The McLeod Group endorses Paul Dewar’s foreign policy agenda

The McLeod Group endorses Paul Dewar’s foreign policy agenda
February 14th, 2012

OTTAWA - The McLeod Group, composed of some of Canada's most accomplished diplomats, academics and civil society professionals, has endorsed Paul Dewar's bold and ambitious foreign policy.

The McLeod Group is dedicated to the rejuvenation of Canada's role in the world and boasts the membership of prominent leaders in diplomacy and development, including Order of Canada recipients Carolyn McAskie and Ian Smilie.

"The McLeod Group is pleased to endorse NDP leadership candidate Paul Dewar's foreign policy agenda. It very much reflects the McLeod Group's aim of rebuilding Canada's contribution to a better world," the group stated in a written statement.

Carolyn McAskie, an Officer of the Order of Canada, was the head of the UN Mission in Burundi and launched UN's Peacebuilding Commission. She has been a Canadian delegate to the UN Funds and Programmes and the International Financial Institutions and the Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the humanitarian crisis in Cote d'Ivoire.

Ian Smilie, appointed to the Order of Canada, served on a UN Security Council Expert Panel examining the relationship between diamonds and
weapons in West Africa, and he helped develop the 49-government Kimberley Process, a global certification system to halt the traffic in conflict diamonds.

The support for Dewar's foreign policy is an unprecedented move by the Group which also includes Stephen Brown, Edward Jackson, Elizabeth J.
McAllister, Hunter McGill, Betty Plewes, John Sinclair, J. Mark Stiles and Rieky Stuart on its steering committee.

"I am grateful for the McLeod Group's support for my foreign policy agenda," said Dewar. "Over my years serving as the NDP foreign affairs critic, I have relied on the advice of experts in the McLeod Group. Their support reaffirms that Canadians want us to be bold and ambitious in our role on the international stage. As Prime Minister, I will work with experts like the ones in the McLeod group to establish Canada's role as a responsible leader in a changing world."