By Greg Wigmore
While critics have branded the prime minister’s travels abroad as excessive, other observers say the most recent spate of trips suggests Jean Chretien may, in fact, be winding down his political career.
Two recent developments have led critics to accuse Chretien of the same jet-setting behaviour of his predecessors at the end of their careers.
The first is the government’s announcement two weeks ago that it will spend $100 million on two new Bombardier Challenger jets for the prime minister and his cabinet.
The second is Chretien’s current trip to Africa, which veteran political columnist Edward Greenspon labeled a “fin-de-regime junket.”
Despite the prime minister’s efforts to assist the impoversihed continent, several commentators say he is only tweaking what has been Canada’s policy for decades.
A survey of Public Accounts Canada figures reveals that the prime minister’s travel expenses have risen considerably since his first term.
Costs for the prime minister’s trips have increased four-fold, from about $3.3 million in the 1994-95 fiscal year to more than $12.6 million for 2000-01.
“He’s left (deputy prime minister John) Manley in charge of government so he can fly around the world and eke out his legacy,” said Keith Martin, Canadian Allianceforeign affairs critic.
Some trips have been to international conferences such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, NATO and G8 summits, These are meetings for which the prime minister’s attendance was mandatory, said Chretien spokesperson Thoren Hudyma.
But trade is the thread that seems to bind most of Chretien’s travels together.
The cost of the Liberals’ trademark “Team Canada” trips has escalated over the course of Chretien’s tenure.
The first such mission, to China in 1994, cost more than $1.2 million, including the cost of visits to Indonesia and Vietnam.
Last year’s Team Canada trip to China saw Chretien lead an entourage of 600 people to Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai. The total cost for the trip exceeded $6.7 million – more than twice the cost of all the prime minister’s trips abroad in the 1994-95 fiscal year.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the 2001 trip resulted in $5.7 billion in new deals for Canadian businesses.
However, Martin said corporations, not Chretien, were responsible for most contracts.
“Team Canada trips are largely photo-ops for him and those who go with him,” said Martin. “The deals have been made in advance by the private sector and he basically goes to sign on the bottom line.”
It’s typical for leaders nearing the end of their tenure to focus their time and energy abroad, said Prof. Norman Hillmer, a Carleton University history professor specializing in Canadian foreign policy.
That was the case with Brian Mulroney, who embarked on a farewell tour, and Pierre Trudeau, who pitched his peace initiative in several countries during his last year in power.
But Hillmer said Chretien’s recent globetrotting dwarfs that of his predecessors. “Even by fading prime ministerial standards, it’s considerable.”
The prime minister’s travels in 2000, for example, took him to China, Japan, France, Germany, Portugal, Central America, the Caribbean, and throughout the Middle East and United States.
Hillmer said the prime minister deserves credit for his recent commitment to assisting Africa, but said any new aid offered won’t make much difference in Canada’s overall foreign assistance levels.
While Canada has traditionally aimed to spend 0.7 per cent of its GDP on overseas development assistance, it spent only 0.25 per cent in 2000, according to Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development figures. Hillmer said the amount has hovered around that level since the Trudeau years.
“This infusion (of assistance) is not going to change that number by much,” he added.
“This doesn’t have the look and feel of a foreign policy . . . it has the look and feel of prime ministerial improvisation.”
Martin said that while Canada needs a coherent plan closely linked to its defence policy, the prime minister is conducting “foreign policy on the fly.”
“You could ask the prime minister what his five- and 10-year objectives are and I doubt he’d be able to give you an answer.”
Chretien was on an 11-day trip to Africa and his office did not return requests for further comment.