This was brutal, on how Trudeau let the country fail on the world stage.... In the Toronto Star... not exactly the Wall Street Journal in its outlook:
"For Jocelyn Coulon, who was part of an expert team that briefed Trudeau on the world, helped write policy and advised former foreign minister Stéphane Dion, it was empty rhetoric.
“I don’t think he will have left a mark,” Coulon said. “If he has, it will be the mark of a popular, flamboyant, seductive personality, but that doesn’t make for policy.”
In A Selfie with Justin Trudeau, a critical 2018 French-language account of his experience working for the Liberal government, Coulon described a leader who came to power with little diplomacy experience or know-how, who was influenced more by polls and media reports than by the counsel of professional diplomats, and who quickly abandoned his pledge to turn the page on his Conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper.“
"Dion was the first of five Canadian foreign ministers to serve under Trudeau, the latest being Mélanie Joly, who took the post in October 2021, in the heady months leading up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Her predecessor, the recently retired former astronaut Marc Garneau, recounted in his recent autobiography that Canada’s allies were left dizzy by the revolving door at the foreign minister’s office in Ottawa.
“On virtually every one of my introductory calls to my counterparts, I heard the following polite comment: “I hope you will be in the post longer than your predecessors.”
Garneau held the post for just nine months."
“We have very poor relations with many of the leading powers in the world, and that includes India, China, Russia — also the United States,” said Paikin. “This is not something to be proud of. This is not something to see as a badge of honour.”
Canada was one of the only countries not to meet with and attempt to dissuade Putin from invading Ukraine, and it will have a limited hand in shaping an eventual peace agreement to ensure the most favourable possible deal for Kyiv.
On India, the U.S. brought actual criminal charges against an Indian government official in the alleged plot to assassinate a Sikh separatist in America — nearly identical to the allegations levelled by Trudeau in the House of Commons — but forced New Delhi to formally investigate and act on the claims.
On China too, other countries that have objected to Beijing’s foreign interference, unfair trade practices, threats toward Taiwan, support for Russia or Arctic ambitions have managed to do so while also maintaining high-level dialogue with the leaders of the world’s second largest economy, Paikin noted.
“We don’t have that, and that’s problematic … for our ability to pursue our interests reliably,” he said.
"Under Trudeau, Canada was not included in the AUKUS defence pact between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia that is intended to bolster the three countries’ presence in the Indo-Pacific region and counter China. This, despite Canada having spent years developing its own long-term plan to boost trade, security and partnerships in the region.
The Trudeau government was also passed over in 2020 for a coveted spot on the United Nations Security Council, which would have given Canada a literal seat at the table where the world’s wars, crises, catastrophes are hashed out — even if the veto powers afforded to the five permanent members often result in decisional deadlock."
He was in over his head. Always was. Good for the instagram intellects. In Canada, generally, the media analysis in all the papers is very negative on his performance and accomplishments.
