foreign affairs

Over the past few years, the foreign policy challenges facing Canada have multiplied.

The survey was the first to ever ask Canadians about how they see their place in the world, and that of their country – not simply what they believe their governments should be doing: What do they see as the top global issues, and how do they orient personally to the world outside of the national borders, in terms of their interests, travel and personal connections?

In the past six months, the surprising election of Donald Trump to the US presidency has sent shock waves through that country, and reverberations around to globe. His administration is charting an unpredictable new course in domestic and foreign policy, and among the first steps has been a tightening of restrictions for visitors, immigrants and refugees seeking to enter the USA.

Recent surveys have found Canadians to be supportive of Canada’s military deployment to Iraq and Syria to aid in the fight against ISIS.

Recent numbers from the World Bank remind us that the worldwide flow of remittances – the money immigrants send back to their countries of origin – is astounding. In all, international migrants were responsible for the movement of an estimated U.S. $529-billion in 2012.

It's the start of 2008. Do you know where Canada's international priorities are? When the Harper government took office in 2006, although its famous "five priorities" were all domestic, one of the goals that hovered around the edges of the Conservative agenda was to beef up Canada's role in the world.

The Institute sponsored the first-ever Canadian-initiated public opinion survey of the people of Afghanistan on issues related to quality of life, reconstruction, and Canadian military presence in the country.