YouSaid · the spoken record

Clark

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS CLARK

lines on the record: 137
first: 1985-09-24
most recent: 1990-09-24
sittings or episodes: 5
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Democracy is not only a set of values, it is also a statement that there is no monopoly on truth, that different groups at different times may have different solutions to different problems. It is the politics of pragmatism, it works. It delivers, a free market is not simply a particular means of ordering the economy. It is a framework that enables the individual to act on his or her own merits. efforts, and capacities, it conforms to human nature. It is the economics of pragmatism, it works, it delivers, it is for that reason that Canada welcomes the tide of democratization and the shift to the market-place evident around the globe. On that trend rests the hope for social stability. And such stability is a firm foundation for international peace.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Governments are recognizing that the old ways do not work, that new strategies are required, that lessons may be learned abroad, and that co-operation in the economic and social spheres does not constitute an acknowledgement of defeat but is rather a recipe for success. Canada's support for the changes now underway in the East is unequivocal. There must be no turning back, and that requires imagination in the West as to practical ways to strengthen the remarkable process of reform and liberalization. In the Eastern bloc and elsewhere around the world, the turning towards democracy and the expansion of the market-place is a welcome victory for pragmatism and realism. Totalitarianism is fading not because it is regarded by its subjects as wrongs it is being discredited because it does not work, it does not deliver.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Therefore we welcome and encourage the broadening dialogue on regional, economic, social and environmental matters. It is for that reason that Canada has strongly supported expanding the field of activity of NATO to pursue more energetically the alliance's mandate for political and social dialogue. In that connection, during NATO's most recent summit, a Canadian proposal was adopted to assist young political leaders in learning how to make democracy work. More initiatives of that type are required. The progress in East-West relations owes much to the refreshing breezes of change sweeping Eastern Europe and the USSR, ideology is giving way to compromise.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“On Sunday, after consultations between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Prime Minister Mulroney announced Canada's offer to act as host to an inter-alliance conference as early as November, in order to explore the possibilities of a formal agreement on open-skies. It is of fundamental importance to deepen and widen East-West relations. A stable structure of peace cannot endure if its only component is concurrence on arms control, no matter how far-reaching that agreement might be. Enduring peace requires understanding, a sense of shared problems and a shared stake in the future. Above all, it demands a sense on each side that the survival of the other is in its own best interests. What is required is agreement not only on the avoidance of war but also on the advantages of peace.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Such an arrangement would be daring in its simplicity, yet path-breaking in its consequences: an agreement that the aircraft of each member of both alliances could enter the airspace of the other alliance subject only to basic air-safety regulations. That would increase the assurance of every member that military activities were not becoming preparations for surprise attack. From the beginning, we have urged the United States to move forward with this visionary proposal, and to make it an alliance-to-alliance arrangement. An open-skies agreement would be a compelling symbol of the new East-West relationship, it would build confidence and serve as a useful vehicle for the verification of other agreements, including an eventual agreement on conventional forces in Europe. We are prepared to go beyond moral support.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Canada warmly welcomes the significant progress made in recent days by the United States and the Soviet Union on a variety of fundamental issues. In particular, movement towards the abandonment of the linkage between research on strategic defence and progress on strategic nuclear arms control is a very positive development. So too is the progress registered on eliminating chemical weapons, including the exchange of data on stocks. We strongly welcome President Bush's offer to reduce stockpiles to less than 20 per cent of current levels while efforts continue in Geneva to negotiate a chemical weapons convention. Canada endorses also the United States and Soviet agreement to explore an open-skies arrangement between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Co-operation is now the new realism and pragmatism is the path to progress. Much has been accomplished in recent months and years, much more remains to be done. Within the East-West relationship there is a new willingness to abandon sterile linkages and to seek solutions to tractable problems even when other areas remain contentious. This welcome attitude has invigorated this institution and brought hope to many conflicts and regions of the world. We encourage its continuance. Arms control is now characterized by real compromise and give and take. Problems which are truly acute are being addressed first. Areas where technology threatens to overtake politics are being given priority and the unnecessarily large and undesirably unstable balance in conventional forces is finally being dealt with head-on.