International Women’s Day

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

International Education 

Reflections on the 60th Anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

            Few people will doubt the value of education.  Many will recognize as well, in these days of expanding globalization and communications, the added value of international experience in education.  The chance to broaden one’s experience and outlook, exposure to concepts and ideas not easily found in the home country, immersion in another culture’s natural environment are all benefits to intellectual growth and experience.   

            For Canadian students, those opportunities exist but there are many barriers and challenges and the participation rate is very low, approximately 1%.  By contrast, in countries such as the United States, progressive policies have pushed the participation rate into the high 70% range.  A Canadian student faces tuition costs of as much as $35,000 in addition to high living costs in their host countries and a long administrative process before students get permission to enter a host country.   

            The benefits of international education demand some new approaches by government and more flexibility in funding.  A scholarship fund to which students could apply to cover the extra costs of living when on exchange would be highly beneficial.  Government could also work with other countries to streamline the visa process for exchange students who seek further education in other lands, or for those coming to study in Canada.  These approaches should not be regarded as costs, but rather investments in the future or Canada and the world.

Parliamentary Diplomacy 

            Canada’s role in the world, the policy pronouncements, negotiations and top-level meetings, has traditionally been defined by the government of the day.  Increasingly,  parliamentarians, including senators, are being called upon to play a greater part in fostering relationships and pursuing policy objectives with other countries.   

            The Senates of the United States and Australia, for example, are elected and have significant powers under their respective constitutions.  Recently, I welcomed to Fredericton and Canada the Speaker of the Senate of Australia, the Number Two official of that country, for discussions and relations began between our respective Prime Ministers earlier this year.  The President pro tempore of the Senate of the United States, Senator Ted Stevens,  interrupted a session of that body to welcome and present me and two other Canadian Senators to the assembled American legislators during a diplomatic mission to Washington.  Other foreign delegations we have welcomed have been from Tunisia, China, Russia and Afghanistan.   

            From these encounters and the resulting ties and friendships can flow understanding and accords beneficial to all.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights will be the first federal museum devoted to the topic of human rights in Canada, the first new national museum in more than 40 years, and the first to be situated outside the Ottawa area. Located in Winnipeg, close to the geographic centre of North America, the Museum is expected to become a centre of learning and history where Canadians and people from around the world will gain a greater understanding of the subject, reflect on the issues, and engage in dialogue. Such explorations of the human rights field may lead to action to ensure that human rights are better understood and are fully respected, both within Canada and elsewhere. Current plans for the Museum suggest that it will become an iconic symbol of Canada and a testament to the importance we place on human rights.

Speaker Kinsella in front of the Museum site in Winnipeg

Kim Jasper, the Director of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, and Speaker Kinsella