- Canada and Israel begin formal bilateral free trade talks.
March 9, 1995
- The Canadian Navy, following repeated violations of territorial waters and international fishing agreements by European Union fishing vessels, boards and arrests the crew of the Spanish trawler Estai. This act became known as the "Turbot War". Canada claimed that European Union factory fishing trawlers were illegally over fishing the nose and tail of the Grand Banks, just outside Canada's declared 200 nautical mile (370 km) Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Brian Tobin, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, calls a press conference in New York where the illegal net employed by the Estai is displayed, thereby shaming the EU.
April 1995
- The Liberal government launches a major review of Canada's foreign policy. The result, "Canada in the World" sets out three major foreign policy pillars:
• The protection of Canadian security within a stable global framework,
• The promotion of prosperity and employment
• The promotion of Canadian values and culture.
Development Aid remains a part of general foreign and economic policy, however, the first Liberal federal budget (February 1994) slashes spending on foreign aid by 20.5 per cent over 3 years.
June 15-17, 1995
- G7 Summit is held in Seattle.
September 4-15 1995
January 1996 - October 2000
- Lloyd Axworthy's term as Foreign Minister of Canada. Minister Axworthy's major initiatives included support for the establishment of the International Criminal Court, leadership in the international campaign to ban landmines, and systematic promotion of the concept of human security and the responsibility to protect.
September 1996- Establishment of the
Arctic Council, as a result of a political declaration signed in Ottawa by representatives of the governments of Canada, Denmark/Greenland/Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, and the United States of America.
The Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization in Singapore leads to an
agreement on core labour standards, with the statement that these will not be used for protectionist purposes.
October 1996- As an alternative track to the failed UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW), Minister Axworthy launches the
Ottawa Process to breathe new life into the international movement to ban anti-personnel (AP) landmines. Canada announced an immediate moratorium on the use, production, trade or export of anti-personnel mines.
December 1996
- Canada contributes to the establishment of
SHIRBRIG - The Multinational Stand-By High Readiness Brigade for United Nations Operations - a multinational brigade that can be made available to the UN as a rapidly deployable peacekeeping force.
April 23 1997
- Minister Axworthy announces the creation of the Child Labour Challenge Fund, which provides up to $200,000 annually to fund private sector initiatives aimed at addressing child labour exploitation internationally.
July 5 1997
- Canada's bilateral free trade agreement with Chile, the
CCFTA, enters into force. By 2006, bilateral trade increased 226% to $2.34 billion.
August - November 1997- Canadian Air Force CF-18s are involved in Operation Mirador, providing air patrols to support NATO peacekeepers in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
November 24-25 1997
- Canada hosts a meeting of
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), a forum for Pacific Rim countries to discuss the regional economy. Activists protest the presence of non-democratic leaders such as General Suharto of Indonesia, and are pepper sprayed by members of the RCMP, leading to an inquiry.
March 2 1998-
Canada signs the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, committing to cut its emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012.
May 1998- Canada and Norway negotiate the
Lysoen Declaration as a way to engender international awareness of human security and map out an action plan to advance the objectives embodied in the human security agenda. This initiative gives rise to the
Human Security Network.
October 8 1998- Canada is elected for a sixth term as a non-permanent member on the Security Council. Our stated goals include reform of the Council to make it more effective, transparent and responsive to the concerns of member states, and focusing attention on the concept of human security.
1998- Canada plays a
central role in the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), chairing a coalition, the "Like-Minded Group" that helped to motivate the wider international community to adopt the Rome Statute, the final text of the ICC. Canadian senior diplomat, Philippe Kirsch, chaired the committee that produced the final document in July 1998.
December 18 1998- Canada was the 14th country to sign the Rome Statute of the ICC.
March 23 1999
- The Canadian House of Commons in Ottawa passed Motion M-239, in support of the
Tobin Tax, by a vote of 164 to 83. The Motion states: "in the opinion of the House, the government should enact a tax on financial transactions in concert with the international community."
March 24 - June 11 1999- NATO begins bombing of Yugoslavia, called
Operation Allied Force, with the itnention of forcing Serbian troops and police out of Kosovo. The
Canadian Air Force contributes 18 CF-18s, Canadian pilots fly 2,577 hours and perform 120 defensive counter-air escorts for Allied strikes, and 558 bombing strikes. Canadian bombing strikes comprise 10 percent of all air-to-ground strikes performed by NATO aircraft during this period.
September 1999- The
Eighth Francophonie Summit is held in Moncton, New Brunswick. The final declaration places greater emphasis than previous declarations on peace and security, the protection of civilian populations and human rights.
1999
- Canadian economist Herbert Grubel proposes the idea of a North American Monetary Union (NAMU). Although never endorsed officially by a federal political party, NAMU continues to stimulate policy discussions surrounding North American economic integration.
2000s
June 4-6 2000
- Canada
hosts the Organization of American States' General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario.
June 27-30 2000- Lloyd Axworthy, as the current Chair of the OAS General Assembly, goes to Peru alongside Former Colombian President and OAS Secretary General César Gaviria as part of the
OAS High level mission to restore democracy in the country.
June 29 2000- Canada enacted the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, becoming the first country in the world to adopt comprehensive legislation implementing the Rome Statute of the ICC.
July 17 2000
- Canada launches the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty. The Commission's final report,
The Responsibility to Protect -- which offers principles to guide a timely response by the international community when people are being inadequately protected by their own government -- is presented to the UN in December 2001.
September 28 2000- Canada begins free trade talks with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
October 17 2000
- After a two-hour debate in the House of Commons, the government agrees to send
Canadian peacekeepers to Ethiopia and Eritrea as part of the UN mission there. A 450-strong Canadian Forces contingent made a six-month commitment to help establish the international effort in the region, and the bulk of the troops returned home in June 2001. This Canadian presence included armoured reconnaissance, mechanized infantry, an engineer troop, and support elements. Six Canada forces members who were part of a larger international UN force of Military Observers remained until 2003.
Rwandan genocide. Hutu gunmen in Rwanda begin systematically killing Tutsis. Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, head of the United Nations peacekeeping force, is ordered not to intervene. General Dallaire attempts to alert the international community about the severity of the genocide, and requests that his force be doubled to 5,000 troops. His request is denied. The UN Security Council votes to withdraw 90% of the peacekeeping troops from Rwanda, leaving General Dallaire with only 420 ill-equipped men. By May, the international community reconsiders and agrees to send a mostly African UN peacekeeping force. Bureaucratic paralysis and a lack of troop contributors means troops don't start arriving until July. By this time, 800,000 Rwandans are dead and the Tutsi RPF have taken the capital Kigali, driving thousands of Hutu refugees into Zaire.