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“And the term "United Nations" cannot simply be the name of our institution, it must become a statement of our common purpose. Who, today, can imagine a nuclear war in which there are winners and losers? Who can envisage a conventional war in Europe which does not consume the prize? Who can construct a solution to the debt crisis which does not involve compromise? Mho can foresee a cleaner global environment without international co-operation and joint action? And who can imagine a resolution of the many crises in the developing world without a reasoned and productive dialogue with the developed world? In the past it was the adherents of unilateralism who were known as realists and the advocates of co-operation who were labelled idealists. I submit that the reverse is now the case.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“What is common about these problems is that none of them can be solved by one nation acting alone, nor by one group of powerful nations combining their will. In the past, we assumed the world could survive man's worst excesses. Now in an age of suitcase bombs, the AIDS pandemic, holes in the ozone layer, there is doubt about that elementary ability to survive. There is doubt, but not despair -indeed the opposite of despair, what marks this period in world affairs is an activism and a pragmatism which yield surprising results and they come together here in the United Nations. We are entering an era where the words of the United Nations Charter must cease to be goals to which we aspire, they must become descriptions of our common actions.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“We believe that Canadian Mounties, Who, more than a century ago, brought a universal respect for law and order to our own West can extend that tradition to Namibia, as that new nation finally comes of age. This is an unprecedented and challenging period in world affairs. On the one hand, there is real movement on problems that not long ago seemed intractable. That is true in southern Africa, in Indo-China, in parts of the Middle East and, most dramatically, in East-West relations. At the same time, the sense of crisis becomes more acute. Our climate is changing, bringing drought or inundation or other threats to our very survival. New diseases develop. New technologies allow proliferation of the most deadly weapons. Terrorism becomes more widespread.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“They were, in effect, Canada's first peace-keepers, in 1874, in one of the actions which made us a trans-continental nation, the North-west Mounted Police marched west across 1,000 miles to establish by their presence the rule of law in the Canadian west. They brought order, not force, and by their conduct established a respect that endures to this day and has made them one of the most admired police forces in the world. They would carry to Namibia not only their skills, hut their reputation as keepers of the peace. This would be the first time in Canadian history that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has undertaken such a role and in order to be ready, their Commissioner has asked for 100 volunteers. So far, 2,000 members have responded to that call from a total force of over 14,000.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“It is the sort of pragmatic, concrete work necessary to allow the United Nations to handle its ever-expanding peace-keeping responsibilities more effectively, it also symbolizes one of the fundamental purposes of this Organization: harmonizing the wonders of modern technology to the tasks of peace-making and not war-making. The second development on which I would like to comment is the readiness by Canada, if asked, to supplement the United Nations presence in Namibia by sending trained and respected police forces. Canada enthusiastically supported the idea that nations should help meet the urgent requirements for skilled policing in Namibia. We are ready to send members of our national force, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who have played such a decisive and constructive role in our own history.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“The first concerns the application of modern technology to the challenge of peace-keeping, in April of this year, Canada completed a comprehensive study the purpose of which was to explore the utility of all forms of aerial surveillance to the peace-keeping tasks now before the international community. The conclusion of this study was that these overhead technologies - satellite or airborne - could significantly increase the efficiency of peace-keeping operations and related verification endeavours. This study will be submitted to the United Nations for its consideration. I believe this is an important development both symbolically and as an achievement in its own right.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“In view of your remarks, Mr. President, I am a little embarrassed but I would like to extend to you my congratulations and best wishes as you assume your important duties as President of the current session of the General Assembly. The wisdom and the understanding that you bring to this position is well suited to these historic times. I am also confident you will do great honour to the legacy left by your predecessor and my good friend, Dante Caputo. Before beginning my main remarks I want to comment on two particular developments of relevance to the United Nations.”
