Canada-United Kingdom Political Relations

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Canada and the United Kingdom continue to have a profound, positive influence on each other. The two countries share a sovereign, and both have among the oldest continuous traditions of parliamentary democracy.

Canada-UK relations benefit from regular meetings between our two prime ministers as well as between senior ministers, diplomats and government officials. The joint relationship is also enhanced through close co-operation in various international organisations, not least of which is the Commonwealth - a grouping of 53 states with common legal and political traditions and historical links to the United Kingdom. Canada is an active participant in and, after the UK, the second largest financial contributor to the Commonwealth.

The Canada-UK relationship is further fostered through close partnership and cooperation in other international organisations including the United Nations, G8, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, World Trade Organization and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

In recent years, Canada and the UK have placed a high priority on the security relationship, which includes intensive military, law enforcement and intelligence cooperation. Unsurprisingly, the relationship has been considerably strengthened by our continuing partnership in Afghanistan. Our shared emphasis on multilateralism and commitment to international development, particularly in areas such as health and education, further supports our bilateral relations. For instance, The Government of Canada is on target to meet a promise made at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles (2005) to increase aid to Africa from $1.05 billion (2003-04) to $2.1 billion (2008-09). Most recently, Canada signed up to a new International Health Partnership launched by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, in September 2007, to review progress towards 2015 Millennium Development Goals.

Since the creation of the Canada-UK Parliamentary Association in 1997, a delegation of Canadian parliamentarians has visited the United Kingdom each year to meet with counterparts and other political and government representatives to exchange information on issues of common interest.

Also since 1997, the United Kingdom's project to devolve powers to the Scottish Parliament, as well as to the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies, has provided an opportunity for Canada to share lessons from its experience of decentralised forms of government since Confederation in 1867.

Canada has long been a supporter of the Northern Ireland Peace Process, celebrating last year's formation of the first power-sharing government in five years (May 8, 2007). The role of individual Canadians in the Northern Ireland peace process exemplifies the degree of trust and confidence that characterise the relationship: General John de Chastelain, former Chief of Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces heads the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, and retired RCMP Assistant Commissioner Al Hutchinson, last year [2007] moved into the role of Northern Ireland's new police ombudsman after seven years as Oversight Commissioner for policing.

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