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Writer's pictureThe Commandant Student Journal
Sep 20, 20219 min read

Despite Global Crises, Little Foreign Policy in Canadian Election


During the 2015 and 2019 election campaigns for prime minister, Canadian politicians had productive debates over foreign policy issues (1). In 2015, the public discourse involved Canada's involvement in Iraq and Syria (2), military operations in Central and Eastern Europe(3), political instability in Africa (4), and our approach to the Global War on Terrorism (5). This time around, despite the abundance of globalized issues characterizing this moment, substantial discussions over foreign policy have been lacking in both frequency and depth. The pandemic has been talked about in mostly domestic terms, the fallout in Afghanistan has been met with platitudes and clichés about "working with our allies" (6), and the silence on consequential developments in the Asia Pacific, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Latin America has been deafening. With polling data between the two main parties still too close to call (7), no major party has made foreign policy a large part of its bid to demarcate itself as a leader for Canada in the liberal international order. In the past six years, the Trudeau government has made the “rules-based international order” its foreign policy priority (8). It has emphasized a feminist outlook on foreign policy; increased Canada’s role in peacekeeping operations, multilateral trade and climate treaties, and democracy promotion efforts globally (9). Unfortunately, this agenda has been absent from the Liberal campaign. Instead, most of the foreign policy focus of the Trudeau team has been on defending their record on Afghanistan and the pandemic. There has been some focus on climate, with the major parties introducing different targets for 2030 carbon emission levels, with the Greens having the most ambitious plan (10). The Conservatives, despite the party voting not to publicly acknowledge that “climate change is real” last March (11), are also introducing their own carbon pricing plan (12).


Refreshingly, there has been a clear difference in policy between the Liberals and other major parties on refugee resettlement policy. The Liberals would like Canada to resettle at least 40,000 Afghan refugees (13). The Conservatives have agreed to resettle 20,000, and the New Democrats and Greens have agreed with the general sentiment but left out policy specifics (14). The Bloc Québécois and People’s Party of Canada seem to be the most critical of the proposal (15). The Liberals have also proposed to set aside $288 million over three years to tackle the Rohingya crisis (16).



Yet, on global humanitarian assistance, specific targets and goals have been scarce. The Conservatives have not laid out their philosophy on humanitarian assistance, and have not made clear whether they would go back to the Harper system of selective and weaponized aid if they formed government (17). They did, however, propose that aid not be granted to governments with human rights abuses (18), therefore hinting at a comeback of the Harper approach. This approach, in practice, saw aid being increased to Western countries and decreased to more vulnerable and fragile states in Latin America, Asia, and Africa (19). The current aid system adopted by this Liberal government has prioritized vulnerable communities, particularly women and girls in the developing world, rather than ideological and military allies (20). The Liberals have not rectified their approach to military aid, however, including to Saudi Arabia and Israel, a move which has been denounced by New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh on repeated occasions during this campaign (21). Singh has proposed for a full stop to military aid and weapon sales to Saudi Arabia and Israel “until the end of the illegal occupation” (22). The Green position on this issue is quite unclear, as leader Annamie Paul has repeatedly signaled her commitment to supporting the Israeli government and its policies in the region (23), counter-balancing the historical anti-semitism in her party (24). The Conservatives have expressed support for Israel, recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and proposing to move the Canadian embassy there as soon as possible (25).


These past three years have been scattered with reports about Russian and Chinese interference in our democratic process and public institutions. The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) has published yearly reports on the matter, with offenses increasing each year (26). Cyber warriors, with tacit support from Moscow, Tehran, and Pyongyang, have routinely penetrated our defenses and shown our vulnerabilities in cyber warfare (27). The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has regularly engaged in counterintelligence (CI) operations in Canada by dispersing hundreds of clandestine human operators throughout Canadian institutions of higher learning (28). Some have even gained access to highly prestigious research facilities like Public Health Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, where two scientists are accused of collaborating with the CCP (29). The regional influence of Russia and China has been rapidly increasing all over NATO countries (30), including the US and Canada.


The Conservative campaign, led by Erin O’Toole, has, however, made the near-entirety of its foreign policy platform about CCP foreign influence in Canada. O’Toole wants Canada to ramp up its domestic vaccine and PPE manufacturing, and to increase the securitization of public health by restoring the Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN) to collect public health intelligence and security intelligence to contain threats (31). The nationalization of medical supply chains would be a priority for the Conservatives and is the centre of their foreign policy strategy (32). Tariffs would also be put on foreign PPE, goods produced with forced Uyghur labour would be banned, and Canada would withdraw from the Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank (33). This all comes despite the fact that Conservative Prime Minister Harper championed policies - like the FIPA trade and investment deal with China - that planted the seed for these issues to arise in the first place (34).