1989-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 44 (1989)
“Somehow, it feels as though we are closer this year than last to tackling that agenda.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Today, we must all surely take satisfaction from the atmosphere of hope that surrounds us; hope, because both globally and regionally there is a recognition that a peaceful and secure world is of universal benefit and worthy of relentless pursuit) hope, because the social and economic evils that beset us are being addressed in a meaningful way) and, finally, hope, because this Organization of ours, the United Nations, is reasserting its capacity to play the central role that it was created and designed to play in dealing with the ills that still plague the international community. The United Nations agenda stretches before us - Afghanistan, Kampuchea, Cyprus, peace in the Middle East between Israel and the Arab States, an end to terrorism, and the fundamental human struggle to eradicate hunger and injustice.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“We should celebrate the fact that this is the first time a prospective agreement will actually eliminate nuclear weapons. That is just the initial step in a long and difficult process, but, with continued determination and resolve, we can hope to move to agreements on strategic weapons, on chemical weapons, on conventional weapons, and on a comprehensive test ban. I began by talking about the atmosphere of crisis which was so pervasive as we met last year.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“One of the most wrenching conversations I have had was with Canadian aid workers in Mozambique who fear that the projects they build to help people will become targets of terrorists and put at risk the very lives they are working to improve. An essential part of the challenge in southern Africa is thus to bring more stability to the front-line States. Before I conclude my remarks I want to applaud again the new vitality that has been injected into the global arms-control and disarmament process through the important announcement that the United States and the Soviet Union have agreed in principle to eliminate intermediate and short-range nuclear missiles. Radical reduction in nuclear arms has always been the core of Canadian policy in this area.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“There must be no relenting in that campaign, no pause in the pressure, because a pause might suggest that apartheid is acceptable, and it is not. The pressure against apartheid must continue and increase, and the challenge, in the United Nations and elsewhere, is to find peaceful and effective means to build that pressure. It is not enough to ask others to act. It is Canada's view that the sanctions imposed upon South Africa have been effective, both economically and psychologically. While the Government of South Africa has reacted by limiting liberty even more, growing numbers of individual South Africans have reached out for reform, in meetings in Lusaka and Dakar and in the private contacts, which we must multiply. The instability in southern Africa is both an ally and a product of apartheid.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The Prime Minister of Canada met with the leaders of Zimbabwe and Zambia and Botswana in Victoria Falls in February, and I visited southern Africa six weeks ago, a visit which included a meeting in Pretoria with the South African Foreign Minister. Olivet Tambo visited Ottawa a month ago and met with our Prime Minister and other Canadian leaders. Early in September it was our honour to act as host to the second summit of La Francophonie in Quebec City, which condemned apartheid and established a scholarship programme for black South Africans. Next month, in Vancouver, we shall act as host to the heads of Government of the Commonwealth, the international family to which South Africa once belonged. We are at a critical stage in the campaign to end apartheid.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“We have Imposed a ban both on new investment in South Africa and re-investment of profits. We have banned the importation of coal, iron and steel. We have banned the promotion of tourism and ended air links. In the first six months of 1987 Canada reduced its imports from South Africa by 51 per cent. Furthermore, we have made it clear that, if other measures fail, we ate prepared to end our economic and diplomatic relations with South Africa, We are helping the victims of apartheid with scholarships, legal aid and other assistance. We contribute substantially to the development of the front-line States, both bilaterally and through the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC). We apply our influence, whether it is effective, to build the pressures against apartheid.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Immediately after the Guatemala summit two senior officials of our Government visited Central America to discuss what more Canada might do. I will be visiting the region myself later this autumn. Canada supports the initiatives of the Central America presidents. We are prepared to provide our expertise in the design and development of verification and control mechanisms which, once peace is possible, can help it endure. The disputes must be resolved by those actually Involved in the conflict, but Canada is prepared to contribute to that process in any direct and practical way open to us. The injustice to which I referred earlier is apartheid. Canada's position is clear and on the record. We have acted upon all of the sanctions recommended by the Nassau Conference of the Commonwealth Heads of Government.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“They included the foundations laid by Contadora and the Contadora Support Groups, the preparatory work of the Central America countries and the concessions made at the summit by each of the five presidents. That achievement was applauded by us all. But it was only the first of many steps along a difficult road. Canadian aid to Central America has been steadily increasing, as has our funding and our acceptance of refugees. We have expressed our view that the root problem in Central America is poverty, not ideology that the real need is development assistance, not military activity, and that intervention by outside Powers will only aggravate the tension. We have supported the Contadora process and have made available to Contadora the expertise Canadians have acquired in the techniques of peace-keeping.