Prime minister Paul Martin says world leaders must talk more to each other and be prepared to inject more “soul-searching and head-knocking” into negotiations such as the thorny issue of agricultural trade and subsidy rules.
He used a Jan. 23 speech at a world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, to urge more informal political discussions and compromises to make international organizations work better.
And he used the breakdown in World Trade Organization talks last September in Mexico, in part because of divisions over agriculture, as an example of what ails the international scene.
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“The problem with many of today’s international organizations is that they are not designed to facilitate the kinds of informal political debates that must occur,” he said. International meetings centred on “the ratification of bureaucratic negotiation with little political push” can be a formula for inaction.
“Photo ops are no substitute for political will.”
Martin referred to WTO talks in Mexico as an example. It became a showdown between developed and developing nations over agricultural subsidies and market access, he said.
“Each represented only one side of the issue and the talks failed,” said the prime minister.
“Think of how much better it would have been if the major players on both sides of the agricultural divide had been at the same table with a track record of discussing complex issues, forcing debate to needed conclusion.
“We need some soul-searching, some head-knocking and above all else, some honest talk about what kind of world we want five or 10 or 20 years down the road.”
It was music to the ears of Ontario soybean farmer Liam McCreery, president of the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance.
“If the prime minister is prepared to take a lead on this, that is fantastic,” said the farmer in a Jan. 23 interview. “This file does need some political will, some willingness to compromise.”
McCreery was in Qatar when the current WTO trade negotiation round was launched in 2001 and he was in Cancun, Mexico, in September when talks stalled.
He said too many countries arrived at the Cancun meeting with fixed ideas and prepared statements, but no mandate to compromise.
“We really need flexibility and leadership,” said McCreery.
Martin said an “us versus them” mentality has poisoned the atmosphere in many international organizations.
“Political leaders must work with each other internationally the way they work at home, when they work well, debating, exploring, searching for value-driven solutions that are inclusive rather than divisive, stabilizing rather than destructive, pragmatic rather than ideological,” said the prime minister on his second trip abroad since being sworn into office Dec. 12.
Martin said political leaders must invest in the process if there are to be agreements.
“We are not going to do that with 100 countries around the table, nor in small groups, if leaders are absent.”
