HANOI — Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon on Friday signed a friendship and non-aggression pact with Southeast Asia, saying the region has made progress on human rights.
Cannon signed the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation with his counterparts from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) during a regional security conference in Vietnam.
"We recognise of course the importance of promoting peace and stability in the region," Cannon told AFP before the ceremony.
"We also are assured that this treaty indeed is a first step towards the betterment of human rights in the region. Obviously Canada for some time had not acceded to that treaty because we felt that the guarantees to move forward weren't there."
Now ASEAN has taken "a good step in the right direction" with the inauguration this year of a commission to address the rights of women and children, as well as a human rights commission founded last year, Cannon said.
"Therefore we're comfortable with that and we'll be more than pleased to sign that treaty," he said.
Activists have expressed concern whether either of ASEAN's rights bodies -- which have no powers of enforcement -- can actually protect the region's most vulnerable.
The minister said Canada will continue to push for further progress on human rights, including the rights of women.
Canada's closest ally, the United States, last year signed the friendship pact with ASEAN, joining more than 15 nations from outside Southeast Asia, which have acceded.
Turkey also joined the pact on Friday, and ministers signed a separate document which would allow the accession of the European Union at a later time.
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