On Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015, the Right Honourable Joe Clark presented the annual Winegard Lecture to a full Rozanski lecture hall. Clark served as the 16th prime minister of Canada, from 1979 to 1980. Clark also served as the Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1984 to 1991.
Though the lecture primarily focused on Canada’s shifting role from a superpower to a middle power, Clark also touched on the terrorist events of Nov. 13, 2015 in Paris, as well as their implications for refugees coming to Canada.
The focus of the annual lecture centred on international development was entitled “Leading from Beside” and examined Canada’s future role, as the superpowers of the world begin to shift.
Clark argued that, as a middle power, Canada has a new responsibility to mediate conflicts and foster compromise amongst foreign nations. Clark further explained that Canada has a greater ability to act as a mediator. These abilities will put Canada at an advantage, as opposed to the United States, whose movements on the international front would be subject to criticism.
“It is not who sits at the table, but what who sits at the table can accomplish together,” said Clark.
Clark also spoke to the rise of non-state actors—organizations outside of national governments—in influencing international policy. He referenced non-governmental organizations, like Greenpeace and the Bill Gates Foundation, claiming that these institutions possess an ever greater influence on international legislature. Clark also commented on the growing voice that terrorist groups, like ISIL, are acquiring to influence policy reforms.
At the end of his speech, Clark took the time to address the Nov. 13, 2015 Paris attacks, offering words of hope to the audience. He commented on the fear that Canadians have experienced as a result of the Paris attacks, and said that, however justified this fear is, it should not inhibit the Canadian public’s capacity for openness to refugees. This is not the first refugee crisis that Clark has witnessed. During his political career, he was part of the group tasked with resettling over 100,000 Vietnamese boatpeople, following the Vietnam War. Clark compared the modern fear of ISIL personnel entering Canada as refugees to the fear that Canadians expressed at the possibility of radical communists entering Canada, at the time.
However, Clark stated that, to his knowledge, none of the Vietnamese refugees who were offered asylum have been charged with terrorism to this day.
In addition to students and members of the public who attended the lecture, present were newly-elected MP for Gueph Lloyd Longfield, MP of Wellington-Halton Hills, Michael Chong, Mayor of Guelph, Cam Guthrie, and Dr. William Winegard, a sponsor of the annual event.
Clark offered words of encouragement for Longfield and Chong, asking them not to allow party differences to suppress communication concerning refugees settling in their respective ridings.
Clark’s connection to Winegard stems from their shared time in office together. Winegard was a Chair for the Standing Committee on External Affairs and International Trade.
In his speech, Clark referred to Winegard as a friend and mentor, jokingly calling him a slacker and remarking, “I noticed two or three things here that are not named after you.”
Clark finished his address by appealing to the personal histories of those in the audience with a call for compassion:
“That widespread Canadian experience, the experience of so many of our own families in recent or distant generations, vests us with an authority to embrace, comfort, respect and include Canadian Muslims and others who feel they are outsiders in our common country.”