contributing and investing in addressing the challenges that we currently have.
What are these interests? They converge definitely in what we see together, and what we can do together, through this house of your bicameral legislature — saving lives, investing in economic ties, investing in people, investing in youth, investing in women and investing in the whole of the African continent that is now driven by African solutions to African problems.
How do we promote constitutionalism, the rule of law and democracy in a way that youth and women inclusivity becomes part of that transformation we aspire to?
It’s a beautiful continent rich in every resource — north, south, east, central — but also challenged like no other continent, meaning there is a need to work together to help build, particularly in the post-conflict era, where it would be necessary to move ahead with what we are speaking to. Overall, the necessity of also promoting the best for accountability, integrity and transparency will help build that democratic Africa that we are witnessing.
The African Union is a strong intergovernmental body of 55 Member States. Twenty-eight per cent of the United Nations General Assembly is the face of Africa. How do we mobilize more for multilateralism? How do we mobilize more for change of the perception of Africa as a hopeless continent — but rather a continent that is aspiring, a continent for change, a continent for transformational renewal?
Our best effort is to first work together to silence the guns. For Canada, that is historically and traditionally neutral. There is a need for the Canadian brand on our continent in a more visible manner — a Canada that can showcase the best of good governance and democracy without conditions to partners, or to partner countries, on our continent; and a Canada that can make an impact in areas beyond mining, to infrastructure, to health services, to issues that deal with women, in peace and security, in mediation, in preventive diplomacy and in election observation. Fifteen countries of the African continent will be holding elections in 2024. Last year, 11 — in the face of COVID, only one Member State postponed elections, and that Member State eventually went to war.
Democracy has been rooted deeply in our continent. We are the only intergovernmental body that actually suspends Member States when they run foul of the democratic shared values that we have.
We are promoting more in early warning, ensuring that conflict prevention will be better than managing conflict. The director to my left is in charge of governance and conflict prevention. To my right is Mr. Garba, the Head of Governance and Human Rights, who works to ensure that all rights are interwoven, interrelated and can be seen as inalienable. That is why we don’t speak only of political and civil rights in the African Union. We speak also of economic, social and cultural rights, particularly all anchored on the right to development. That is where we believe Canada’s interest will be substantial and significant for a change to how we work together.
I believe I can answer questions if there are more issues, but the most important message for us — which I said to the Minister of Foreign Affairs this morning — is that Canada should no longer be shy working in Africa. In all the areas that I have mentioned, Canada can be a lead partner, with great win-win results for both our continent and for you. This is the Canada we need.
I thank you so much.
The Chair: Thank you very much, ambassador, for your eloquent statement.
I want to recognize Senator Stephen Greene and Senator Michael MacDonald — both from Nova Scotia — have joined the meeting.
Colleagues, as you are aware, we are looking at four minutes per senator. That includes the question and answer. Please give enough time so we can get a good answer from the ambassador and his distinguished colleagues who are with us today.
Senator M. Deacon: Thank you, everyone, for being here today. It’s a privilege and a pleasure to have you in the same room.
I would like to begin by getting a better sense of the African Union’s role in peacekeeping. I know the African Union has led a handful of peacekeeping missions, such as the mission in Somalia. In both instances, the UN was involved to some degree, but I would like to get a better sense of the dynamic between the UN and the African Union when it comes to peacekeeping in Africa, and if the African Union is taking on a stronger leadership role in this regard.
Mr. Adeoye: Thank you, senator, for that very good question. Let me start with a concept. The African Union sees today that the concept of peacekeeping is obsolete. In some cases, you can say moribund. Why? We are looking at peace and security architecture that is informed by the UN Charter signed in San Francisco in 1945 that did not have the current context of Africa in mind — an architecture generation of peacekeepers where many countries on our continent, from Mali to Congo, and maybe next the Central African Republic, will say the UN has to leave because they do not see the value of peacekeeping in addressing their current challenges.
What does that do? It opens the doorway for mercenaries or private military companies, and for further aggravating the challenges on our continent.
We need a rethink, a reconceptualization, a review, a total overhaul of peacekeeping to a new generation of peace operations. These operations should be anchored on what we call peace enforcement. Peace enforcement is the kinetic way to address the challenges that we have.