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The great purpose of the United Nations is to extend the reach of peace and justice in the world. Sometimes, as in the war between Iran and Iraq, its role becomes most acute when all other efforts have failed. In other cases it can encourage regional initiatives that may lead to peace where peace is threatened, or focus international attention upon injustice that must end. I want today to speak of one initiative that we must encourage and one injustice that we must end. The Initiative is in Central America, where the presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua have joined together in a genuine effort by all parties to settle their differences peacefully. The surprisingly positive outcome of the Guatemala summit meeting was the result of many factors.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Now there are three, and we in Canada take particular satisfaction that the first woman appointed is an outstanding Canadian, Madame Therese Paguet-Sevigny, under-Secretary-General in the Department of Public Information, There have been other achievements in the past year: the successful Vienna international Conference on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking; the coming into force of the Convention against torture the International Maritime Organization draft convention on maritime security; and the progress made on verification by the United Nations Disarmament Commission, with which Canada is proud to be associated. This is proof of the worth and vitality of the United Nations and clear evidence of the advantages to be derived from continuing to confront the world's problems together.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“It graphically demonstrated the capacity of the Organization to find agreement in the most complex fields. The World Health Organization is recognized as a crucial resource for gathering the statistics and carrying out the planning that are necessary as countries struggle to master the world-wide AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) epidemic. Within its own doors, the United Nations has made social strides in another field: the equal rights of women. In 41 years there had not been even one woman permanently appointed as an Under-Secretary-General.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The Brundtland Commission has produced a blunt and clear report on the urgency of protecting our resources and environment. In that spirit, in Montreal last week nations signed an ozone Treaty controlling the emissions of chloro fluro carbons. Dr. Mostafa Tolba, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme, called it "the first truly global treaty that offers protection to every single human being on this planet." Our Government believes that Montreal Treaty will serve as a model for future international agreements on the environment. The Conference on disarmament and development, which has just concluded, yielded a remarkable consensus document, holding disarmament and development as essential to international security.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“The international community clearly now recognizes that the majority of African countries are making great efforts to turn their economies around. But the international community must equally recognize that the debt situation for many African countries is desperate and must be addressed in new and innovative ways or the entire recovery programme may collapse. In that context, we welcome the Secretary-General's appointment of the Advisory Panel on Resource Flows. We anxiously await its report. As the representative of Zaire has just indicated, Canada is so concerned about this issue that at the Francophone Summit we announced the cancellation of official development assistance debt for several countries in francophone Africa. Next month, at the Commonwealth Conference, we will do the same for countries of Anglophone Africa.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“And the speech this morning by the President of Iran can only be characterized as destructive and deeply disappointing. Therefore the Security Council should be reconvened to take the next step. Canada would fully support implementation of the axiomatic second half of resolution 598 (1987) - the application of sanctions. At the Seventh United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) , the consensus statement on trade, debt and commodities may presage a new era of co-operation between developed and developing countries. UNCTAD VII was an example of an international conference for whose outcome the prognosis was uniformly gloomy. The doubters were wrong. The United Nations scored a major success. The special session on Africa is beginning to yield concrete results, albeit there is a long way yet to go.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“Sometimes that progress occurred outside this multilateral Organization - as, for example, in the historic breakthrough on an arms agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union, in the steady pressure against apartheid mounted by the Commonwealth, and in the initiative towards peace launched by the five Presidents of Central America. But in many other cases the world's movement forward was rooted here. Those cases are worth enumerating. In the ongoing war between Iran and Iraq, Security Council resolution 598 (1987) reflects a welcome political will and unanimity in the Security Council, and the Secretary-General is to be commended for his patient, persistent mediation. The Secretary-General's mission was not as successful as we all had hoped.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“We are especially impressed by the United Nations resolve to extend reform beyond the institutions in New York to United Nations economic and social institutions throughout the world. For our part, Canada made a point of paying our 1987 assessment fully and early. We hope other nations will quickly pay their current and past assessments. Those that call for internal reform have a particular obligation and opportunity to encourage it once it begins. That good example would increase the pressure upon other Powers whose contributions are consistently delinquent. During the past year this real internal reform has been matched by solid progress on many of the major issues of concern to the United Nations.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“I should like to begin, Sir, by extending my and Canada's congratulations and appreciation to you on your assumption of the responsibilities and office of the presidency of the General Assembly. A year ago the atmosphere in the Assembly was heavy with a sense of crisis. The financial shortfall of the United Nations, serious in itself, was also a symptom of a deeper worry about the very existence of the Organization. Canada, and other friends of the United Nations, used this rostrum to call for reform. I am pleased today to note that substantial reform has begun. 7hat is both a tribute to the men and women who make this Organization work and testimony to the recognition by most nations that a strong United Nations is essential to world peace.”
