Remarks With Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird After Their Meeting

8/6/2019 Remarks With Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird After Their Meeting

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Remarks With Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird After TheirMeeting

Remarks

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of StateTreaty Room

Washington, DC

August 4, 2011

SECRETARY CLINTON: Hello, good afternoon, everyone. Its a real

pleasure to welcome Minister Baird here in his new capacity as the foreignminister. Ive had the opportunity to meet with him briefly in the past, but

today we had a chance to go over the very rich substantive agenda that

our two countries are working on together, both bilaterally, regionally,

and globally.

Before I get into that, however, I would like to comment on the famine

situation in Somalia. As you may know, Dr. Jill Biden will be leading a

delegation of high-level American officials, including AID AdministratorRaj Shah and Assistant Secretary Eric Schwartz from the State

Department, to Kenya to see firsthand over this weekend the situation,

because as the situation in Somalia and East Africa so clearly illustrates,

we all need to be responding to the very human tragedy that is unfolding.

The United States, through the State Department and the U.S. Agency for

International Development, is working with the international community

and governments in the Horn of Africa to address the short-term

immediate needs in the region. But at the same time, we will continue to

press our implementation of our Feed the Future initiative to mitigate the

long-term effects of prolonged drought and food shortages in the future.

I would like publicly to express our deep appreciation to Canada for the

Canadian Governments and the Canadian peoples strong partnership


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and extensive aid in the region.

In certain areas of Somalia where access has been possible, including

parts of Mogadishu, and in the refugee centers hosted by Ethiopia and

Kenya, we are saving many Somali lives. However, al-Shabaab militants

have deliberately blocked the delivery of food assistance in an area of

south central Somalia which is under direct or indirect control of al-

Shabaab. And that also includes some areas of Mogadishu and its

environs.

It is particularly tragic that during the Holy Month of Ramadan, al-

Shabaab are preventing assistance to the most vulnerable populations in

Somalia, namely children, including infants and girls and women who are

attempting to bring themselves and those children to safety and to the

potential of being fed before more deaths occur. I call on al-Shabaab to

allow assistance to be delivered in an absolutely unfettered way

throughout the area that they currently control so that as many lives as

possible can be saved.

Now to my meeting with the minister and I want to express, on behalf

of myself and certainly our government, our appreciation for your

friendship to the United States. We also are aware of how well known you

are for your candor and your ability to cut to the heart of any issue. That

was most welcome in our meeting today, and we were able to cover many

of our shared goals and commitments.

We are bound together in so many obvious ways, of geography and

commerce, culture, values, but it is worth noting that 300,000 people

and $1.7 billion in goods and services cross our border every single day.

So as close neighbors who work, trade, and interact with one another, we

are seeking ways to create jobs for our own citizens, Canadians and

Americans alike. Therefore, its critical that we ensure our border remains

a safe, vibrant connector of people, trade, and energy. And today, the

minister and I discussed other ways to expand trade and investment; for


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example, by reducing unnecessary regulations that get in the way of our

businesses doing business.

We also discussed our joint efforts to expand security around the world. I

am greatly appreciative of Canadas contributions in Afghanistan, where

Canadian soldiers have suffered some of the highest casualty rates of any

coalition partner. And Canada continues to help the Afghan people take

responsibility for their own security.

We also appreciate Canadas contribution to enforcing UN Security

Council Resolution 1973 in Libya. And I was very interested in hearing

Minister Bairds impressions from his recent trip to Benghazi.

We also talked about how Canada and the United States can expand our

cooperation throughout the Western Hemisphere by leveraging our

resources to support economic development, citizens safety, and good

governance with our neighbors to the south.

Prime Minister Harper has long emphasized his intentions to expand

Canadas engagement in the Americas and the Caribbean, and Canada

showed its extraordinary commitment to the people of Haiti in its greatoutpouring of relief following the earthquake. And theres much we can

do to make sure that our borders to the south are secure, and that means

helping Central American countries strengthen their policing and rule of

law and reducing corruption. This is these are areas where Canadas

expertise can make a real difference.

