11 Mobilizing the World: Brian Mulroney and Canada’s Humanitarian Response to Fa
11 Mobilizing the World: Brian Mulroney and Canada’s Humanitarian Response to Famine in Sub-Saharan Africa
Jonathon Zimmer
Introduction:
When Progressive Conservative leader, Brian Mulroney ran for federal election in 1984, he campaigned on four broad themes in an attempt to defeat the governing Liberals that had held power almost continuously since 1963: prudent fiscal management, an engaged and responsive foreign policy, a revamped social policy, and improved federal-provincial relations.[1] While humanitarian issues in Canadian foreign policy were absent from the campaign, especially those related to a relatively unknown famine developing in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Progressive Conservatives were well situated to address disasters from their own policy standpoint. However, once the election concluded with a Progressive Conservative victory, and the new government was sworn in, media outlets across the nation presented shocking images of human suffering in that region of Africa, which moved Canadians towards action. Mulroney and his Cabinet found themselves beset by an eager public demanding the Canadian government to assist those affected by the famine in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Ethiopia. An all-party response quickly coalesced as Canada’s public and private resources began an arduous process of mobilization to deliver aid to the people of famine-stricken Ethiopia. This paper demonstrates how Mulroney managed Canada’s response, both within his government and those interacting with the international community through the United Nations. His deployment of key individuals to critical areas in the relief effort and in international relations played a pivotal role in marshalling the Canadian people in an effort never seen before.
We should not minimize Mulroney’s personal commitment, however, as he was moved by the images just like the rest of the nation: he was appalled and shocked by human suffering on such a large scale. Even if he wished to act expeditiously, Canada’s response to the crisis was hampered by a sluggish international response, wariness among its allies towards Africa, and bitter Cold War politics that forced Canada to build an international coalition with the aim of addressing the crisis in the beleaguered African nation. If it were not for Mulroney’s own determination to act on the famine, aid to Ethiopia would have been severely undermined, and the new Progressive Conservative government’s image at home and abroad would have been tarnished.
Various factors led to the famine in Sub-Saharan Africa, namely political instability, drought, and overpopulation. These emerging trends, combined with previous famines that dotted the twentieth century, quickly overwhelmed the impoverished nation of Ethiopia. Emperor Hallie Selassie had ruled Ethiopia until the early 1970s, when a communist revolution, spearheaded by a military junta, seized power. Famine had been one of the reasons Selassie had been overthrown. The new communist g