1987-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 42 (1987)
“When the United Nations fails, its Member Governments fail. When it succeeds, all the plain and good people of the world succeed."”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“Canadians, for their part, wish to have a strong United Nations capable of dealing pragmatically and effectively with global issues. At this session the Canadian delegation will be seeking every opportunity to join with like-minded States in realizing that goal. If I have dwelt on the need for reform, it is because I am convinced that it is still within our grasp. I can think of no better way to conclude than by recalling the words of my distinguished Canadian predecessor, Lester Pearson. At the eighteenth session of the General Assembly in 1963, he said: "the United Nations alone serves us all. It provides the only world assembly to protect and advance human rights and freedoms and human welfare, to reduce and remove the causes of conflict. ...whether it discharges that great role and fulfills its great responsibilities, depends on us.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“We propose the conclusion of an agreement under which all parties would undertake to pursue and to extradite all persons perpetrating acts of violence in international airports. I am sure that the international community will give that initiative its full support. I am also convinced that the collective will of the Members of the United Nations, expressed through concrete measures of this type, will be decisive in our joint struggle against this scourge of our era. (continued in English) I have touched on only a few of the issues with which the United Nations will have to grapple at this and future sessions. Difficult as these are, I remain confident that this institution can serve our common needs and serve them well. We have only to give it the means and the direction.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“All Member States are in agreement regarding the threat posed by international terrorism. During the last session the Security Council unanimously and unequivocally condemned all acts of hostage-taking and kidnapping. At that same session the General Assembly unanimously condemned all acts, methods and practices of terrorism, wherever and by whomever committed. At that time, the Organization rose to the occasion admirably. Those declarations must, of course, be accompanied by concrete and specific measures. Canada, along with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), has launched an initiative designed to consolidate the structure of international law against terrorism.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“Canada has worked to intensify the international community's pressure against apartheid and has helped mobilize the special capacities of the Commonwealth to try to stop the destruction of southern Africa. Canada is implementing all the sanctions agreed to by six Commonwealth leaders in London last month. But pressure will only be fully effective if the international community stands as one, and I urge all countries, especially those with significant economic relations with South Africa, to implement further concrete measures on an urgent basis, (spoke in French) International terrorism threatens us all, and we must act jointly to fight it. The United Nations, acting in a manner that should characterize all of its activities, has set forth that goal and met that need during the past year.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“Around the world and every day people are being tortured and killed for their political and religious beliefs. One of the most distressing trends of the past year has been the deterioration of the situation in South Africa. The Government of that country has stubbornly refused to dismantle the abhorrent regime of apartheid and to adopt a system that respects human rights for all its people. It has instead imposed a draconian state of emergency. We have seen hundreds of deaths and more than 10,000 detainees. The South African Government's repressive policies can have no outcome other than more violence and, in the end, a cataclysm in which all South Africans, white and non-white, will suffer grievously. That would be tragic for a country so blessed in human and material resources.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“We particularly welcomed the unanimity of the agreement reached in the meeting of the countries of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to launch a new round - the Uruguay round -of multilateral trade negotiations.Those are all welcome signs of a growing recognition that we must work together in pursuit of a sound and fair international economic system.* A raison d'etre of this Organization is to create a more humane world. The most fundamental human rights embodied in the Charter and in United Nations human-rights documents are being systematically and grossly violated in a number-of Member countries. The reports of Amnesty International are an indictment of our age. In Afghanistan, a whole people has been tyrannized and millions of citizens made refugees.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“For verification is not just a question of technical capacity; it is a question of the political will to reach agreement on the application of technologies and techniques. In this spirit and in co-operation with others Canada will continue to work vigorously towards real progress on verification. A further critical task facing the United Nations is to buttress the international trade and payments system, now under great strain, and to stimulate the growth so desperately needed in much of the developing world. We are making some progress. Canada is encouraged by movement forward on the elaboration of the Baker Plan and by the agreement of Economic Summit countries at Tokyo to co-ordinate their economic policies more effectively.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“We will be seeking to play an active role in strengthening the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Canada will again be supporting a comprehensive nuclear-test ban. That is a fundamental goal and one towards which concrete steps can and should be taken now. Canada welcomes President Reagan's undertaking that the United States of America is prepared first to move forward on ratification of the threshold test-ban treaty and the treaty on peaceful nuclear explosions and then to take subsequent measures to limit further and ultimately to end nuclear testing. We urge all nations to co-operate and, indeed, participate in the development of the verification techniques needed to provide the confidence necessary to ratify those agreements, which will enable us to plan the subsequent steps we must take in all areas of arms control.