Foreign Affairs

The Joanna Gualtieri Case

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Joanna Gualtieri

Joanna Gualtieri ’s 18-year ordeal has all the hallmarks of abuse of office and abuse of institutional power: from the waste of public funds that she discovered in the course of her work at Foreign Affairs, to the years of harassment that she endured at the hands of her bosses when she spoke out about this, and then the endless and costly delay tactics employed by government lawyers in the lawsuit she brought against those responsible.

Canada's severely flawed cluster bomb bill

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The proposed legislation is the worst of any country that has ratified or acceded to the Convention on Cluster Munitions to date

Earl Turcotte – May 2, 2012

On April 25, the Canadian government tabled long-awaited national legislation that will finally enable Canada to accede to the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Unfortunately, the legislation is tragically, shockingly flawed.

The legislation stems from 2007, when Norway, with strong support from Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Mexico, and the Holy See, initiated the Oslo Process leading to the negotiation of the convention.

Canada’s cluster bomb legislation worst: experts

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Chris Cobb – April 29, 2012

New federal legislation intended to cement Canada’s role in a major international treaty to ban lethal cluster bombs is weak and will make Canada deliberately complicit in the use of the weapons, say experts.

“It falls way below even the minimum threshold of legality under international humanitarian law and is an insult to colleagues in other countries who, seemingly unlike Canada, have negotiated in good faith,” said former Foreign Affairs arms negotiator Earl Turcotte, who led Canada’s negotiating team at the treaty negotiations.

Top court blocks government's effort to restrict Afghan human rights info

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Robert Hiltz – March 29, 2012

An appeal by the Department of Foreign Affairs to block an Ottawa law professor from getting a better look at reacted documents that detail the status of human rights in Afghanistan won't be heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Department of Foreign Affairs had been trying to prevent University of Ottawa law professor Amir Attaran from gaining further access to the departmental reports.

Canadian government silent on Blackfire case of corruption and murder

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Press Release: Canada NewsWire – March 15, 2012

Two years after filing a complaint with the RCMP for corruption allegations against Calgary-based Blackfire Resources, a group of Canadian civil society organizations would like to know where Canadian authorities stand on the company's controversial operations in Chiapas, Mexico.

But, after an eighteen-month wait, a request for information to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade under the Access to Information Act is still unanswered.

Foreign Affairs’ fees for access-to-information requests unwarranted

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Peter Henderson – February 20, 2012

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is flouting demands from the federal information commissioner that his department stop charging fees for access-to-information requests. Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault said trading cash for information is not the way it’s supposed to work — but she has no plans to challenge the ruling in court.

“Fees must not constitute a barrier to access,” the commissioner wrote in her final ruling on the matter. “I recommend that the minister direct his officials to cease charging fees for search and preparation time of electronic records.”

Cluster bomb treaty negotiator fears watered down bill

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The Canadian Press – February 16, 2012

Canada's former chief negotiator on a treaty to rid the world of dangerous cluster munitions is urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper not to succumb to pressure to water down the treaty. Earl Turcotte told Harper in a Feb. 10 letter that Canada's ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions "is long overdue."

Turcotte urged the prime minister to hang tough on the negotiating position that he helped craft as Canada's lead negotiator on the treaty. Turcotte has warned that Canadian troops could be complicit in the deaths of innocent civilians if the government proceeds with weak recommendations.

International efforts to ban cluster munitions are under threat

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Mohammad Abd el Aal

Earl Turcotte – October 2011

The extensive use of cluster munitions during the last three days of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006 provided new impetus for the international community to work toward their ban.

Cluster munitions are conventional weapons designed to release or disperse explosive submunitions over a wide area. Each weapon typically contains hundreds of submunitions; an average cluster bomb can cover one square kilometer. In addition to causing often extensive ‘collateral damage’ at the time of use, many submunitions fail to detonate on impact and remain a potent threat to civilians for decades after peace has been restored.

Strathmore: Canada's sale of ambassador's residence no pot of gold

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Strathmore

Lee Berthiaume – October 7, 2011

As the Irish real estate market began to crash in 2008, Canadian foreign affairs officials recommended the government not move ahead with plans to sell Canada's historic ambassadorial residence in Dublin, newly released documents show.

But the government ultimately rejected the advice — and appears to have lost millions of taxpayer dollars in the subsequent deal.

Video: Strathmore Extravagance

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Joanna Gualtieri
Joanna Gualtieri

With the sale of Canada's lavish ambassador's residence in Ireland this 2003 CBC documentary is now topical again. Once valued at up to $35 million, Strathmore sits next door to millionaire rock star Bono's luxury home – but it's much larger.

For years public servants repeatedly recommended that the property be sold, since it was so expensive to run and far beyond the requirements for an official residence. But the minister nixed this plan – in a one-line email. Joanna Gualtieri explains how the system works to perpetuate lavish waste and extravagance.

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