Hosting the Economic Leaders’ Meeting 1997: Canada and APEC

Abstract On 24th-25th November, 1997, Canada hosted the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Vancouver. The federal government as well as many provincial leaders used this opportunity to present their country as a nation maintaining a multitude of cultural, political, economic and social ties with other countries in the Asia Pacific, in short, as a country which belongs to the region. Therefore, a multifaceted program was designed to precede and surround last year’s APEC activities and 1997 was declared ‘Canada’s Year of the Asia Pacific’. Apart from helping to build a sense of community in the Asia Pacific region, the strategy aimed at achieving some very concrete, mainly economic goals. This article analyzes three of these goals in detail, namely Canada’s interest in reducing its dependence on the U.S. market, in stimulating exports to the region, and in attracting business immigrants from Asia. Based on these determinants the paper examines Canada’s APEC policy, putting great emphasis on the government’s strategy for the 1997 meeting and assessing its success.