Continuing on great power competition, nothing has been said by the major parties regarding the specific targeting of democracies in the West by Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey (35). No word has been uttered on solutions to the ongoing race for Arctic dominance (36). A new report by Freedom House has declared democracy to be “under siege”, as global freedom has decreased for the 15th consecutive year (37). On China, no party has been pushing for a different approach, whether that be on multinational state companies like Huawei, the new AUKUS alliance, or ongoing CI operations across the country. Regarding the release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig - the two Canadian citizens imprisoned in Beijing as retaliation for Canada’s arrest of Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in 2018 - nothing seems to point to a different approach from a renewed Trudeau government or an entering Conservative government. O’Toole has acknowledged the “new Cold War with China" (38), and has vowed to “stand up to China” (39).



Canada continues to lead the Lima Group (40), a coalition of nations in support of Juan Guiado and new elections in Venezuela; but this has not been mentioned in the campaign. Fierce unrest all over the hemisphere, including in Haiti, Cuba, Venezuela, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile have also not been mentioned (41), despite this being a concrete opportunity to support democracy in the region. Unrest and conflict in African countries, including Tigray (42), Algeria (43), Equatorial Guinea (44), Mozambique (45), Nigeria (46), South Africa (47), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (48) have also not been referenced.


The relationship between NATO countries has been challenging since the NATO 2030 Forum in Brussels in June (49). Due to a possible fracture, NATO may become more multipolar as an organization, with middle powers like Canada, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom being tasked with leading the alliance on various issues. Yet, none of the party leaders have capitalized on this leadership opportunity, and have not signaled interest in increasing Canada’s contribution to NATO or Canada’s defence spending, which currently ranks among the lowest among OECD countries (50).


Finally, as the Indo-Pacific region becomes more significant geopolitically, none of the party leaders have even mentioned the region (or one of its constituent countries) by name during the campaign. There is an immense opportunity to solidify liberal democratic values and multilateral cooperation in South and Southeast Asia, including in Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Myanmar; but none have capitalized.



This campaign has not been like any other, in many ways. What has been unacceptable, however, is the absence of substantial foreign policy debates from this election cycle. As our world needs significant contributions from all, and as Canada has the means to alleviate suffering and promote development and security globally, the world needs an engaged and informed Canada more than ever. If this election is any indication of the future of Canadian foreign policy, Canada is certainly not up to the task.


1 Preston Lim, “Canada’s Foreign Policy Election,” Lawfare, September 10, 2019,


2 Jessica Murphy, “Canada to end airstrikes in Syria and Iraq, new prime minister Trudeau says,” The Guardian, October 20, 2015,



3 “Real Change: A New Plan for a Strong Middle Class,” Liberal Party of Canada, 2015, 71, https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2448348/new-plan-for-a-strong-middle-class.pdf.


4Ibid., 65.


5 Steve Hewitt, “How Canada’s Conservative Party is brazenly playing the terrorism card,” The Conversation, August 17, 2015,


6 “Federal Leaders’ Debate 2021,” CBC News, September 9, 2021, Video, YouTube, 2:00:00, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq4ihWz9M0g.


7 “Federal Election 2021,” Angus Reid Institute, last updated September 18, 2021,


8 Dominik Tolksdorf and Xandie Kuenning, “Trudeau’s Foreign Policy: Progressive Rhetoric, Conventional Policies,” Heinrich Böll Stiftung, September 25, 2019,


9Ibid.


10 Emma Gilchrist, “Where Canada’s federal parties stand on three big climate and environment issues ahead of the election,” The Narwhal, September 13, 2021,


11 John Paul Tasker, “Conservative delegates reject adding ‘climate change is real’ to the policy book,” CBC News, March 20, 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/conservative-delegates-reject-climate-change-is-real-1.5957739.


12 “Canada’s Conservative Party unveils alternative carbon pricing plan,” Economist Intelligence Unit, April 21, 2021, https://www.eiu.com/n/canadas-conservative-party-unveils-alternative-carbon-pricing-plan/.


13 “Canada election: Meet the major party leaders,” Al Jazeera English, September 15, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/9/15/canada-election-meet-the-major-party-leaders.


14 Ibid.

15 Shelby Thevenot and Alexandra Miekus, “Election 2021: What Canada’s parties say about immigration,” CIC News, August 26, 2021,


16 “Budget 2021: A Recovery Plan for Jobs, Growth, and Resilience,” Government of Canada - Finance Canada, last updated April 19, 2021, https://www.budget.gc.ca/2021/home-accueil-en.html.


17 Stephen Brown, “The instrumentalization of foreign aid under the Harper government,” Studies in Political Economy 97, Vol. 1 (2016): 19.