Peace enforcement will not be in a vacuum. It is not that peacekeeping will be totally eliminated but, rather, recalibrated to show the need for an architecture that will be able to ensure the sovereign defence of territorial integrity of every Member State that is being attacked by non-state armed groups.
We want to continue to work with the United Nations. You know for sure about UN resolution 2719 which has just given the African Union and the UN to work together with 75% of the resources from the United Nations assessed contributions. I’m aware that Canada will be contributing to that when it has gone through the mill.
But really, we see a world — first, in A New Agenda for Peace, and in the Summit of the Future — where the UN has grand opportunities that can make a difference in seeing peace operations as operations that will be having two approaches.
First, it’s to help the state regain its sovereignty through kinetic means, meaning Canada and some other partners can provide us with the necessary offensive weapons. We cannot keep the peace where there is no peace agreement. We cannot keep the peace in the Sahel, in the Lake Chad Basin, with Boko Haram, or the Islamic State West Africa Province, or Al-Shabaab, both in Mozambique or in Somalia, without a peace agreement. The best way to go about it is for the state to be empowered and to become invested with the right capacities to make the difference happen.
I believe very strongly that we can work with Canada to make sure that peacekeeping is totally overhauled for the new generation of crises and conflicts we face. The difference will be to now approach it with the whole-of-society context where, yes, although you are fighting and countering terrorism more effectively, you are also speaking to the larger community to bring everybody on board — women and vulnerable groups — and to deradicalize and ensure the ideology of hate is transformed to the ideology of peace, as well as the culture of peace, reconciliation and harmony, and, of course, the inclusion that has led many of these youth to be fighting from the perspective of the ideology of hate.
The Chair: Thank you very much, ambassador. We went a little over time, and we didn’t get to part two, which I suppose, senator, you would like to put into round two.
Senator Ravalia: Thank you, Your Excellency — and your team — for being here.
With the African Union recently being granted full member status in the G20 in September 2023, I think there has been an acknowledgment of Africa’s increasing influence on the global stage. How do you envision this new status enhancing Africa’s voice and representation in international forums? What steps does the African Union intend to take to ensure the diverse perspectives and interests of Africa, and its nations, are effectively communicated for and advocated within the G20?
Mr. Adeoye: Thank you, senator. The African voice on the global stage is so critical. It is a reflection of Agenda 2063, which speaks to Aspiration 7: “. . . strong, united, resilient and influential global player and partner.” We are grateful that the G20, which includes Canada, unanimously welcomed the African Union in September 2023.
However, I must say to you, frankly, that we are not stopping there. It is a [Technical difficulties] platform, but it remains informal. Its outcomes and decisions are not legally binding on the rest of the world.
We see two areas moving forward with our agenda to change the global development security architecture: first, the Bretton Woods; and second, the United Nations Security Council. Africa must be fully represented in this, and a greater voice to complement what is happening with the G20. We welcome the G20 perfectly. We see it as the premier international economic grouping in the world, with a strong focus on our own coordination abilities to represent the 55 Member States, including South Africa, which is already a member of the G20. But the G20 alone will not solve our challenges. It will help. It will facilitate investment. It will help to shine a light on the African continent. But our goal is the total overhaul of the international system to make it more pro-African and to make it more presentable to our youth looking for greener pastures, where the greener pastures remain on our continent. We are blessed, and we know that, but the state of peace and security needs to be complemented with the investment that will make things happen.
I want to assure you that we welcome what is happening in the G20. We actively participate in its socio-economic activities and engagements. We see it as the first step toward that dramatic change for Africa. I must say that I commend the Canadian history with the G7, where in the early 2000s, you played a real role — through Kananaskis, Alberta — in shaping the partnership outlook and the engagement with Africa. We believe Canada should play a stronger role in the G20 in support of African aspirations, because our goal is inclusive growth and development. Overall, we need to look at development effectiveness. Aid is past. Africa needs investment in its people, who are uniquely an asset to making the transformation happen.
Senator Ravalia: Thank you.
Senator Cardozo: Welcome to our guests. I have two questions. The first is on behalf of Senator Amina Gerba, who is a major force on this committee and has been putting forward the idea for this study that we’re doing on Canada-Africa relations.
