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Encyclopedia > Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada)

The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), more commonly known as Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, is a department in the Government of Canada which has responsibility for foreign policy and diplomacy, as well as import/export and international trade policies. Image File history File links LangSelect_FIP.gif‎ Taken from the Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) website (www. ... A ministry is a department of a government, led by a minister. ... System of government Canada is a constitutional monarchy as a Commonwealth Realm (see Monarchy in Canada) with a federal system of parliamentary government, and strong democratic traditions. ... A foreign policy is a set of political goals that seeks to outline how a particular country will interact with the other countries of the world. ... The United Nations, with its headquarters in New York City, is the largest international diplomatic organization. ...


The department was once called the Department of External Affairs and later the Department of External Affairs and International Trade, the word foreign being deliberately avoided since the department was founded while Canada's foreign policy was still controlled by the United Kingdom. The department's name was finally changed to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 1993 some 60 years after Canada had gained control over its foreign policy. A foreign policy is a set of political goals that seeks to outline how a particular country will interact with the other countries of the world. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...


The change in name was formalized by an Act of Parliament in 1995. DFAIT maintained two separate ministers: the Minister of Foreign Affairs with lead responsibility for the portfolio, and the Minister of International Trade. The Minister for International Cooperation, with responsibilities for agencies such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), also fell under DFAIT. In the Cabinet of Canada, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the federal governments international relations department, Foreign Affairs Canada. ... In the Cabinet of Canada, The Minister of International Trade is the head of the federal governments international trade department (International Trade Canada) and the provisions of treaties such as NAFTA. The post was first establishmed in 1983 as the Minister for International Trade. ... In the Cabinet of Canada, the Minister for International Cooperation is responsible for overseeing Canadian international development strategy within the federal governments foreign department, Foreign Affairs Canada. ... The Canadian International Development Agency is a Canadian government agency which administers foreign aid programs in developing countries. ...


A separate Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of International Trade were created in December 2003 through an administrative separation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

Head office of Foreign Affairs Canada
Head office of Foreign Affairs Canada

However, on February 15, 2005 legislation to formally abolish the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and provide a statutory basis for a separate Department of Foreign Affairs and a Department of International Trade failed to pass a first vote in the Canadian House of Commons. However, the government maintained the administrative separation of the two departments despite neither having been established through an Act of Parliament. Image File history File links Dept. ... Image File history File links Dept. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The House of Commons (French: Chambre des communes) is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign (represented by the Governor General) and the Senate. ...


In early 2006, under the new government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Department of International Trade were rejoined to again form a single Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.


Leadership of DFAIT is provided by three ministers. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is responsible for foreign policy matters and, as the senior minister in the department, has overall responsibility for the department. The Minister of International Trade is, as the name suggests, responsible for international trade matters. The Minister of International Cooperation is responsible for certain delegated foreign policy matters. Peter MacKay currently serves as Minister of Foreign Affairs and David Emerson serves as Minister of International Trade. Josée Verner serves as the Minister of International Cooperation. Peter Gordon MacKay, PC, BA, LL.B, MP (born September 27, 1965) serves as the member of Parliament (MP) for Central Nova, Nova Scotia, Canadas Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. ... A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister that helps to form foreign policy for sovereign nations. ... David Emerson, PC, MP, MA, Ph. ... In the Cabinet of Canada, The Minister of International Trade is the head of the federal governments international trade department (International Trade Canada) and the provisions of treaties such as NAFTA. The post was first establishmed in 1983 as the Minister for International Trade. ...


DFAIT is headquartered in the Lester B. Pearson Building on the banks of the Rideau River in the nation's capital. The Lester B. Pearson Building is the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs of Canada. ... rapids on the Rideau River opposite Carleton University The Rideau River is a Canadian river which flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. ...


Significance of nomenclature

It should be noted that the change of terminology from "External Affairs" to "Foreign Affairs" recognized, albeit belatedly, a shift that had occurred many years before. At the time that the External Affairs portfolio was created in 1905, PETER MCKAY IS A HOMO AND LIKES BOYS. Spread the word.Canada was a self-governing dominion in the British Empire and did not have an independent foreign policy. Most foreign diplomacy was conducted with other parts of the British Empire which were not considered "foreign" lands. The United Kingdom and other colonial powers still routinely divided their conduct of overseas policy into foreign affairs (e.g. the U.K.'s Foreign Office) and domestic or "colonial affairs" (the Colonial Office or Dominion Office, which were later reorganized and combined into one department, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office). Diplomacy outside the Empire (eg. between Canada and its non-Empire neighbours, the United States, Russia, St. Pierre and Miquelon, and Greenland) were conducted by the foreign office of the United Kingdom. 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... A dominion, often Dominion, is the territory or the authority of a dominus (a lord or master). ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom abroad. ... The Secretary of State for the Colonies or Colonial Secretary was the British Cabinet official in charge of managing the various British colonies. ... The position of Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs was a British cabinet level position created in 1925 to deal with British relations with the Dominions — Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Newfoundland, and the Irish Free State. ... The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Whitehall, seen from St. ...