So among the many things we discussed, those are some of the issues

that we are working on, but our work continues. I am grateful for theministers strong commitment to our robust alliance and our unwavering

friendship, and I look forward to continuing our work together.

FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Thank you very much, Madam Secretary, and

thank you for the warm welcome here at the State Department. Our two


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countries continue to enjoy one of the closest friendships and the most

prosperous partnerships in the world. Not only do we share a border; we

also share people-to-people ties like no other countries on earth, and

increasingly intertwined economies, which is why, under the leadership of

President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, we remain

focused not only on important bilateral issues, but also on global ones as

well.

Secretary Clinton and I see eye to eye on the evolving situations in both

Libya and in Syria. In Libya, we remain committed to the NTC and its

vision for a free Libya in a post-Qadhafi era. In Syria, we stand united in

condemning the actions of the Asad regime and backing calls of the

Syrian people for true and meaningful reform.

Closer to home, we discussed the path forward on the shared border

initiative. Our government recently received a strong mandate from

Canadians to create jobs and to secure the global recovery. To that end,

even stronger cooperation between Canada and the United States simply

makes sense. We must speed up legitimate trade and travel between our

two countries while also enhancing security and protecting our citizens

privacy.

(Speaking in French.)

I would close by thanking Secretary Clinton for her tireless dedication and

innovative approach to global diplomacy, and of problem-solving in the

international scene. Canada and the United States share very similar core

values in our international relations. I know we will continue to work

together in a variety of areas to accomplish great things. We are and we

will continue to be great partners. Thank you, merci beaucoup.

MR. TONER: We have time for two questions on each side today. The first

one goes to Elise Labott of CNN.


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QUESTION: Thank you. Madam Secretary, Id like to ask you about Syria.

You said and the President said months ago that if President Asad cannot

lead a transition, he should get out of the way. Youve said hes lost

legitimacy. If you look at the situation on the ground, particularly in

Hama, its dire. There are tanks inside the country, and basically, nobody

has heard from a lot of their people inside the country. I was wondering

what more its going to have to take for the United States to call on

President Asad to step down? What kind of levers can you push to stop

the violence and get him out of the way? And what about the sanctions on

the oil and gas sector that you had spoken about? What can the U.S. do to

stop this tragedy? Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I think your description is all too accurate.

Weve seen the Asad regime continue and intensify its violent assault

against its own people this week. Sometimes you lose sight of the

incredible tragedy unfolding on the streets by just looking at the

numbers which are so numbing, but the shooting death of a one-year-

old recently by the Syrian regimes tanks and troops is a very stark

example of what is going on.

We think to date, the government is responsible for the deaths of more

than 2,000 people of all ages, and the United States has worked very hard

to corral and focus international opinion to take steps toward a unified

response to the atrocities that are occurring. We stand fully behind the

UN Security Council presidential statement, which was agreed to last

evening, which condemns the widespread violation of human rights and

the use of force against civilians by Syrian authorities. And we call, along

with the UN Security Council, on the authorities to end all violenceagainst affected towns, comply with their obligations under applicable

international law, allow immediate and unfettered access for international

humanitarian agencies and workers.

As Ive said before and as others in our government have said, President


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Asad has lost his legitimacy to govern the Syrian people. We continue to

support the Syrians themselves in their efforts to begin a peaceful and

orderly transition to democracy. I met on Tuesday with a group of U.S.-

based Syrian activists and members of the Syrian American community to

express our solidarity and sympathy for all Syrian victims of the Asad

regimes abuses. The activists reaffirmed the internal oppositions vision

of a transitional plan for a Syria that will be representative, inclusive, and

pluralistic, for a new united Syria with a government subject to the rule of

law, and fully respectful of the equality of every Syrian irrespective of

sect, ethnicity, or gender. And I encouraged the activists to work closely

with their colleagues inside Syria to create such a unified vision.

So we are seized of the concerns posed by what is happening in Syria,

and we know that its taken time to pull together a broader international

coalition to speak out against what is happening in Syria, but we are

committed to doing all we can to increase the pressure, including

additional sanctions, but not just U.S. sanctions, because frankly, we

dont have a lot of business with Syria. We need to get Europeans and

others. We need to get the Arab states. We need to get a much louder,

more effective chorus of voices that are putting pressure on the Asadregime, and were working to obtain that.

