Foreign Fields

Foreign Fields is a 45-minute documentary hosted by Kevin Newman and produced by Global TV in conjunction with the Dominion Institute. It examines the apparent decline in Canada's international influence and explores different visions for renewing the nation's role in global affairs. This is a very worthwhile video to screen at branch meetings as a prelude to discussion.

The programme is fast paced with a mixture of commentary, interviews and historical footage. Eminent persons interviewed include Canadians Michael Ignatieff, Barbara MacDougal, David Bercuson, Lloyd Axworthy, Romeo Dallaire, Stephen Lewis, the American James Baker, and the Brit Douglas Hurd. The period surveyed spans from the heady days of Canada's contribution to the solution of the Suez crisis in 1956 to the cancellation of the helicopter programme and cuts to foreign aid under Jean Chretien in the 1990's.

Various perspectives are given (and more questions raised than answered) regarding the way Canadians view themselves as peacekeepers, our relations with the U.S. and the U.N., the size of our miltary and foreign aid budgets and our overall foreign policy aims and objectives.

Michael Ignatieff says that deciding to spend money on ourselves rather than the world is a respectable choice for Canadians, but if we do decide that influence is important, we have to come up not only with good ideas, but with money to implement them.

The most significant moment in the film for me is the interview with Romeo Dallaire when he says we should beef up our military but send our troops to the Congo, not Afghanistan, because Africa is where Canada can make the most difference.

As pressure mounts on Canadians to join the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defence System, decision time is near once again. Can we reconcile involvement in this project with our stated opposition to the weaponization of space? World Federalists argue that our security will be better served by the evolution of international law, the development of multilateral institutions, and more effective humanitarian interventions than by participation in a venture that could well spark an arms race in space.

This video gives us good background on what Canada has done in the past and provides a springboard for a more informed debate on what we should do in the future.

For information on ordering the video, contact The Dominion Institute.

- Larry Kazdan