Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Canada) Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) was among the most powerful departments of the Government of Canada.In the late-1980s and early-1990s it was known as External Affairs and International Trade Canada. In 1993, the newly elected Liberal government changed it to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (an Act of Parliament formally recognized the change in 1995). The department maintained two separate ministers, one for foreign affairs and the other for trade, and added an additional one (the Minister for International Cooperation) with responsibilities for agencies such as CIDA (the Canadian International Development Agency).
The change of terminology from "External Affairs" to "Foreign Affairs" marked an important milestone in Canadian foreign policy. At the time of the External Affairs portfolio's inception in 1905, Canada was a self-governing dominion in the British Empire that did not have its independent foreign policy, conducting most of its relations with other parts of the British Empire that could not be considered "foreign" lands.
The government of Paul Martin split the department into two once again in December 2003, the successor organizations are Foreign Affairs Canada and International Trade Canada.
The department was headquartered in the Lester B. Pearson Building on the bank of the Ottawa River in the nation's capital.
See also
- List of Canadian Ministers of Foreign Affairs (1993-)
- List of Canadian Secretaries of State for External Affairs (1909-1993)
- List of Canadian Ministers for International Trade (1983-)
- List of Canadian Ministers for International Cooperation (1996-)
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