Africa–Canada relations
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Canada – Africa relations are relations between
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and the peoples and countries of the
African continent Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.


History


Early years

Africa and Canada had few contacts before the twentieth century. A small number of Africans were taken as slaves to Canada during the
Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade, transatlantic slave trade, or Euro-American slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people, mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and i ...
. However
slavery in Canada Slavery in Canada includes both that practised by First Nations from earliest times and that under European colonization. Britain banned the institution of slavery in present-day Canada (and British colonies) in 1833, though the practice of sla ...
was not a major part of the economy or social system, either under French (1534–1763) or
British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
. A few Christian missionaries from Canada may have visited Africa. Canada and Africa were both part of a global trading system, linked by European
trading companies Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...
such as the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
and the
Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trade, trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal House of Stuart, Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the West Africa, west coast of Africa. It was led by the J ...
. However, as both Canada and African were raw-material exporting areas, they mostly traded with manufacturers in Europe, and not with each other. Canadians first became involved with African politics because of British imperial wars there. A group of 386 Canadian
voyageurs The voyageurs (; ) were 18th and 19th century French Canadians who engaged in the transporting of furs via canoe during the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ' ...
participated in the 1884-1885
Nile Expedition The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan af ...
during the
Mahdist War The Mahdist War ( ar, الثورة المهدية, ath-Thawra al-Mahdiyya; 1881–1899) was a war between the Mahdist Sudanese of the religious leader Muhammad Ahmad bin Abd Allah, who had proclaimed himself the "Mahdi" of Islam (the "Guided On ...
in
Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. A larger Canadian contingent took part in the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
(1899–1902), helping to keep South Africa within the British Empire. Canadian writer
Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...
lived in
British Somaliland British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate ( so, Dhulka Maxmiyada Soomaalida ee Biritishka), was a British Empire, British protectorate in present-day Somaliland. During its existence, the territory was bordered by Italian Soma ...
then the Gold Coast British colony in the 1950s. African folk culture and colonial relations informed her work, and after her return to Canada she became a leading figure in Canadian literature.


After African independence

Following the era of Decolonization in Africa, Canada was one of the few major industrialized Western countries that had good initial relations with most independent countries. This was because of several important Canadian characteristics shared with African countries, according to a 2004 briefing note by the Canadian Council on Africa. Canada's two official languages,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and French are two of the most widely spoken in Africa. Canada's official multiculturalism (after 1971) and growing
African-Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...
community have also helped relations. Canada uses both the English
common law system In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...
and French
civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ar ...
(Province of
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
only) that are used in much of Africa. Canada is the only G8 country that never possessed any overseas colonies, thus Canadians do not carry any imperial baggage in Africa". Canada shares many geographic similarities to many African countries in that the latter are large, sparsely-populated wild areas with few major cities and face major challenges with the delivery of government services, much like Canada at the beginning of the 20th century. Both Canada and most African countries rely on natural resource development and international trade for economic growth. Canadian companies also play a major part in the mining and resource development sector in Africa, with over $3.5 billion in capital invested on the continent. This makes it the single largest foreign investor in resource development. Canada is also a member of both
the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...
and
La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
, which together include most countries in Africa. During the 1990s, Canadian involvement in African dropped as the result of government cutbacks to the aid and foreign affairs budgets. This was largely reversed during the short government of Paul Martin, whose government announced several new commitments to Africa. During this period, Canada grew to become the 3rd largest foreign donor in Africa, with numerous humanitarian development projects spanning many countries. The majority of these projects were administered by the
Canadian International Development Agency The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was a federal Canadian organization that administered foreign aid programs in developing countries. The agency was merged into the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2013 by the federal governmen ...
, with funding provided by the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Global Affairs Canada (GAC; french: Affaires mondiales Canada; AMC)''Global Affairs Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (). is the department o ...
. However, relations have deteriorated under the government of Stephen Harper, which is cited as one of the reasons Canada failed to win a seat on the UN Security Council in 2010. That same year the
Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
also suspended all aid to Africa, a sharp shift from its position as a key humanitarian donor and development partner in Africa.


References


Bibliography

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Africa-Canada relations Foreign relations of Canada by region Politics of Africa