The term "External Affairs" avoided the question of whether a colony or Dominion, self-governing and hence sovereign in some respects but sharing the Head of State with other countries, could by definition have foreign affairs. Implicitly, since the Department was responsible for affairs with both Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries, all "external" relations were of a type, even when the Head of State was shared with other nations. Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State of 16 countries including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand and the Bahamas, as well as crown colonies and overseas territories of the United Kingdom. ... The English noun Commonwealth dates originally from the fifteenth century. ...


Canada's management of its own foreign relations evolved over time, with key milestones including World War I (at the conclusion of which Canada was a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles and a member of the League of Nations), the Balfour Declaration, increased direct conduct of bilateral matters with the United States (where Canada had its own representatives since at least 1927), and finally, the Statute of Westminster and the Second World War. The Statute of Westminster clarified that Canada (and certain other colonies such as Australia and New Zealand) were primarily responsible for, among other things, the conduct of their own foreign affairs. After World War II, Canada was a founding member of the United Nations and participant in its own right in post-war settlement talks and other international fora, and in most respects the conduct of foreign affairs was no longer "colonial". Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Italy Russia United States Serbia Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Reinhard Scheer Franz Josef I Conrad von Hötzendorf İsmail Enver Ferdinand... Woodrow Wilson with the American Peace Commissioners For other treaties with this name, see Treaty of Versailles (disambiguation) The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and the German Empire. ... The Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, built between 1929 and 1938, was constructed as the Leagues headquarters. ... The Balfour Declaration of 1926 is a report of the October-November 1926 Imperial Conference of British Empire leaders in London. ... This is a list of Canadas ambassadors to the United States. ... ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... ... Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...


Over the years after World War II, a number of other historical traditions were slowly abolished or brought into accordance with reality, such as the practice of Canadian Ambassadors presenting diplomatic credentials signed by the Queen of Canada (including, on occasion, credentials written in French as an official language of Canada); Canadian Ambassadors now present credentials signed by the Governor General of Canada. Other traditions remain, such as the exchange of High Commissioners instead of Ambassadors between Commonwealth countries (and High Commissioners present credentials from the Head of Government, as the Head of State was historically "shared," and would not accredit a representative to one's self). Nonetheless, by the time the change in terminology was effected in 1993, Canada's foreign affairs had been conducted separately from the United Kingdom in most significant respects for the entire post-war period, or over sixty years since the Statute of Westminster. For other uses, see Ambassador (disambiguation). ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a Commonwealth Realm with Queen Elizabeth II as its reigning monarch and head of state. ... An official language is a language that is given a privileged legal status in a state, or other legally-defined territory. ... The Governor General of Canada (French: Gouverneure générale du Canada or Gouverneur général du Canada) is the representative of the Canadian Monarch. ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ... A High Commissioner is a person serving in a special executive capacity. ... The head of government is the leader of the government or cabinet. ... Queen Elizabeth II, is the Head of State of 16 countries including: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Jamaica, New Zealand and the Bahamas, as well as crown colonies and overseas territories of the United Kingdom. ... ...


This process was paralleled in other areas, over this period, including establishment of Canada's own Supreme Court as the court of last resort, the so-called Patriation of the Constitution, and Canadian citizenship (Canadians had been British subjects, and no citizenship per se existed until 1947). The Supreme Court Building in Ottawa The Supreme Court of Canada (French: Cour suprême du Canada) is highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeal for all litigants in the Canadian justice system. ... The supreme court in some countries, provinces, and states, is the highest court in that jurisdiction and functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be appealed. ... The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada. ... Citizenship in Canada can be obtained by a permanent resident who lives in Canada for three out of four years before applying for citizenship and be able to speak English or French. ... In British nationality law, the term British subject has at different times had different meanings. ...


See also

Independent Media Focused on Canadian Foreign Affairs: Canadian Ministers of Foreign Affairs Until 1993, the post was known as Secretary of State for External Affairs. ... Canadian Secretaries of State for External Affairs In 1993, the post was replaced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. ... Canadian Ministers of International Trade > See other lists of incumbents Categories: Lists of Canadian ministers | Foreign relations of Canada ... Canadian Ministers for International Cooperation See other lists of incumbents Categories: Lists of Canadian ministers | Foreign relations of Canada ...

  • Embassy: Canada's Foreign Policy Newsweekly

Official website:

  • Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada


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  Results from FactBites:
 
Global Connections: Canadian Involvement in World Organizations (1670 words)
Canada has been an active and committed participant in the United Nations since its founding in 1945 in San Francisco, where Canada played a key role in the drafting of the Charter.
The purposes of the United Nations are to maintain international peace and security; to develop friendly relations among nations; to cooperate in solving international economic, social, cultural and humanitarian problems and in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and to be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in attaining these ends.
Canadian participation in UNESCO is a partnership between the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, and key departments related to the mandate of the organization.
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