Apparently there is no rice shortage in Canada yet, but we will likely soon feel ripple effects of the rise in food prices. As fuel costs and other factors keep pushing prices higher, the food crisis could hit Canada - bread companies have already said they will raise their prices as the cost of grain has decreased their profits. All the more reason to be upset that Canada has demonstrated “essentially no global leadership” in addressing the crisis? According to Jeffrey Sachs, a special advisor to the UN and famous economist — if that’s not an oxymoron — we “don’t see the ambition of the Canadian people manifested in Canada’s policies right now.”

In other news, the Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan, Arif Lalani, managed not to get blown up during a parade on Sunday. The “audacious attack” by the Taliban was directed at Afghan president Hamid Karzai. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier was quick to state that, as seems logical, we won’t offer less military support to the Afghan people just because there was another attack - this one killing at least six people.

More happily, the Globe and Mail has been working hard over the last week to get people thinking about whether or not our ambitions truly are manifesting in our policies. First, globeandmail.com was kind enough to organize and host a Q&A on our Rising Powers theme - check it out if you haven’t already. And Tom Kent’s piece ‘Canada is much more than a hotel‘ appeared over the weekend, with obvious connections to our Diversity Matters theme. You can carry on either of these conversations in the forums on our website.

Photo from flickr user Walt Jabsco.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, US President George Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderón talked trade this week at what has cleverly (note the sarcasm) been dubbed the Three Amigos Summit. The Three Amigos gave three cheers to NAFTA, touting the success of the fourteen-year-old deal and responding to calls from the business community for an affirmation of support for free trade in the face of mixed opinions on the issue. Bush in particular sang NAFTA’s praises, underlining his opposition to presidential hopefuls Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and even the Republican candidate John McCain, none of whom has been the champion of NAFTA that Bush has been in his two terms in office.

L’ALENA était au coeur des discussions pendant le rencontre annuel des chefs d’etats nord-américains, bien que ce sujet ne figurait pas à l’ordre du jour. Les trois leaders ont vanté les merites de l’Accord de libre-échange, pendant que le Premier Ministre Stephen Harper a declaré qu’il serait prêt à negocier si un futur président americain avait l’intention de rouvrir l’Accord. D’ailleurs, le Canada serait dans une bonne position pendant ces négotiations, en raison de la dépendance des États-Unis aux ressources énergétiques canadiennes — le Canada est le plus grand fournisseur étranger d’énergie du marché américain. Ce qui soulève la question - quels sont les coûts potentiels qui pourraient nous être imposés si l’économie des États-unis continue à ralentir très vite? Et qu’est-ce que le Canada doit faire pour répondre?

Prime Minister Harper had his own message to send at the summit: congestion at the Canada-U.S. border sucks. What’s more, the border is ‘thickening’ as security screenings slow down the flow of people and goods. What the Prime Minister wants is simple: let the $1 trillion dollars of goods that cross that border every year so so in a quick, easy way. This meeting didn’t lead to any major commitments to making that happen, perhaps in part because US-Mexico border issues complicate negotiations and take attention away from us.

Is this yet another reason to unhitch our wagon from the Americans? Not so, argues Marcus Gee in a Canada’s World sponsored globeandmail.com debate - the United States is still the only real option in terms of a major trade and security partner for us. In today’s contribution to the debate, Gordon Smith offers a dissenting opinion - Canada should be an advocate for new economic powers China and India, and should help these countries become members of the G8. We want to know what you think - deeper integration with the US? Looking east instead of south? Or something completely different. Let us know in the conversation forums on our website.

Image from the blog bushlolz.wordpress.com.

Vancouverites. A fascinating group of people. When asked why they came to the session, the majority of the group sounded interested and optimistic about Canada’s role in the world or the dialogue process, but in true Vancouver fashion, most of the group walked through the doors on 7 March were determined not to let that enthusiasm show.

As a Vancouverite myself, I can’t say I blame the participants. They were all randomly contacted by the polling group Environics- yes, telemarketing at its finest. Not only did all the participants in our regional dialogues stay on the phone with a polling station long enough to hear what we were doing, but actually agreed to come out and spend their weekends talking about Canadian international policy with a group of complete strangers! (For two of our Vancouver participants, this meant coming all the way down from Whitehorse.)

I think it’s safe to say that any initial scepticism is completely forgivable.

Luckily, the group dove into discussion right away, and I was thrilled with a diversity of opinions that I sometimes feel cheated out of- in my sheltered, university life.