The second question is my question. I don’t know if that gives me twice the amount of time. I guess not.
The Chair: It doesn’t, but it sometimes works if you ask them both very quickly.
Senator Cardozo: Senator Gerba is a strong supporter of the work you do. The question is as follows: In carrying out your mandate to maintain and restore peace and security on the African continent, what are the main obstacles you encounter, and what important actions must be taken? Are these various, systemic, historical or cyclical?
My question, which is somewhat related, is this: Should Canada and the democratic West be concerned about the increasing presence of China and Russia in Africa?
Mr. Adeoye: Thank you very much. Let me start with the second question, which is very direct. Where there is a vacuum, others take advantage. China is contributing tremendously to Africa’s transformation through infrastructure development like no other. China has a viable partnership vehicle called the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, or FOCAC, which is regular, which engages with African leaders and which has made the difference in making things work. Many of our Member States see double standards from the democratic West, as you call it — a double standard over Ukraine and Russia, and a double standard over Israel and Gaza. So those double standards will not be easily transferred into stronger partnerships unless the sincerity — the openness — will matter.
I cannot speak for China and Russia, but what I can say categorically is that Africa needs all its friends, provided they come with clean hands and absorb our key priorities — the Seven Aspirations, and the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan. The African Union is already over 60 years old. Its Peace and Security Council organ is over 20 years old. It is a maturing continent and no longer in the days of the past. Africa’s age has come, and that age will leave our individual Member States to determine their friends.
What we see in Canada is a potential smart partner — a partner with no strings attached, and a partner that will help promote and consolidate democracy. That is what we need. What we are getting now from China is infrastructure development — a partnership that is win-win for many African countries. That is what Canada should do for us. Canada should not be in the mode of double standard.
The second question is about obstacles. That’s a very tough question.
The Chair: I’m going to interrupt because there isn’t enough time for the second question. If the senator agrees, that could be transferred to round two, assuming we have time.
Senator Coyle: Thank you for being with us, ambassador — you and your wonderful team.
I’m very curious to hear more about the issue of conflict prevention, and what you mean by conflict prevention, and what you’re doing about conflict prevention in general and then in particular regarding protecting children, girls and women. Could somebody please speak to that?
Mr. Adeoye: Thank you. I’ll be very brief on this because conflict prevention is what we desire, but we have not been able to obtain it in every case. We are using two mechanisms.
First, there is the Continental Early Warning System that we have set up, which works in some cases, but does not work in many cases, and then using the context of conflicts that we have seen. For example, in many of our African countries, elections have become another source of conflict. So we use preventive diplomacy to be able to address the issues before they become blown out. When we observe elections in countries where the elections are very competitive — from Zambia in 2021 — we begin to build up a system of robust response and deepening democracy through the various mechanisms we have.
We have set up these conflict prevention mechanisms. First, there is the Panel of the Wise, which dates back to the days of the old African Union, and which is still existing of five members — high-level African personalities, former heads of state, former foreign ministers — who intervene in countries where we see signs of fracture.
Second, we’ve created what is called FemWise-Africa, a dedicated platform of women mediators where they can intervene, and where the structure needs to be on the ground.
Third, just two years ago, we set up WiseYouth. We have the high-level Panel of the Wise, with men and women who have experience; we have the women’s group alone; and then we have WiseYouth.
These mechanisms need support. They need resources that can, of course, make a difference. In conflict prevention, we are investing our own resources. The Peace Fund has been established by the African Union — a $400-million endowment, where $388 million reached about a month ago. I believe with these resources we can also talk about African solutions to African problems, but we still need more support from our partners like Chad and Canada.
Senator Boniface: Thank you very much for being here. I think this is a great conversation.
I want to zero in on two points you made, particularly in your answer to the senator’s question around peacekeeping. You referred to peace enforcement. I’d like to understand that a little bit more.
The second question I have is this: You referred to the win-win partnership opportunities with Canada, and I’d like to know if you have priorities on those. What would the top three be?
