From the founding of the League of Nations (the forerunner of the United Nations) to leadership roles in the Commonwealth and La Francophonie, Canada has worked to bring the world together in peaceful discussion. Real Canadian diplomacy started when Canada gained diplomatic independence from Great Britain with the 1926 appointment of Vincent Massey to open a four-person legation in Washington. A year later, Canada appointed ministers (as ambassadors were called then) to Paris and Japan. Canada now has more than 100 embassies and High Commissions (as Commonwealth representation is termed) around the world.

• Canada's French-speaking population is the second largest in the world, and Canada was one of the original 20 members of La Francophonie, an assembly of European countries and former French colonies in which French is a common language. Quebec and New Brunswick have full status and the freedom to act independently during meetings of the organization.

• The Mine Ban Treaty, drafted by Canadian diplomats in 1997 and signed by more than 150 countries, bans the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines. These indiscriminate weapons kill and maim innocent people decades after conflict ends.

• Canada's then foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy and Foreign Affairs staff were a driving force behind the International Criminal Court, established with the signing of the Rome Statute in 1998. Almost 100 countries have ratified it, giving the world a place where war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity can be tried.

• Building on the success of the land-mines campaign, Canada and Norway extended the idea to other threats to people's safety, such as disrespect for human rights, small arms and the effects of armed conflict on children. The 12-nation Human Security Network grew out of their 1998 "Lysøen" partnership.

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