McLeod Group blog by Betty Plewes, October 30, 2018

In July, I received a frantic email from a Ugandan colleague who was coming to Canada to present a paper at the International Conference of Agricultural Economists in Vancouver. Both of her research associates, one from Ethiopia and one from Nigeria, had been refused a Canadian visa needed to attend the conference. Could I help?

They had received identical rejection letters stating that the visa officer was not satisfied that they would leave ...

McLeod Group guest blog by Ian Smillie, October 23, 2018

Every five years or so, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducts a “peer review” of its members’ development assistance programs. This year, it was Canada’s turn again, and the OECD report card was, as it almost always is, generally positive and constructive in its gentle criticism.

There was polite applause. The McLeod Group wrote, “Overall, the report gave Canada good marks for adopting ...

McLeod Group blog by Stéphanie Bacher, October 11, 2018.

We often hear about Canada urging other countries to respect human rights, most recently Saudi Arabia. But other countries also make recommendations to the Canadian government in order to help Canada improve its human rights situation at home and abroad.

This year, it was Canada’s turn to undergo an assessment called the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the Human Rights Council in Geneva. At the review, other countries made a total of ...

McLeod Group blog, September 24, 2018 

Medical advances in public health, notably in the realm of vaccinations, have transformed the life expectancy of people in all parts of the world. They have also vastly improved the quality of life: less blindness, less deafness, less brain damage, and fewer other crippling effects from contagious diseases such as measles. Even the poorest countries in the world have invested “blood and treasure” in vaccination campaigns.

Thus, it was no surprise that “vaccines for all” was ...

McLeod Group blog by Hunter McGill and Stephen Brown, September 18, 2018

Every five years or so, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) conducts a “peer review” of the countries that belong to its Development Assistance Committee (DAC). This year was Canada’s turn and the report has just been released. What did Canada’s peers have to say about Canadian development cooperation?

The aims of peer review are to examine critically a country’s development cooperation policies and programs, ...

McLeod Group guest blog by Marc-André Anzueto, September 17, 2018 

“How shall we behave in a world we no longer dominate?” Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland recently asked, referring to liberal democracies. Beyond the famous catchphrase “Canada is back”, the Trudeau government has remained vague on the ways Canada is going to face the crisis of the international liberal order. Following Canada’s current foreign policy priorities, the ongoing diplomatic feud with Saudi Arabia provides an occasion for Canada ...

McLeod Group blog by Stephen Brown and Hunter McGill, September 4, 2018

Ten years ago, the Canadian parliament unanimously passed the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act, following years of intensive lobbying by Canadian civil society organizations. Prior to 2008, Canada had not had any legislation setting out the parameters for its foreign aid. On the law’s tenth anniversary and as the Trudeau government prepares its legislative agenda for its last year before seeking re-election, the time is ripe ...

McLeod Group Blog, July 23, 2018

Corporate culture experts will tell you, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Making Global Affairs Canada fit for purpose to deliver on its Feminist International Assistance Policy (FIAP) is only partly addressed by ensuring that systems and work practices are up to date, and that staff have the necessary knowledge and skills. Any dissonance in culture among the international development, diplomacy and trade staff also needs to be articulated and addressed.

Culture tells you what is ...

McLeod Group guest blog by Roy Culpeper, June 19, 2018

I first met Gerry Helleiner as a young professor, when I was an undergraduate at the University of Toronto in the late 1960s. He was teaching a course on the role of international trade and investment in economic development – for good or ill. His teaching focused on the practical: on how and why developing economies actually worked (or didn’t work well), and what sorts of international and domestic policies facilitate ...

McLeod Group Blog, June 15, 2018

As expected, Donald Trump played the role of the skunk at the G7 picnic in Charlevoix, in keeping with the pattern he has established since becoming US president. Once the media frisson of excitement has passed, what will there be to show for the major investment by Canada in organizing and hosting the 2018 G7 summit? Although the meeting did not lead to major achievements on trade and security, progress was made on gender equality, ...