Canada in the World, 1982–2000: Peacekeeping, Human Rights and Aid

A new world, a new role?

When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, many people hoped the world would become more peaceful. Instead, the 1990s brought brutal wars inside countries, in places like the former Yugoslavia, Somalia and Rwanda.

Canadians were proud of their reputation as peacekeepers, which had begun with Lester Pearson's idea of a UN Emergency Force in 1956 (Unit D). But in the 1990s, Canadian soldiers were often sent into situations where there was no peace to keep. This lesson asks: how did Canada take part in the world after 1982, and was it the peacekeeping nation it believed itself to be?

Standing up to apartheid

In South Africa, the apartheid system denied Black South Africans basic rights. In the mid-1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney pushed the Commonwealth to impose economic sanctions, even though the leaders of the United Kingdom and the United States, Canada's closest allies, opposed them. Canada imposed its own sanctions.

After Nelson Mandela was freed in 1990, he visited Canada and spoke to Parliament, thanking Canadians for their support. Canada later made him an honorary citizen (2001). Many Canadian students, churches and unions had also campaigned against apartheid, for example by pushing universities to sell investments in South Africa.

Famine and aid

In 1984–1985, a devastating famine in Ethiopia shocked Canadians who saw it on the television news. Canadians donated generously, and Canadian musicians recorded the song "Tears Are Not Enough" (1985) to raise money. The Canadian government greatly increased food aid.

Canada's development aid was managed for many years by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), created in 1968. In 1969, a commission led by Lester Pearson had urged wealthy countries to give 0.7% of their national income in aid. Canada never reached that target: its aid was about 0.5% in the late 1980s but fell to about 0.25% around 2000, as governments cut spending to reduce deficits. Canadian non-governmental organizations (NGOs), such as the Canadian Red Cross, Oxfam Canada and many faith-based groups, also played a major role.

The Gulf War (1991)

In August 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. The UN Security Council authorized member states to use force if Iraq did not withdraw. Canada joined the U.S.-led coalition with warships and CF-18 fighter jets. It was the first time since the Korean War that Canadian forces took part in a combat operation. The war ended in February 1991 with Iraq's forces driven out of Kuwait.

The difficult 1990s: Somalia, Bosnia and Rwanda

Somalia (1992–1993). Canadian troops of the Canadian Airborne Regiment joined a UN-approved mission to protect food aid in Somalia, where civil war had caused famine. In March 1993, a Somali teenager named Shidane Arone was killed while being held by Canadian soldiers. This, and later attempts to cover up information, became known as the Somalia Affair. An inquiry was held, and the government disbanded the Airborne Regiment in 1995. The scandal badly damaged the military's reputation.

Bosnia and Croatia (1992–1995). As Yugoslavia broke apart, Canadian soldiers served with the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR). In September 1993, at the Medak Pocket in Croatia, Canadian troops came under fire while trying to enforce a UN agreement and fought Croatian forces; they then documented the destruction of Serb villages. For years their story was not well known; in 2002 the unit received a Commander-in-Chief Unit Commendation. In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces murdered about 8 000 Bosniak men and boys at Srebrenica, a town the UN had declared a "safe area" (Lesson 7).

Rwanda (1994). Canadian Major-General Roméo Dallaire commanded the small UN mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR). In January 1994 he warned UN headquarters of plans for mass killings, but he was not given permission or resources to act. From April to July 1994, about 800 000 or more people, most of them Tutsi, were murdered in about 100 days. Dallaire and his soldiers saved thousands of lives but could not stop the genocide. He later described these events in his book Shake Hands with the Devil (2003), spoke openly about his own post-traumatic stress, and served in the Senate (2005–2014), where he advocated for veterans and against the use of child soldiers.

Human security: Canada's new approach

In the late 1990s, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy promoted human security: protecting people, not just borders.

• The Ottawa Treaty (1997): Canada led a campaign, together with NGOs, to ban anti-personnel landmines, which kill and injure civilians long after wars end. The treaty was signed in Ottawa in December 1997 by more than 120 countries.
• The International Criminal Court: Canadian diplomat Philippe Kirsch chaired the main negotiating committee at the 1998 Rome conference that created the court, and became its first president in 2003. Canadian judge Louise Arbour served as chief prosecutor of the UN tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (1996–1999) and later as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• Kosovo (1999): Canada took part in a NATO air campaign to stop attacks on Kosovo Albanians by Serbian forces. It was controversial because the UN Security Council had not authorized it.
• The Responsibility to Protect (2001): a commission sponsored by Canada argued that when a government fails to protect its people from genocide and mass atrocities, the international community has a responsibility to act. The UN endorsed the idea in 2005.