Article content continued

“Even in G7 countries, there can be destitution, exclusion and inequality,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon wrote in an article for CNN earlier this month. “Universality implies that all countries will need to change, each with its own approach, but each with a sense of the global common good.”

Applying the plan in Canada could have ramifications for underprivileged communities such as First Nations, who have typically lagged behind the rest of the population when it comes to access to education, health care and other government services.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other G7 leaders said in Germany last week that they were “committed to achieving an ambitious, people-centred, planet-sensitive and universally applicable Post-2015 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

But a briefing memo for International Development Minister Christian Paradis and obtained by the Ottawa Citizen indicates that while the Conservative government has supported the plan’s universal nature in public, it has no plans to actually apply the plan in Canada.

“Unlike most of our traditional like-minded countries, Canada has no plans to apply the Post-2015 Agenda domestically, or to take on new reporting obligations beyond what we are currently producing,” reads the memo, prepared for Paradis for a meeting with former governor general and la Francophonie head Michaelle Jean last week.

The memo adds that “there will be international and domestic pressure to commit to domestic action and to report on the targets.” But it says Canada already has a variety of programs at different levels of government, “which aligns well with many of the proposed goals and targets.”