“We are trying to bring two cultures together,” said Bruce Mitchell, associate provost and chair of the institute’s board. “It’s not just language but art, cooking and crafts.” When it opened in May, 2007, the local Confucius Institute was the second institute in Canada. The institute is a partnership between Waterloo and Nanjing University in China.

For 67 years Radio Canada International broadcast short wave programming around the world... Radio Canada International has had its budget cut by 80 per cent and has been reduced to a few staff and a weak web presence.... Unlike the Internet which can often be disrupted short wave signals cannot easily be jammed. Many in the world just have no access to phones or electricity let alone the Internet.

"Soft" power looks like a different story but, to take two examples, Brazil has signed no trade deal since the mid-1990s and its quest for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council has been an abject failure, gaining little support from fellow ...

This gradually developed into the Chrétien government’s endorsement of “soft power,” a phrase originated by former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s national security adviser Joe Nye, which was a soft alternative to the use of American military might.

Canada maintaining in Haiti, a long-standing relationship. This relationship was built first and foremost, on people, many Haitian and Canadian travel between our two countries and thus contribute to forging close ties. These exchanges have particularly enriched the culture of our two countries and lead to many cultural events and activities.

“Language instruction always comes with values and with ideologies and messages...but in the Canadian context, where academic freedom and intellectual expression are highly prized . . . an institution that can provide high-quality language instruction should be embraced.”

Canada’s brand could also be enhanced by associating with iconic, highly visible projects in Asian countries. For example, Ottawa should push to achieve partner-country status for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, Asia’s largest building project (Japan is already there). It’s also time to revisit the argument to build a Sovereign Wealth Fund by pooling our resource rents.