Can "good governance" be "exported" to developing countries, especially by a country such as Canada? If so, should Canadians be exporting good governance abroad? These are, of course, difficult questions, the answers to which can be both politically charged and hotly contested. Still, they are questions that must be asked, if for no other reason than that, over the course of the last two decades, millions of Canadian dollars have been spent on good governance programs, with varied results to show for it.
On 27 October 2007, approximately thirty esteemed academics and former and current practitioners met at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Waterloo, Ontario, for a panel discussion on Canadian good governance programming. The basis for the discussion was the newly released collection of essays entitled "Exporting Good Governance: Temptations and Challenges in Canada's Aid Program" (Wilfrid Laurier University Press/CIGI), edited by Jennifer Welsh and Ngaire Woods. Sponsored by the Canadian International Council (CIC), the session was chaired by Mokhtar Lomani, the special representative of the Arab League in Iraq in 2006. The panelists included both of the book's editors, as well as Robert Greenhill, president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and Maureen O'Neil, president of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).