Mr. Adeoye: Thank you, senator. Yes, peace enforcement in our terms just really means counterterrorism, counter-radicalization and kinetic response — what we call a robust response. Our heads of state met in Malabo in May 2022 and came up with three critical areas: robust response, deepening democracy at the same time and collective security. How do we achieve collective security from weakness? That would not be good for us because we’re dealing with nameless asymmetric warfare where you do not even know your enemy. It’s not easy to be fighting people in the vast area of the Lake Chad Basin or the Sahel with no uniform, and you don’t know where they stand. Today they’re in the marketplace, but tomorrow they’re in schools. So how do we build that resilience and capacity? That’s why we are going to meet later with the Minister of National Defence to work on how we can work through this.
As you know, the concept of peacekeeping is to keep the peace and not to be offensive, but these guys are not having any peace, and the idea is that our counterterrorism strategy is strong. We are working with Regional Economic Communities all across our continent, from the Southern African Development Community, or SADC, to the Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, and we believe that will make the difference.
The second point is about win-win opportunities. Yes, they are numerous, and I’m sure the chair will not give me enough time, but let me start quickly by saying critically —
The Chair: You’ve come to know me.
Mr. Adeoye: Critically, Canada has very good, very expansive goodwill on the African continent — people-to-people contact. All of us have families or friends there with generations. That should be tapped into. That is the win-win partnership I’m speaking to — a win-win partnership with no hidden agenda; a win-win partnership of respect and goodwill in the international system; and a win-win partnership that speaks to a democratic, stable country that can impact on the African continent. It’s the advantage of being Commonwealth and la Francophonie at the same time, and a huge economy, both G7 and G20. This is enormous.
For peace and security, we are grounded in mediation, preventive diplomacy and institutional capacity. Of course, when it comes to the peace operations, which I call peace enforcement, we don’t need Canadian troops on the ground. We are asking for Canadian resources in terms of defence materiel and equipment for such missions to do the fighting. At the same time, you will see results because we’re going to end up at the negotiating table. We’re going to end up making the difference happen.
So peacekeeping is just a cakewalk because it’s not winning the battle. We need to win the hearts and minds of the Africans who have been traumatized, especially children.
Let me quickly just mention the issue of child protection, which was asked before. It is our topmost priority. A platform has been set up of African ambassadors in Addis Ababa, where we mobilize against the six violations of the UN Security Council that have been stated there. Our greatest need is our African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, but, of course, many of our Member States need support in this area.
You know the cases of the Chibok girls in Nigeria who were kidnapped, and more needs to be done to protect schools through the process of the Safe Schools Declaration, and many of us have continued to work with this.
We have the norms, and we have the legal framework. In some cases, we need the resources, but basically we must prioritize these facts: mediation, institutional capacity and the peace support operations.
Senator Woo: Your Excellency, I was struck by your insistence on the indivisibility of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and particularly your focus on economic, social and cultural rights in addition to presumably political and civil rights; the latter is something that the so-called democratic West has tended to focus on.
Can you tell us a bit more about what it would mean for Canada to put more emphasis on economic, cultural and social rights?
Mr. Adeoye: Very good question, senator, because this is one weakness in the international support system — in the international body of human rights. We all focus on political and civil rights. Let me wear the hat of my country where we say, distinguished senators, we cannot eat democracy. Democracy cannot put food on the table alone. It first takes the food delivery. You need the manufacturing for food security. You need the production lines. You need investment.
The countries that are undemocratic — six of them — have been suspended by the African Union, not by the United Nations. The African Union does not, as we speak, allow any official interaction or participation of Sudan, Gabon, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. Six have been suspended for those political and civil rights that are being denied to them, for voting. But when they restore constitutionalism, and when they restore the rule of law, how can we make sure that democracy facilitates development? That’s why we talk about the nexus between peace, security and development. That is why economic, social and cultural rights remain our number one priority.
We cannot do without the fundamental freedoms. We cannot do without those basic political rights — the right to free assembly, the right to free speech, and the rights of journalists. But we must do more. We want Canada to join us in this. We really need to transform the human rights space, because for now, we see a lot of discrimination against this right. That is over 30 years old, and it’s a UN-recognized act.