QUESTION: Do you think that theres not enough international outrage

about this? I mean, the U.S. has had trouble at the United Nations

pushing for even stronger condemnations, such as a resolution. I mean,

are you hampered by what you can do by the lack of international will on

this?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, let me say this, Elise. We are working very

hard to increase that international will. What happened last night in the

Security Council could not have happened a week ago. So in effect, other

governments, other peoples voices are starting to be heard, and we think

thats essential.


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MR. TONER: Next question goes to Paul Workman of CTV.

QUESTION: Thank you. Secretary Clinton, first of all, Im wondering if we

could talk about the Keystone Pipeline and why the delays in coming to a

decision and what concerns you might have about the importation of

whats been called dirty oil into the United States.

And for Minister Baird and both of you, actually on Somalia, first of all,

did you talk about military action against al-Shabaab? And on Libya,

would either of you accept to have Qadhafi stay in the country if he steps

down? And what do you think of this latest report that he may want to

join with the Islamists in order to drive the rebels out?

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I will answer your first question, and I will let

the minister answer your next three. (Laughter.)

FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Thats called a partnership. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: We are reviewing TransCanadas permit

application for Keystone XL Pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canadian border.

As you know, this includes analysis and assessment of multiple factors,

as well as reviewing hundreds of thousands of comments that have been

received during the public comment period. We are leaving no stone

unturned in this process and we expect to make a decision on the permit

before the end of this year.

FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: On the Keystone Pipeline, this is obviously

tremendously important to the future prosperity of the Canadian

economy. We had a good discussion about it, and I respect that the

Secretary is the decider, so she listened respectfully. Were pleased that

theres a the recent announcement about the process, that there will be

some public consultation, and obviously look forward to a decision on

this. It is a very important project not just for our government, but I think

for Canadians and the future of the Canadian economy.


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I think while were deeply concerned about al-Shabaabs actions in

Somalia at this time, were not contemplating military action. Obviously,

both countries have an experience from that, some 16, 17, 18 years ago.

With respect to Colonel Qadhafi staying in Libya, I believe when I visited

Benghazi the bottom line of the NTC was that he and his family had to

leave power. Certainly, were supportive of that as a minimum. At the end

of the day, though, a post-Qadhafi Libya should those decisions should

be made by Libyans themselves, but I appreciated the comments of the

NTC when I visited Benghazi in that regard.

MR. TONER: Next is Kirit Radia of ABC News.

QUESTION: Hi. Thank you very much to you both. Madam Secretary,

before I get to my question, Id like to just follow up on Elises question,

because I --

SECRETARY CLINTON: (Laughter.) I warned John before we came out

here that two plus two did not equal four. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Well, Canada is double the allies. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Thats right. But I would like to ask you just about whether or

not to call on President Asad to go, why not do that?

My question was about Somalia, following on your comments. The recent

UNICEF appeal for $300 million has only yielded a couple million dollars

contributed so far. What are you saying to allies, to other countries

around the world, to try to get them on board? And recently this week,

several officials have suggested that the U.S. would be open to some sortof agreement working with al-Shabaab, or elements of it that would be

willing to cooperate if they were to allow some aid in. What can you tell

us about that? Thank you.

SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first, as to the follow-up on Syria, I think Ive


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said all I can say, that we are working around the clock to try to gather up

as much international support for strong actions against the Syrian

regime as possible. I come from the school that actions speak louder

than words.

Now with respect to Somalia and al-Shabaab, I want to put this in the

broader context. Millions of people are suffering, and those millions of

people are in Ethiopia and Kenya; they are in parts of Somalia that are not

controlled by al-Shabaab. So there is more than enough work for the

international community to do to help save lives without even having to

worry about the al-Shabaab controlled areas. So of course, I urge a

response to the UNs appeal.

