May 2, 2012 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement on the occasion of the swearing-in of Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues to the Burmese parliament:
“Today marks another very important milestone in what has been a historic year for the people of Burma. I congratulate Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues in the National League for Democracy on their historic entry into parliament today and wish them well as they continue to work for democratic change.
“Aung San Suu Kyi has fought tirelessly for more than two decades in defence of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law for the people of Burma. As of today, she continues her pursuit of a better country from within parliament.
“These times of change present an opportunity for the people, elected representatives and government to embrace democratic cooperation. Canada stands ready to support those who are working to build a more democratic and peaceful society.”
http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2012/05/2a.aspx?lang=eng&view=d
April 24, 2012 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today announced that Canada will suspend some sanctions against Burma, which were among the toughest in the world.
“Canada is encouraged by the changes that have taken place in Burma, especially in the last year,” Baird said. “Today’s move signals our support for the reforms championed by the country’s president and demanded by the Burmese people. President Thein Sein and my Burmese foreign minister counterpart and others in power are to be congratulated for staying true to their word; we also applaud democracy champions like the incredible Aung San Suu Kyi for their commitment and involvement in this process.”
“There is more work to be done, but Canada stands ready to support Burma in building a free and prosperous society. The easing of these sanctions will help Burma move in that direction and create jobs, hope and opportunity for the Burmese people.”
Canada has been closely monitoring developments in Burma over the last year, many of which Baird saw evidence of first-hand during his visit to the country in March this year.
Canada welcomed Burma’s release of political prisoners in October 2011 and January 2012. Canada was further encouraged by Burma’s ceasefires forged with some ethnic minorities and the smooth conduct of the April 1 by-elections.
Canada urges those in power to go even further and continue to improve conditions for human rights and democratic development. This would include, among other things, the release of all remaining political prisoners and the halting of all conflict in ethnic-minority areas.
Baird added: “We encourage the authorities to continue their reforms in order to ensure greater openness and freedom for the Burmese people.”
Canada is ready to support Burma’s democratic reform efforts and looks forward to working with the Burmese people as they seek to build a more democratic and peaceful society.
Canada will continue to monitor developments in Burma and will make further changes to its policies as warranted. Canada hopes that these changes will continue to be positive. However, should the situation in Burma deteriorate, Canada stands ready to impose sanctions again.
http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2012/04/24a.aspx?lang=eng&view=d
Related Video and News:
Aye Aye Win
YANGON, Myanmar— The Associated Press
Published Friday, Apr. 13, 2012 8:57AM EDT
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Friday that he will support suspending the European Union’s economic sanctions on Myanmar, which are to be reviewed by the end of the month.
Mr. Cameron spoke after meetings with the country’s reform-minded president, Thein Sein, and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a long-time prisoner who was recently elected to parliament.
However, Mr. Cameron specified that he did not want to see an arms embargo on Myanmar be lifted as part of any easing of sanctions. The embargo, along with economic and political sanctions, was imposed during the repressive rule of the country’s previous ruling military government. …………………………………………………………………………………….
Mr. Cameron, speaking with Ms. Suu Kyi by his side, told reporters he had met with Thein Sein and concluded “there are prospects of change in Burma and I think it is right for the rest of the world to respond to those changes. It is right to suspend the sanctions there are against Burma,” adding that the suspension would “obviously” not include ending the arms embargo. ………………………………………
Ms. Suu Kyi — who attended Oxford and whose late husband was British — endorsed Mr. Cameron’s approach.
“I support the idea of suspension rather than the lifting of sanctions because this would be an acknowledgment of the role of the President and other reformers,” Ms. Suu Kyi said. “This suspension would have taken place because of steps taken by the President and other reformers and it would also make it quite clear to those who are against reform that should they try to obstruct the way of the reformers, then sanctions could come back.”
Detail at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/british-pm-backs-myanmar-sanctions-suspension/article2401079/
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird suggested the government may lift sanctions against Burma because of reforms being made in the country.
“We’re prepared to review everything in terms of our Burma policy,” Baird told host Evan Solomon on CBC’s Power & Politics. “We’re prepared to look at the sanctions, we’re prepared to look at a whole host of other reforms.”
Baird said officials are still waiting for a signal from Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi about her views. Suu Kyi has credited Canada’s tough sanctions against Burma, also known as Myanmar, for helping to spur reforms.
