Paris, Baghdad, Riyadh, the Vatican, and soon Beijing. The list of ambassadorial positions that are to be filled is growing in Canadian diplomacy.
Current Canadian Ambassador to China Dominic Barton caused some surprise on Monday by announcing he will step down on December 31 as China-Canada relations remain troubled despite the release of the two Michael this fall.
Those relations could deteriorate if Canada follows in the footsteps of the United States by imposing a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, which open on February 4 in Beijing. The Canadian government also risks falling under the wrath of the Communist regime if it bans Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from participating in the deployment of 5G technology in Canada.
The list of vacant positions is also growing just as the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau is raising the idea of increasing the number of diplomats posted abroad, especially in the Indo-Pacific region and in the whole of the Arctic, in order to foster “increased engagement with coalitions, organizations and international partners”.
Dominic Barton has announced that he is bowing out, with the feeling of a duty accomplished – that of having facilitated the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who had languished behind Chinese bars since 1er December 2018.
He was praised by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who greeted his “friend” and accepted his decision to leave with “a lot of gratitude and respect”. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, went so far as to predict in a statement that Dominic Barton “will go down in history as one of Canada’s great diplomats”.
Choose a diplomat
The leader of the official opposition, Erin O’Toole, also sent him flowers on Monday morning, but the pot – swung in the direction of the Liberals – quickly followed.
Calling the Sino-Canadian relationship a “mess,” he criticized the Trudeau government for waiting months to replace former ambassador John McCallum in Beijing, who was forced to resign after messing up the affair. Meng Wanzhou.
He thus urged the Prime Minister to appoint a “professional diplomat”, and not “a friend of the Liberal Party”.
Former Canadian Ambassador to China, Guy Saint-Jacques is also of the opinion that the choice of the Prime Minister should stop on a diplomat, “especially if Canada decides to join the political boycott of the Olympic Games – and I think that ‘he will do it’ and that the government renders a negative verdict in the Huawei case.
“It’s going to be a thankless task for the next ambassador,” he predicts. So would Ottawa be “better served at this point by someone in the trade, a career diplomat, an expert on China?” […] who will be able to be firm with the Chinese, because the Chinese have become very aggressive in diplomacy, ”believes the one who was in Beijing between 2012 and 2016.
Still no ambassador in Paris
In Paris, the post of Ambassador has been vacant for more than six months following the departure of Isabelle Hudon, who stepped down after a four-year term to become President and CEO of the Development Bank. of Canada (BDC).
According to Jocelyn Coulon, who is a researcher at the Center for International Studies and Research at the University of Montreal (CERIUM) and former political advisor to the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion, it is quite “astounding” to see that the post in Paris is still vacant.
The absence of an ambassador in Paris is astounding as France is campaigning for next year’s presidential election. If it was mid-term, it could still pass. But it remains inexplicable. Mme Hudon was appointed to BDC in April. This means that his departure must have been discussed for weeks. It didn’t fall from the sky, that.
Jocelyn Coulon, researcher at CERIUM
He recalled that in 2016, the term of Lawrence Cannon, appointed by the Conservatives in 2012, was extended so that he could follow the 2017 presidential campaign. He was then replaced by Isabelle Hudon. “By early 2021, all of Ottawa was aware that Mr.me Hudon was going to leave in the summer, but nothing was done to replace her, ”he lamented.
“This is not how we treat an ally and a member country of the G7. ”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to convince former Foreign Minister Marc Garneau to become Canada’s next ambassador to Paris after he was dismissed from cabinet. But the latter politely refused this appointment, preferring to end his mandate as Liberal MP for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce – Westmount.
According to Jocelyn Coulon, the Trudeau government has been recognized since coming to power in 2015 for its slowness in making diplomatic appointments.
In the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mélanie Joly, we insist that diplomatic appointments will be announced shortly and that the post of ambassador in Paris is a priority within Canadian diplomacy.