After months of research, consultations, writing, reviewing and re-writing our nine “New Realities” to capture the major issues, tensions and debates concerning the topics, the participants in the group for which I took notes (Rising Powers) decided the idea of focusing extra attention on rising international powers didn’t suit their visions for Canada’s role in the world, and had great discussion on the export and uses of Canadian resources, aid and Canada’s inferiority complex.

Defining their shared Values as autonomy, independence, self –determination, integrity, equity, democracy, and participatory process and Interests as multiple bottom lines (reducing the weight of GDP as the primary indicator of progress), free global markets, equity, narrow gap between haves and have-nots, environmental health and protection, the group explored an outlook for Canada which places less emphasis on positioning itself in relation to the US, China or India, and realises it’s own potential as a “rising power.”

Echoing the sentiments of the other two discussion groups at the session (Climate Change and Diversity Matters), participants in the “Rising Powers” group strongly believed that Canada needs to be less timid on the world state and use leveraging power drawn from its positive image and abundance of natural resources to assert its position as a global leader, instead of following the lead of the US or other countries.

The group was also conscious of the effects of Canada’s inability to resolve domestic issues, especially the creation of a strong energy policy and foreign ownership over natural resources.

Although there were major differences in opinions within the group, participants steered contentious issues towards areas with more widespread agreement, which led directly into the conclusion that they believed Canada needs to exercise its capacity to become a strong, moral leader in international politics.

More information on the regional dialogue process can be found here. To join the participants of the Vancouver dialogue in the conversations on Climate Change, Rising Powers or Diversity Matters, visit the Canada’s World Online Forum.

The prime minister of Haiti, Jacques Edouard Alexis, was dismissed this weekend in response to rising food prices that have sparked riots in the capital Port-au-Prince and elsewhere. Haitian president Rene Preval also announced a plan to lower the price of a 23-kilogram bag of rice from $51 to $43, thanks to a subsidy provided by international donors and the Haitian business community.

Après la semaine d’émeutes, qui ont fait au moins six morts - incluant un militaire de l’ONU - et plus de 200 blessés, la Banque mondiale a décidé d’octroyer une aide de 10 millions de dollars à Haïti. But if the World Food Programme cannot meet its goal of 96 million dollars in food aid to Haiti this year, activists predict the crisis will only deepen.

Haiti is not alone in experiencing a food crisis - food prices have risen about 40% around the world since mid-2007. As of December last year, there were 37 countries facing food crises and 20 that had imposed food price controls of some kind. En mars, le Programme alimentaire mondial a lancé un appel pour récolter 500 millions de dollars supplémentaires pour combattre la crise. Plus de la moitié des 500 millions de dollars ont jusqu’à maintenant été amassés, mais ce n’est toutefois pas suffisant.

Why is this crisis happening? According to the Globe and Mail, causes include a swelling global population, soaring energy prices, the clamouring for meat from the rising Asian middle class, competition from biofuels and hot money pouring into the commodity markets.

And what is Canada doing about it? The head of the World Food Program says other countries should follow our lead. In Haiti, which is Canada’s most important long-term development assistance beneficiary in the Americas and the second largest in the world (after Afghanistan), Canada has a $10 million commitment to working with the World Food Programme to provide food to primary school children. De 2006-2011, le gouvernement de Canada versera 520 millions de dollars pour appuyer la réforme à long terme ainsi que les efforts de reconstruction.

Que pensez-vous de notre présence en Haïti? Ajoutez vos opinions à nos forums de discussion. What do you think about Canada’s presence in Haiti? You can find different perspectives on our involvement here and here. And share your own opinion with us in our online conversation.

Photos from flickr user Guille.

CBC complains to Chinese ambassador after broadcaster’s websites blocked. Access in China to CBC’s French-language website Radio-Canada.ca has been blocked for six months, while access to the English site CBC.ca has been cut off since January.

PM Harper visits Poland. He meets with Lech Walensa, and visits Auschwitz. Ties between Poland and Canada are important - there are 800,000 Canadians who claim Polish origin, and Poland’s donation of helicopters was crucial to Canada’s decision to extend the mission in Afghanistan. At a summit in Bucharest on the same trip, NATO answers the Prime Minister’s call for more troops

La prison et 200 coups de fouet pour un Canadien arrete en Arabie saoudite. Sultan Kohail, 17 ans, écope d’un an de prison et de 200 coups de fouet pour son implication dans le meurtre d’un homme de 19 ans lors d’une bagarre dans une cour d’école. Son frère Mohamed a été condamné à la décapitation en public. Les frères Kohail sont citoyens canadiens depuis 2005. Ils vivaient à Montréal, mais étaient de passage en Arabie saoudite pour un mariage, au moment des faits. En 2007, l’Arabie saoudite a condamné 158 personnes à mort, dont 76 étrangers.