The United States is now approaching half a billion dollars in support for

famine relief, and we have communicated, I have spoken directly with

Prime Minister Meles. We have spoken with the Kenyan Government. We

are working with a lot of the UN and multilateral organizations as well as

the NGOs to try to better organize to deliver the food stuffs that are

necessary, particularly to save childrens lives from this famine that

theyre encountering.

With respect to al-Shabaab, what the United States has done in the last

week is to make it clear our understanding of how difficult it will be to

get aid into the al-Shabaab controlled regions. Therefore, we know that

al-Shabaab imposes taxes on people who try to bring aid to assist in

saving lives from this drought and famine. We know that they make

money from kidnapping those who are attempting to provide

humanitarian relief. We know how difficult this is. Therefore, we dont

want to add to the difficulty.

If people from the UN or from other organizations are trying to get food

into the al-Shabaab controlled region, the United States will not be

imposing the penalties that are called for under our laws, particularly, as

you know, the Patriot Act, which talks about any material support that


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goes to terrorists. And if it inadvertently does go to al-Shabaab, we think,

unfortunately, the situation calls for us to offer some room for more

maneuverability in trying to get the food in. At the end of the day, the

best way to get food into those areas is for al-Shabaab to actually care

about the people under their control.

MR. TONER: The next question is (inaudible) from Radio-Canada.

QUESTION: Thank you very much. (In French.)

And for Madam Secretary, Id first like to follow up on my colleagues

question regarding Keystone and what your concerns are for the

environmental impact of the extraction of oil from the oil sands. And thequestion I asked the minister on the differences, really also, and policies

between the actions in Libya and the ones in Syria. Can you explain those

differences, please?

FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Listen. I mean, obviously, the United Nations

Security Council passed Resolution 1973, which gave a significant

amount of leeway for allies to come together and to tackle the challenge

that we saw on the ground, were there very actively protecting civilianlives.

The situation in Syria, the actions of the Asad regime are obviously

abhorrent. The way theyve acted in recent weeks and months, even in

the last 48 hours in Hama is absolutely disgraceful. Regrettably, we dont

have the same amount of international support at the UN for this, so I

think in the absence of that, what weve got to continue to do is to work

with like-minded allies. And theres not a theres no country, I think,who can single-handedly tackle this challenge. Weve got to work

aggressively with others.

I think recently Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom have

toughened up our sanctions, and we had a good discussion today about


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what we could do going forward.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

FOREIGN MINISTER BAIRD: Ah, excuse. Do you want to do the Frenchanswer? (Laughter.)

(In French.)

SECRETARY CLINTON: I would only add to Johns comments about Syria

versus Libya. As he pointed out, the response from the international

community was very different with respect to Libya, not only with, first,

UN Security Council Resolution 1970, but then 1973. You had a call for

action to protect civilians from the Gulf States, from the Arab League. So I

think that there may be many reasons for it, but the step that we did see

made last night in the Security Council is the first step of what we hope

will be continuing steps to try to unite the world in both our rhetorical

outrage, but in actions that will send a very clear message to the Asad

regime, the insiders there, that theres a price to pay for this kind of

abuse and attacks on their own people.

With respect to Keystone, we are planning to issue the final

environmental impact statement this month. Then once that final

statement is issued, interested in federal agencies on our side, including

the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency,

under our laws have a 90-day period to review and provide their views on

whether a permit should be issued. We think its critically important to

hear the publics views, and so the State Department in September will

host public meetings in all six of the states through which the Pipelinewill pass.

Weve been clear from the beginning that the safety of the Pipeline is one

of our highest priorities. We have not only conferred with the EPA, but

also with an organization called the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials


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Safety Association. And we have worked diligently to ensure we have full

understanding of all of the consequences, including the very important

point that the minister made to me about energy security and what that

means for our two countries. And we have worked with the applicant,

with TransCanada, to develop a set of conditions above and beyond what

is required by law to ensure that if the permit is issued, the project will

be as safe as it could possibly be.

But because I am very conscious of the role that I play and that the State

Department plays, that is as full an explanation as I can provide.

Thank you all very much.

Documents

Remarks With Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird After Their Meeting