“I think just about all of us around the table at the G8 meeting are reviewing our policies, looking at what we can do to change them, to suspend them,” Baird said.
“Obviously we’re all incredibly pleased with the changes we’ve seen over the past year,” Baird said, adding that there’s more work to be done.
Baird’s comments come as Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, took 43 of 45 parliamentary seats in recent byelections in Burma.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/04/12/burma-baird-sanctions.html
Related News:
iPolitics: Why Burma matters — and what Canada should do
http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/04/03/why-burma-matters-and-what-canada-should-do/
To:
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Chairperson, National League for Democracy
54 University Avenue
Yangon
Burma / Myanmar
April 12, 2012
We wish to add our voice to the millions of people in Burma and around the world who have been rejoicing at the news of your stunning successes in the recent by-elections.
Your steadfast leadership and poise is an inspiration to all who have worked tirelessly in this and so many other causes around the globe, where people are striving for free and democratic states.
We appreciate that there is much yet to be done and wish to assure you that we will continue to support and assist in any way we can to achieve those goals.
We hope that as an Honorary Citizen of Canada you will at some point soon visit our country so that all Canadians can express more directly the appreciation we so deeply feel for the example you are setting.
Happy Burmese New Year!
Sincerely
Canadian Campaign for Free Burma
To:
U Thein Sein
President, Union of Myanmar
Nay Pyi Taw
Myanmar
April 12, 2012
We wish to extend our admiration for the bold decisions that you have taken to advance the cause of bringing democratic rights and freedoms to the people of Myanmar.
Your courage is rightfully being applauded throughout the world and will stand for many years to come as an example of how one courageous man can take decisive steps to change the course of history.
Sincerely
Canadian Campaign for Free Burma
mark mackinnon
RANGOON— From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
Published Saturday, Apr. 07, 2012 8:00AM EDT
It was last summer when a letter arrived at Aung San Suu Kyi’s crumbling and mould-blackened mansion on the sleepy bank of Inya Lake, the heart of Rangoon. The message wasn’t necessarily for her – the name of the addressee was deliberately left off – but it contained a startling proposal: Would whoever received the letter be interested in taking part in an economic conference, a meeting that would also be attended by the new President of Myanmar?
“I would consider it,” she told the interlocutor who hand-delivered the message. A few days later, he returned bearing a similar letter, its intentions made plainer: Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning democracy activist, was being invited to a conference at which she was sure to encounter Thein Sein, the general who had shed his uniform to become Myanmar’s first nominally civilian President.
Their meeting on Aug. 19 would dramatically alter the course of the country better known as Burma. It set the stage for this week’s celebrated by-elections, which saw Ms. Suu Kyi’s long-banned National League for Democracy (NLD) claim victories in 43 of the 45 parliamentary seats that were up for grabs.
It is a result that will soon make the democracy icon the official opposition leader in a parliament still controlled by military and ex-military men. The balance of power hasn’t tilted yet, but by joining hands to bring the NLD into the system, Ms. Suu Kyi and Mr. Thein Sein put Myanmar on a course for something like real democracy, perhaps as early as the next general election in 2015.
Read detail at
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/asia-pacific/is-burma-having-its-mandela-moment/article2394625/
Mitchell Wigdor
Toronto Star
Published On Wed Apr 4 2012
Despite fears that irregularities would derail Burma’s by-elections, both President Thein Sein and Aung San Suu Kyi declared themselves satisfied with the results.
The by-elections were a triumph not just for the National League for Democracy opposition, but for the governing Union Solidarity and Development Party that proved that it could hold a relatively fair election, lose badly and respect the result.
Barring the unforeseen, the NLD will win the 2015 general elections by a landslide. As the nominal successor to the military regime that has ruled Burma for close to 50 years, the USDP cannot offer voters a compelling reason to choose it over the NLD. Will the military accept Aung San Suu Kyi as president?
Click below link for detail
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1156773–shadow-over-burma-s-democracy
Wednesday April 4, 2012
Aung San Suu Kyi’s win in Burma By-Elections
The delight at Aung San Suu Kyi’s election on Sunday in Burma reached all the way across the globe and into the hearts of Canada’s Burmese community where so many know first hand the cost of political struggles. But that euphoria isn’t naïve, after all Ms. Suu Kyi’s party is in a minority. So is what’s happening there merely symbolic or suitably significant?
Listen: (Pop-up)
http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=2219291272
