Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a big risk by appointing Mélanie Joly as Minister of Foreign Affairs last October. Six years after his declaration that Canada was “back”—a declaration that turned out to be meaningless—no one expected Mr. Trudeau to suddenly decide to change course by making Canada a major player. on the international scene. But after the end of the Meng Wanzhou saga and the release of the two Michaels, the liberal government had to relaunch its foreign policy on new bases by integrating the harsh lessons learned in recent years. Nothing predestined Mme Joly for such a delicate task.
The member for Ahuntsic-Cartierville certainly enjoys a relationship of trust with her boss. Having spearheaded a respectable reform of the Official Languages Act and co-chaired the national Liberal campaign in the last election, it was expected that she would get a promotion. But his landing at Foreign Affairs surprised almost everyone. After the passage of four ministers in six years—Stéphane Dion, Chrystia Freeland, François-Philippe Champagne and Marc Garneau—Canadian diplomacy wanted an experienced leader with a desire to make his voice heard in international forums.
However, since taking office, Ms. Joly has remained more than cautious in her public statements. As geopolitical crises multiply — in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Sudan, Afghanistan — she takes refuge behind statements that are as timid as they are insipid. “We will continue to work with our allies to de-escalate tensions and coordinate our responses to deter Russian aggression,” she tweeted, following her conversation this week with her counterpart. Ukrainian, Dmytro Kuleba.
Admittedly, Ms. Joly is still in a period of learning in her new role. And Canada is not playing a central role in current efforts to resolve the impasse between Russia and NATO over the future of Ukraine. Nevertheless, Ms. Joly’s debut as Minister of Foreign Affairs has nothing to silence the skeptics.
Fortunately for her, Ms. Joly still has a golden opportunity to make her mark: the new Indo-Pacific strategy that Mr. Trudeau asked her, in his December 16 mandate letter, to develop. This is quite a reversal on the part of the Liberal government, which came to power with the firm intention of strengthening Canada-China relations and starting negotiations to establish a free trade agreement with the China, a country to which Mr. Trudeau had long devoted an unwavering admiration. The Meng Wanzhou case and the imprisonment in China of Canadians Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig changed everything. The Chinese retaliation imposed on Canadian pork and canola exports in the wake of Ms. Meng’s arrest in 2018 underscored the importance for Canada of diversifying its trade relations with Asia-Pacific countries. And President Xi Jinping’s moves to extend his country’s military stranglehold in the region have underscored the urgency for Canada and its allies to counter the move.
A first concrete step in this direction was taken this week with the announcement by the Minister of International Trade, Mary Ng, that Canada would begin exploratory discussions on an investment promotion and protection agreement with Taiwan. This type of agreement would lay the foundations for a new relationship between Canada and this independent territory that China still claims as its own, and could lead Taiwan to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which brings together Canada and 10 other Asian countries. -Peaceful. Beijing opposes any “official” contact between Taiwan and Canada. The latter should expect a strong reaction from China if he pursues such negotiations.
Ms. Joly’s determination to carry out the mission entrusted to her by Mr. Trudeau would thus be severely tested in the coming months. The Indo-Pacific strategy it is preparing constitutes a break with the recent past and will arouse the ire of China. But it has become all the more essential in the wake of the Meng affair. If Ms. Joly succeeds in meeting this challenge, her ambitions for the leadership of the Liberal Party could one day become a reality.