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“The establishment of agreed procedures for air and ground on-site inspections is a landmark achievement which could serve as a productive precedent for other arms-control negotiations. Canada, with its record of promoting constructive verification solutions, derives special satisfaction from having contributed to that outcome. It should facilitate the movement to the negotiation of more extensive measures of military restraint and reductions. Such signs of hope should spur the United Nations to tackle the broad range of important arms-control questions before it. Progress on one issue can unlock progress on others. Canada will strive for a ban on chemical weapons. We will continue to work to ensure that outer space is developed for peaceful purposes.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“We are encouraged by the greater flexibility recently shown by the two parties in their efforts to achieve the shared objective of sharp reductions in nuclear weapons - reductions which will allow for the strengthening of the strategic balance and an increase in international security, (continued in English) The current focus of attention on nuclear arms reductions should not, however, detract from the necessity of similar progress in the field of conventional arms control. The results of the Stockholm Conference on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures and Disarmament in Europe have also added to the sense of momentum towards greater security and co-operation in East-West relations. Stockholm represents a signal accomplishment in bringing new openness and predictability to the conduct of military affairs in Europe.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“President Reagan informed us of an exchange of letters with General-Secretary Gorbachev regarding new proposals on arms control. We welcome with satisfaction this direct and open participation of the two leaders in the negotiation process. The talks held last week by the United States Secretary of State, Mr. Shultz, and the Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Shevardnadze, also contributed to improving the atmosphere of the relations between the two super-Powers. We can all cherish the hope that the resumption in Geneva of negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of nuclear weapons and the use of outer space will make some progress possible.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“None of us pretends that even a fully reformed United Nations will extinguish racism, unleash a global economic boom or put an immediate end to every regional conflict. Yet we all know the kinds of contribution that United Nations agreements can make to international peace, prosperity and social advancement. Resolution 242 (1967), the law of the sea, and the Declaration and Covenants on human rights are but three that come immediately to mind, (spoke in French) In this International Year of Peace, we shall more than ever before be judged by our achievements in the fields of disarmament and arms control. All the members of the international community will, like Canada, applaud the resumption of dialog between the United States and the Soviet Union.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“They hear our constant refrain about the need to perform - but if we have stopped listening to ourselves, they too will soon stop listening. The place to start is with administrative and financial reforms. Obviously, putting our house in order will not put the world in order, but it will protect and strengthen the only organization that can. Canada is a strong friend of the United Nations, but Canadians who are making sacrifices at home do not want to subsidize inefficiency here. To be sure, there will be resistance to reform. There always is. We either face it down, or risk slipping back into the shadows from which we emerged with so much hope in 1945. I cannot believe that any of us here would contemplate such a future with equanimity.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“There simply is no escaping the fact that world-wide support for this institution depends on its performance. There may be some who think that if the United Nations were flush with funds all would be well. But the stark reality is that the United Nations must be reformed politically as well as financially. We are in danger of becoming a caricature of the hopes expressed in 1945. This was to be a forum in which difficult decisions were to be taken: it has become a means to avoid them. When there is crisis, we have endless debate. When there is a need for hard compromise, we draft resolutions which defy agreement. Our publics are sensible. They want peace and prosperity and justice. They judge the United Nations by what we do together, not by what we say separately. They want results, not speeches.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“We must also deal with the question of arrears and withholdings. At present, these amount to a total of $400 million. This shortfall has severely strapped the Organization. A fixed schedule of repayment, allowing for some flexibility, would provide a solution to the arrears problem. But even more important is the question of withholdings, which, as the Assembly knows, threatens to cripple the Organization financially this year. We look to those States which are withholding to follow the example of the People's Republic of China, which, without any change in "consistent principled positions", has announced payment of accumulated withholdings of $4.4 million. The adoption of the report of the Group of 18 and the settlement of arrears and withholdings would address half the problem. The other half is more basic.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“They would reinforce the significant measures of financial reform already undertaken by the Secretary-General. They key area that requires further discussion - the planning and budgetary process - is profoundly contentious. We are obviously divided. But we must find common ground lest the whole reform process be imperiled. Our acceptance or rejection of the report of the Group of 18 will be the litmus test of our commitment to renew the capacity of the United Nations to fulfill its mandate. Our budgets here are swollen by the accumulation of outdated and misguided programs. A thorough review would free resources for meeting needs that have long been relatively neglected. These include large areas of development, in particular the promotion of women and the promotion of human rights in general.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)
“Of course, such a result could not have been expected in the space of a year. Nevertheless, the period has been sufficiently long for progress to have been made. On the contrary, the threat of financial failure looming over the Organization has become even greater,- and new doubts are being expressed regarding its relevance, (continued in English) We need reform on two fronts - financial and political. This session starts its deliberations with the consideration of the Report of the Group of High-Level Experts on the Administration and Finances of the United Nations. The 18 experts deserve our profound gratitude. There are some recommendations with which Canada might quibble. But this is not a time for quibbling. The recommendations should be accepted without change and applied as soon as possible.”
1986-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 41 (1986)