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Strengthening Relationships With Brazil

Recently I had the opportunity to accompany the Minister of International Co-operation,
the Honourable Susan Whelan, and her staff on an official visit to Brazil. The visit,
which took place between March 7th and March 11th, involved meetings with Brazilian
government officials and non-government organizations. Our group traveled from the
capital of Brazil, Brasilia, in the interior, to Rio de Janeiro in the south, and finally
Fortaleza in the northeast.
Brazil is the largest country in South America with a population that has expanded from
50 million in 1950 to a present population of 170 million. Although its gross domestic
product is roughly equal to Canada’s, its wealth is much more concentrated in the top
10% of its population, with severe poverty and even starvation in some parts of the
country, at the other end of the social scale. In fact, a full 38% of the poor in Latin
America live in Brazil. Although the current President of Brazil, Cardoso, has gone a
long way in entrenching democracy and political stability, much remains to be done to
stabilize the economy. For example, a recent energy crisis caused by poor government
planning and drought, created additional concerns for the people of Brazil.
While the relationship between Brazil and Canada has been generally good, two recent
issues - Brazil’s subsidization of its aircraft manufacturing, and the banning of the
importation of Brazilian beef by Canada because of the suspicion that it might contain
“mad cow” disease - has strained formal relationships between the two countries.
In Brasilia, the capital, Minister Whelan and I had the opportunity to meet high-ranking
government officials in the Department of Education and the Department of Justice.
Indeed, although the government is in danger of collapsing due to the withdrawal of one
of its coalition partners, the Minister of Justice took the time to meet with us personally
to discuss a number of issues of mutual concern. These meetings included a discussion
about programs such as their Drug Treatment Court, of which the goal is to increase
public safety by reducing drug addiction and related crimes, as well as their Witness
Protection Program. Both of these programs have been established in Brazil with
Canadian monetary assistance and expertise.
Perhaps the highlight of this very intensive visit was our expedition into the interior of
northeast Brazil with the Minister and CIDA officials to observe the success of a small
groundwater project. Despite recent government efforts to reduce poverty, generate
economic growth, and raise the standard of living in this region, a large portion of
Northeastern Brazil’s 50 million people continue to fight economic and social exclusion.
Many of the region’s woes can be linked to a scarce water supply. An important part of
Canada’s effort to assist in addressing this water problem has been the establishment of
an experimental solar power station in a small isolated community. The success of this
project will mean that Brazilians will be able to replicate the technology being developed
in this region across the entire country.
There were also troubling aspects of the trip. Crime and violence are never far from the
surface in the cities of Brazil, and we were accompanied by heavily armed military and
civil police officers almost everywhere we went. Before we could enter one of the huge
slums in Rio de Janeiro to formally open a small library that was financially supported by
Canada, I was told that arrangements had to be made with the drug lords who controlled
the slum to allow us safe entry. As a general rule the police do not patrol these vast
slums housing hundreds of thousands of people, and therefore the police had to make
special arrangements to allow us to visit. Even so, we were accompanied by more than a
dozen police officers, all armed, and most with automatic M-16 or AR-15 rifles.
It was my experience that the people that we met were thankful for the relatively small
amount of monetary assistance provided by the Canadian government through its agency,
CIDA. Moreover, Brazilian government officials and non-governmental organizations
realize the importance of the technical and other expertise that is being provided by
Canada. The Brazilians are a highly motivated people who are more than capable of
duplicating across Brazil the expertise that Canadians provide to them through CIDA in
order to improve the quality of life for all of their people. It was my observation and
conclusion that this relationship between Brazil and Canada is a partnership that will
benefit both of our countries.
Please feel free to contact my office if you have any concerns or issues you would like to
discuss. You may contact me toll free at 1-866-333-1933 or at 204-326-9889 or in
Altona at 204-324-9709 or in Lac du Bonnet at 204-345-9762. You may write me at Box
2470, Steinbach, MB R0A 2A0, by fax at 204-346-9874 or by e-mail at
toewsv1@mts.net

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