During his upcoming nine days in Mexico, Peru and Guatemala, Johnston won’t be announcing any agreements, negotiating any deals or unveiling any of the so-called “deliverables” cabinet ministers or the prime minister partake of on such visits.
Instead, he’ll be engaged in “soft diplomacy,” quietly advancing Canadian priorities – in trade, security, education and innovation.
While his glamorous and outspoken predecessors, Michaelle Jean and Adrienne Clarkson, regularly captivated Canadians with their vice-regal jaunts around the globe, the comparatively quiet, grandfatherly academic insists his efforts are paying off.
“The thing I think is most important about these visits is how they reinforce the work of our own diplomats in the host country, who work very, very hard on day-to-day relationships and major agreements,” Johnston said in an exclusive interview with Postmedia News prior to his Thursday departure.
“(They) often find their work is very considerably advanced when a senior representative of the government of Canada is there to move things along and reinforce some of the good things that are occurring, and to identify some of the more difficult issues that perhaps we are not getting at in quite the way we should.”
Each Governor General comes to office with a plan, Johnston noted, and his involves creating a more intelligent and caring nation through support for families and children, learning and innovation, and philanthropy and volunteerism. He believes his message is resonating both domestically and abroad.
For instance, he was “absolutely thunderstruck” and “moved to tears” earlier this week when, during a Grey Cup brunch at the posh Royal York Hotel in Toronto, master of ceremonies and sports journalist Michael Landsberg opened his speech with a tale of his battle with mental illness, an issue Johnston and his family wish to bring out into the open.
At the same event, former football player and commentator Chris Schultz noted the “pinnacle” of his career was the moment he started caring about the needy instead of his resume, while Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi spoke of donating his weight in dollars to the local food bank since his team lost Sunday’s game.
“It’s amazing how, out of a sporting venue, came this very fundamental set of Canadian values, that we care for our neighbours – and that for me was very heartening,” Johnston said.
Johnston also credits diplomatic discussions and his visit to Brazil last spring, accompanied by a delegation of 30 university presidents, for making Canada the second-largest beneficiary of a new Brazilian initiative to send 75,000 of that country’s young minds abroad to study.
A recent Canadian Press report cited internal research that found Canada was failing to attract top students from emerging markets like Brazil. Johnston noted Canada was not initially among the five countries Brazil has chosen for the “first tier” of its “students beyond borders” initiative.
But eventually “we arrived at a situation where Canada would be second only to the U.S. in numbers of students in the first tier.” Canada now welcomes 12,000 young Brazilians through the program.
The objectives of his latest trip to Central and South America are myriad. In Mexico, he’ll witness the inauguration of president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto, tour a Bombardier operation and give a seminar at the Monterrey Institute of Technology — the “MIT of the South.” With 1.8 million Canadians having visited Mexico last year, another 50,000 now residing there permanently and 2,600 Canadian businesses established there, he’ll be looking to reinforce and expand the relationship with Canada’s third-largest trade partner.
As for Peru, Johnston will be the first Canadian Governor General to visit the country, which supported Canada’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership and its bid to join the Pacific Alliance as an observer. Peru has also become Canada’s second-largest trading partner in Central and South America since a free-trade deal between the two countries took effect in 2009.
Johnston’s visit comes on the heels of a trade mission led by Diane Ablonczy, the minister of state for foreign affairs. He suggested Canada’s relationship with Peru is where its relationship with Mexico was 10 to 15 years ago, and his visit is meant to help expand the partnership.
“Their rate of growth has been very rapid and Canadian mining interests are particularly welcomed there and particularly prominent, so I’ll be spending some time focusing on that with a view to mining Canadian-style. And mining Canadian-style puts a high degree of emphasis on corporate social responsibility, where I think we stand among the leaders,” Johnston said.
During his visit to Guatemala, a major transit point for illegal drugs passing from Central to North America, Johnston will focus on efforts to combat organized crime and boost policing and judicial institutions.
His visit comes as Mexicans take to the streets in Ottawa Wednesday to protest “electoral fraud” and the “lack of democracy ” in Mexico, according to a statement by organizers who say the last election was unfair. Their protest coincides with a visit to Ottawa by Mexico’s incoming president.
They also want Canada to stop deporting Mexicans to the violence-plagued country and are asking Canada not to list Mexico as “safe” under new immigration laws aimed at speeding up the deportation of failed asylum claimants.
According to a CBC report, a group of Guatemalans is also in Toronto this week suing a Canadian mining firm. They allege the company was responsible for a series of rapes and murders in their community.
During his visit to Central and South America, Johnston will be accompanied by his wife Sharon, MPs from each major political party, and representatives from associations representing colleges and university administrators, development groups, manufacturers and exporters, prospectors and the courts.
Original Article
Source: canada.com
Author: Tobi Cohen
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