We had a function in Geneva three months ago. Distinguished senators, we could not get any partner to support us. We went alone with the African Group. This right exists: the right to development, the right to clean air, and the right to fight against corruption. All these rights are also enshrined under the umbrella of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which turned 75 years old last year. Where are we? Why is it that it is only Africa that needs these rights? No, all of us need these rights. We accept those rights that are political in nature and civil, and we are challenging this to our civil society movement, and we have created a new movement that’s working with us called the pan-African movement for civil rights. We hope that they will be able to make a difference in ensuring that these rights get the right advocacy, but also get on the ground on our continent. Thank you.
The Chair: Thank you very much.
Senator MacDonald: Thank you, ambassador. Your remarks just segued into my question for you. You mentioned the six countries that were suspended from all African Union activities, and we certainly applaud that.
I am curious to know what specific roles the African Union is playing in responding to these crises in terms of helping to restore peace and security in those regions. The second question is this: Has the African Union Commission taken any strategic measures to prevent future coup attempts in other states in Africa?
Mr. Adeoye: Thank you so much. Certainly, the African Union has zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes of government, through military rule, or through use of mercenaries — through all the areas where we have defined what we call the Lomé Declaration and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. We have clear rules that were signed by these six countries, and for sure we will continue to promote and advocate for a swift return to democracy.
But here is the big question: How do we prevent that? It is through preventive diplomacy, making sure that elections are no longer so controversial that those who lose end up in the bush and start fighting to return to power — to ensure that when things are going wrong, through early warning, which we use to engage with the Member States, and to ensure that at the end of the day, democracy is stabilized.
Most critically, it is building strong, resilient institutions. We saw in Senegal where constitutionalism triumphed recently. The deed is to continue on that path where Africa is seen as a continent that respects and promotes constitutionalism, but they need strong institutions. I think it was former President Obama who said once that Africa does not need strong men; Africa needs strong institutions. And I believe he meant strong democratic institutions. Thank you.
Senator Richards: Thank you, sir, for being here. Following on Senator MacDonald’s questions, I know this is a question that can’t be specifically answered, but how do you accomplish that? How do you accomplish a kind of overview of peace and democracy when there are thousands and thousands of fighters in Africa who probably won’t pay attention to what you want to accomplish at the present moment? How do we do this on the ground?
I know the ideas that you have spoken and pontificated about here are wonderful, but how do you do that on the ground in places like Nigeria and other places where there is almost continual conflict?
Mr. Adeoye: A very good question, senator. We are doing so not alone. The African Union has various levels of engagement. The first is the Member States. The second layer is the Regional Economic Communities and regional mechanisms; there are 10 of them. The third is the African Union itself, and the fourth layer is partners like Canada.
How do we work, for example, for peace in Sudan? In three days, it will be exactly one year since the hostilities began. We are already working with the Gulf Arab states. We are working with the Regional Economic Community of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD. We are working with the United States and with Saudi Arabia, and we hope to work with Canada, if the will is there.
On the ground, we pool our resources together. Let me give you an example. With the Tigray process in Ethiopia after the brutal war, we did it with the United Nations, with the United States and with IGAD, on the ground in Pretoria for three weeks — a record for the signing of a peace agreement, and that peace agreement, as I speak, is holding. There has been 99% silence of the guns since that peace agreement. Regarding that peace agreement, after a bitter war where people said hundreds of thousands were killed, now we are promoting reconciliation. We are working on lessons learned. We are building the necessary monitoring, verification and compliance mechanisms. We have troops on the ground — civilian and military — monitoring the peace process. We are doing it with Member States. We have on the team Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya, plus the two former belligerents, the state — the government of Ethiopia — and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front.
So we can do this on the ground. And who bankrolled, senator, that peace process? The African Development Bank. A bank investing in the resolution of conflict.
We have the experience. For the past 20 years of the African Union, we have been able to demonstrate capacity in certain fields. We are building our own resources through the Peace Fund, like I mentioned. We need more complementary funds from partners like Canada.
Senator Richards: Thank you very much, sir. No one wishes you well better than I do, okay?
The Chair: Thank you, ambassador. I’m going to use my prerogative as the chair to ask a question as well.
