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| Former prime minister Joe Clark June 22, 2009. Clark says Canada needs to renew a Foreign Affairs tradition that once had broader goals. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick/ file |
ANTIGONISH, N.S. - Former prime minister Joe Clark says Canada needs to renew a Foreign Affairs tradition that once had broader goals.
In a speech in Nova Scotia on Thursday night, Clark said that former tradition focused less on private trade issues and military concerns. The former Conservative leader took a shot at the current Tory regime, calling it "a private-interest party in a public-interest country."
Clark praised the Tory government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper for rescuing the country’s neglected Armed Forces during the speech at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish.
But he warned that Canada’s diplomatic and development resources are being depleted.
"To the Harper government’s credit, Canada has significantly increased defence spending, arguing that for too long we had let other countries carry an increasing share of our defence burden," said Clark.
"But understand this: our diplomatic and development resources are being run down now, as steadily and as certainly as our defence resources were run down then."
Clark said the larger moral causes will best serve our country in the future.
"The serious pursuit of those larger issues reinforces significantly our capacity to make progress internationally on our domestic agenda," said Clark.
"The more respected we are in the world, the more effective we can be in advancing our national interests."
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