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Op-Ed
Excellent Signals in the Mexico-Canada Relationship
“Mexico matters to Canada and my government will work closely with the government of Felipe Calderón” was the message Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent when he went to Mexico on December 1 to attend Calderón’s inauguration ceremony.
This should not come as a surprise given the momentum that the Canada-Mexico relationship is living and the remarkable parallels in the agendas of the two governments around the need to develop the conditions for economic competitiveness, ensure equality in the provision of public services such as health, and reduce crime; not to mention the emphasis both leaders have placed on government transparency and accountability and on the need to ensure access to the US market. The visit-the second he pays to Mexico this year and which undoubtedly positions Mexico as a priority of foreign policy for the Harper government-reciprocated the visit Calderón paid to Canada as President-elect in late October.
That first encounter between Harper and Calderón in Ottawa served to establish personal contact between the two leaders; something important to demonstrate the political will to maintain and enhance the momentum created in the relationship in recent years and to further strengthen ties between the two countries. It also enabled the two leaders to exchange views on their respective foreign policy agendas, as well as on the main areas of interest within the bilateral relationship.
Without doubt, leadership and direction at the highest level are desirable and necessary conditions for the relationship to achieve its full potential; but support from below and from a variety of sectors of society is also key to ensure the achievement of results. Almost imperceptible in Canada, Calderón’s visit to Ottawa coincided with the 14th bilateral Parliamentary meeting and a meeting of the Canada-Mexico Partnership (CMP)-a framework, established in 2004, composed of ad hoc working groups between private and public stakeholders with the purpose of identifying opportunities and setting objectives to strengthen the strategic relationship bilateral relationship.
At the end of the inter-parliamentary meeting, legislators from both countries pledged to work on environmental issues, technology transfers, trade and schemes for managed migration. They also agreed to propose their US counterparts the establishment of trilateral parliamentary discussions on themes that could have regional impact. But more importantly, legislators demonstrated that the different parties represented in both legislatures agree to work toward the expansion and intensification of exchanges between the two countries. For its part, the CMP meeting served to assess developments in the areas of competitiveness (including the goal of increasing trade by 50% by 2010), energy, housing, human capital development and agri-foods, and to potentially identify new areas of interest to be included under this framework.
Hence, those who have seen these visits exclusively as polite-yet symbolic-gestures have failed to perceive that in fact they are excellent signals in the bilateral relationship regarding the commitment to ensure continuity in the work undertaken under the CMP thus far; as first steps to map new areas of common interest and to set goals and strategies in response to the new domestic priorities of both governments (including security, energy and migration); and to better understand the challenges faced by each with respect to relations with the US.
Mexico is one of our most important trading partners and an important political ally in multilateral fora; political and social exchanges have increased since the signature of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and are likely to grow in the future. The challenge for us is to further build up on the successes achieved thus far in the relationship. Doing so requires that we are able not only to capture the essence of the relationship and that it becomes more visible to the general public, but also that we dare to imagine what we want from this relationship in the future.
This is indeed a strategic relationship and we should maximize its potential.
Olga Abizaid is Senior Analyst at FOCAL.