By BESS HARVEY
Former Canadian Prime minister, Kim Campbell, will speak at 7 P.M. tonight in 710 TNRB.
Campbell’s speech, “Canada and the United States: Partnership in New Times,” is part of the Palmer Distinguished Lecture in Canadian Studies series. This is an annual lecture in honor of the Palmer family, who were early LDS pioneers in Alberta, Canada.
“Campbell has a very broad background in Canadian government and she is very articulate. She is a very good person to speak on Canada-U.S. relations,” said Earl Fry, director of Canadian studies.
Campbell was Canada’s 19th, as well as the first woman, prime minister. She held office from June 25, 1993 to November 4, 1993. She took the place of Brian Mulroney as the Progressive Conservative Party leader in June. In November, Campbell’s party lost to the Liberal Party headed by Jean Chretien, who is still Canada’s prime minister.
In addition to being prime minister, Campbell held other offices in Canada’s government including minister of justice, attorney general, minister of state for Indian affairs and northern development and minister of national defense and veterans affairs, according to a news release.
She is now Canada’s consul-general in Los Angeles.
Campbell received her education in international relations and political science from the University of British Columbia and the London School of Economics, according to a news release.
Campbell has served as a Distinguished Fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, the Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School and Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, according to a news release.
Canada is the leading trading partner of the United States, Fry said in a news release. Two-way trade in goods and services totals almost $1 billion per day. During the 1990s the United States has exported more to the province of Ontario than to Japan, Fry said.
Two-thirds of all Canadians live within 100 miles of the U.S.-Canadian border. Canadians are also the leading foreign visitors to the United States, according to the news release.
Many enroll in U.S. universities.
“BYU enrolls more Canadian students than any other institution of higher learning in the United States. Approximately 500 attend each year,” Fry said.
While the United States provides education for some Canadians, Canadian-owned companies employ many U.S. citizens.
“Canadian-owned companies in the United States provide 700,000 jobs for American workers. The total U.S. employment linked to economic ties with Canada surpasses 3 million (people),” Fry said.
Both Canada and the United States take pride in having the world’s longest undefended border,Fry said.
However, this does not prevent problems.
The two countries are involved in a dispute over the conservation of Pacific salmon.
In a news release, Fry said the Clinton administration has also refused to ban land mines, an international effort spearheaded by the Canadian government.
Fry also said the U.S. Congress has passed legislation that would require all foreign visitors to seek visas and fill out information forms. This legislation, if passed, would clog the border entries along the U.S.-Canadian border.
