I think there's a lesson for Canada in the Norway experience, but it's not a nugget in the peace process itself. The thing that struck and very much impressed me was Norway's commitment of resources of very senior political and administrative talent, and their “stick-to-itiveness”. They just kept on keeping on, day after day, week after week, year after year, investing a lot of time, energy, and intelligence in trying to support this process and see it through to a conclusion. I salute Norway for that, and I think the lesson for Canada is that there may be—not necessarily in Sri Lanka, but if you start thinking strategically about the world—niche moments and opportunities like this one in which a very major commitment from a relatively small country, and Norway is far smaller than we are, can make a very significant difference. A country of that sort can play a role that the big powers cannot play. I look at this as something that we in our aid and development policy and planning should think about quite carefully.