Ambassador, in your remarks, you mentioned in passing the Commonwealth and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Both those organizations have benefited from Canadian membership since the start, and I think we’re the second-largest contributor to both in terms of membership dues, and I think our voluntary funds have also been in the top tier. But they go back to another period, and while they were useful in terms of the Commonwealth ending apartheid in South Africa — and in other initiatives — they do, of course, have a background that goes back to the colonial period.
Are these institutions still useful? Have they changed enough? As you move forward with a pan-African approach, can they change sufficiently to support your objectives?
Mr. Adeoye: Absolutely, chair. They remain useful for consultations, coordination and coherence of action in all we do on the continent.
As you referred to, the Commonwealth played a lead role in ending apartheid, and we see more in that global governance structure.
People talk of a new imagined order. I’ve always responded that any order that imagines that is not pro-African will not survive. Indeed, one of the vice-presidents of the World Bank at the time said that any business outfit today that doesn’t have an African strategy will not last.
Africa is a continent of the future. The same should be related to the Commonwealth and the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Both are governed by people, as we speak — at their leadership — of African descent. That is why it is so important for us to continue to engage more.
What I would like them to do is be more active at the international stage. I’m very pleased that the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie has taken an initiative on Haiti. The Commonwealth needs to work with us more. We are planning a joint training for youth in election observation. We need to see more activity. We need to see more of Canada with its voice in these two organizations, because I do not know of any super economy like Canada that has this dual, but really positive, identity.
The Chair: Thank you very much.
Senator M. Deacon: I think Senator Woo addressed it in one of his questions, so what I will ask at this moment, quite quickly — and you started to touch on it in a number of ways — is this: Where does Canada fit right now with the African Union if you were grading it and comparing it with other middle power countries, but, maybe more specifically, if you were the boss of foreign policy in Canada for Africa, where would you think our country is best placed to grow in our African Union relationship?
Mr. Adeoye: I wish we were. Seriously, Canada has the potential, the goodwill of the people-to-people contact and the diaspora. Thirty-five per cent of your population is from the diaspora, and I’m sure a huge chunk of that is African.
First, I believe you can help us invest in building a conflict-free Africa. How do you go about that? Doing things differently from the classical Western powers, if you follow your own path. I described to the ministers yesterday and today about the example of the Scandinavians. Chart your own course without deviating from your values.
As I said to the parliamentary secretary at Global Affairs this morning, look at the [Technical difficulties], and Canada will make a difference. Your identity is global, meaning it’s in sync with Africa.
Second, we share the same values of democracy. That’s why I just said in Canada today, you have all those six countries living here, working here, engaging with you, but they cannot participate in any African Union activity because they went undemocratic. We have shared values in democracy and protection of human rights.
Third, we share lessons. We have lessons that we can learn together given your role in the anti-apartheid struggle, supporting the African position, and supporting the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid strongly for decades until apartheid was uprooted. That is your global experience. Now we need global action together.
Thank you.
The Chair: Senator Cardozo, would you mind rereading Senator Gerba’s question?
Senator Cardozo: I’ll do a summary version.
If you could talk about the main obstacles to restoring peace and security that you find.
Mr. Adeoye: Number one is resources, but resources in the sense of not just financial but equipment.
Number two is we sometimes see the intransigence of the belligerents — the warring parties.
Number three is external interference. Some of our partner countries are not sincere. They play a double game. They pit one side against the other, and they exploit the resources of those countries. As you know very well, mercenaries do not get paid in cash. They get paid in minerals and in resources from the land.
Of course, we have our own issues on the continent without any [Technical difficulties], but these factors really relate to that. What are we doing to help build, for example, inclusive transitions? We’ve set up the Africa Facility to Support Inclusive Transitions with the United Nations Development Programme, and we know that our own Peace Fund will not be enough. We need to reach out to more, and I believe more could be done if we can get these things right.
The Chair: I would like to thank His Excellency Bankole Adeoye for his presentation today and for his openness to our questions. We had a very rich dialogue.
Ambassador, I thank you and your colleagues, Director Chiradza and Director Garba Abdou, for being here with us, and for undertaking the long journey from Africa. I think what you have given us will help our study immensely. We wish you continued success, luck, good meetings and a safe trip home.
(The committee adjourned.)