FAAE Committee Report

Questions about the relationship between Islam and the West have multiplied in recent years, and intensified in the two and one-half years since the terrible events of September 11, 2001. As the Committee was deciding to undertake a study of Canada’s relations with the countries of the Muslim world early in 2003, Canadian and international attention was dominated by the beginning of the war in Iraq. Our exploration has taken place during a tense, testing period in international relations and world politics.

The Committee’s public hearings in Canada and meetings in other countries have confirmed the complex nature of such an undertaking, given the need to avoid both stereotypes in analysis and simplistic “one size fits all” answers and recommendations. I believe it also shows that Members of Parliament from all political parties can come together to educate themselves about a complicated as well as challenging subject. We were able to reach consensus across party differences on solid recommendations that we believe will strengthen Canada’s overall foreign policy in this important area.

As the report makes clear, viewing relations between Muslim majority and Western countries through the lens of a “clash of civilizations” is both unhelpful and misleading. The same observation applies to perceptions that Islam is incompatible with certain liberal-democratic precepts that include equal rights for women and for religious minorities. Moreover, it is clear that the vast majority of the world’s Muslims condemn international terrorist violence, and that we must increase our shared cooperation against it.

In the pages that follow, the Committee attempts to establish a stronger framework for constructive Canadian policies toward the countries of the Muslim world in general, while also addressing relations with the specific countries we visited. We have made our best effort on what we fully recognize is an immensely complicated evolving agenda.

A study and report of this magnitude can only be carried out with the hard work and cooperation of all Committee members to whom I express my thanks. The Committee has also been very fortunate in the support given to it by dozens of public servants in Ottawa — particularly from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and the Canadian International Development Agency —  and particularly in the Canadian missions in the many countries we visited. These really are the people that represent Canada to the world, and they make us proud as they do so.

Last but not least, the Committee is fortunate in this and all our work to have the support of extremely capable staff. Appreciation is especially due to our Clerk, Stephen Knowles, assisted by Elizabeth Kingston and the support team of Diane Lafleur, Diane Lefebvre and Eveline Shaw from the Committee’s Directorate of the House of Commons. The Committee is also grateful for the long hours devoted to the study and the report’s preparation by its principal research staff from the Parliamentary Research Branch of the Library of Parliament, notably Dr. Gerald Schmitz and James Lee, with additional assistance by Michael Dewing. The production and editorial services provided by the Publications Services of the House of Commons and the dedication of the Translation Bureau were also instrumental and much appreciated.

It has been an exemplary collaboration yielding an impressive result that I am confident will make a valuable contribution to the development of Canadian foreign policy for years to come.

Bernard Patry
Chair