Jordan a beacon of hope in the world — Canada governor

AMMAN — Canada admires the important role Jordan has been playing as a force for stability, security and peace in a very challenging neighbourhood of the world, Canada’s governor general said on Monday.

In an interview with The Jordan Times, Canada’s Governor General David Johnston said there is a strong relationship between Amman and Ottawa, noting that this has been the case for many decades.

“We in Canada are honoured to be helpful in a number of areas,” said Johnston, who on Tuesday concluded his four-day visit to the Kingdom, during which he held talks with His Majesty King Abdullah.

“The focus of our visit has been on development in education innovation, on trade and of course being as helpful as we can as Jordan deals with a big challenge on Syrian refugees,” he added.

On the last day of their state visit, Johnston and his wife Sharon toured the Baptism Site, 40km west of Amman, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Agreements and cooperation in education 

Johnston said a number of agreements have been signed during his visit to the Kingdom.

“There was a signing of an agreement of audiovisual programmes and in fact... [on Sunday] we saw the premier of a film by Canadian producers that was done here in Jordan using your fantastic scenery,” he added.

“So Jordan and Canada can co-produce films and we see this as a big step in a very important area in digital media. We also had announced through the ambassador... two specific programmes directed at the municipalities carrying the responsibility and the enormous work of the influx of Syrian refugees in their communities,” he added.

Johnston said Canada is honoured to be a partner with Jordan in developing the profession of teachers as they educate the next generation of young citizens and prepare them to take on a leadership role.

“We visited the Queen Rania [Teacher] Academy... In 2010, Canada, through its global affairs ministry, provided substantial funding for the building which houses the national teacher training programmes...” he added.

Refugee crisis

Johnston affirmed that Jordan has a long history of receiving waves of refugees.

“We go back to after World War II, with the arrival of Palestinian people here, and then we had the Kuwait war; we had the Iraq-Iran war; we have the Syrian crisis, and as we speak — the city of Mosul, the challenges there, I suspect we will see another wave of refugees,” the governor noted.

“Jordan has been an exemplary in doing more than its share... Canada’s role is to help directly where we can, but also to sensitise the larger world community to see this as a global responsibility, not just Jordan’s responsibility, and helping to deal with 65 million displaced [people] around the world because of these conflicts,” he added.

Johnston said Canada has a message to make to the world.

“Our message to the world and Western countries in particular [is] first of, all admire Jordan for what it is doing. It is quite remarkable and courageous. And secondly, realise the huge burden that the people of Jordan [are carrying]... that should be shouldered by others, not simply this country. 

“Thirdly... this is a beacon of hope in the world... [a] little country like Jordan can do so much both in the direct response to a crisis, but also serving as a broker for peace actively in so many parts of the world,” Johnston added.