18 “Canada’s Recovery Plan - Secure the Future,” Conservative Party of Canada - Erin O’Toole, August 16, 2021, 112, https://cpcassets.conservative.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/16102359/f8279981721e07a.pdf.


19 Stephen Brown, op. cit., 24.


20 Simran Singh, “How will Canada’s humanitarian plan help women and girls?,” Policy Options - Options politiques, May 30, 2019,


21 “Prioritize Peace. Stop Selling Arms to Israel.,” New Democratic Party of Canada, last accessed September 18, 2021, https://www.ndp.ca/peace.


22 Ibid.


23 Christopher Reynolds, “Green party rift over Israeli-Palestinian conflict grows as MPs break from leader,” CTV News, June 1, 2021,



24 David Akin, “On eve of leadership choice, Canada’s Greens confront anti-Semitism in their ranks,” Global News, October 1, 2021, https://globalnews.ca/news/7373076/green-party-canada-confronts-anti-semitism/.


25 “Canada’s Recovery Plan - Secure the Future,” 109.


26 “Latest reports,” Parliament of Canada - National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, last accessed September 18, 2021, https://www.nsicop-cpsnr.ca/index-en.html.


27 Christopher Nardi, “China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are Canada’s ‘greatest strategic threat’: CSE report,” National Post, November 20, 2020,


28 “Joe Friesen, “CSIS warns Canadian universities to be on alert for international espionage,” The Globe and Mail, July 26, 2021,


29 Karen Pauls, “‘Wake-up call for Canada’: Security experts say case of 2 fired scientists could point to espionage,” CBC News, June 10, 2021, https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-lab-security-experts-1.6059097.


30 Natasha Kuhrt, “Russia and China present a united front to the west - but there’s plenty of potential for friction,” The Conversation, March 29, 2021,


31 “Secure the Future - Secure the Country,” Conservative Party of Canada, last accessed September 18, 2021, https://www.conservative.ca/plan/secure-the-country/.


32 Ibid.


33 “Canada’s Recovery Plan - Secure the Future,” 30.


34 Carol Linnitt, “Harper Government Ratifies Controversial Canada-China Foreign Investment Deal,” The Narwhal, September 12, 2014,


35 Kristine Berzina, Corinna Blutguth, and David Metzger, “Between Messaging and Manipulation: How Russia, China, Turkey, and Iran Engaged in German Political Discourses in June 2021,” German Marshall Fund - United States, June 19, 2021,


36 Tom Loftus, “The New Arms Race in the Arctic,” Outrider Foundation, July 16, 2019, https://outrider.org/climate-change/articles/new-arms-race-arctic/.


37 Sarah Repucci and Ami Slipowitz, “Freedom in the World 2021: Democracy under Siege,” Freedom House, last accessed September 18, 2021, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2021/democracy-under-siege.


38 Erin O’Toole, “Erin O’Toole on COVID-19: We are on the brink of a new Cold War with China,” National Post, April 23, 2020,


39 Erin O’Toole, “Erin O’Toole: As prime minister, I will stand up to China,” National Post, September 1, 2020, https://nationalpost.com/opinion/erin-otoole-as-prime-minister-i-will-stand-up-to-china.


40 “Statement from the Lima Group,” Government of Canada - Global Af airs Canada, January 5, 2021, https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/international_relations-relations_internationales/latin_america-ameriq ue_latine/2021-01-05-lima_group-groupe_lima.aspx?lang=eng.


41 “Latin America & Caribbean,” International Crisis Group, last accessed September 18, 2021, https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean.


42 Daphne Psaledakis, “U.S. paves way for more sanctions over Ethiopia’s Tigray conflict,” Reuters, September 17, 2021,


43 Malia Bouattia and Sai Englert, “Algerians Toppled a President. Now They Are Fighting for Real Democracy.,” Jacobin Magazine, July 24, 2021,


44 “Guinea: International uproar after coup d’état against Alpha Condé,” The Africa Report - Jeune Afrique, September 6, 2021,


45 Colin P. Clarke, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, and Emelie Chace-Donahue, “The Evolution and Escalation of the Islamic State Threat to Mozambique,” Foreign Policy Research Institute, April 13, 2021, https://www.fpri.org/article/2021/04/the-evolution-and-escalation-of-the-islamic-state-threat-to-mozambique/.


46 “Global Conflict Tracker: Boko Haram in Nigeria,” Council on Foreign Relations, last accessed September 18, 2021, https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/boko-haram-nigeria.


47 Alexander Winning and Wendell Roelf, “Worst violence in years spreads in South Africa as grievances boil over,” Reuters, July 13, 2021,


48 “DR Congo extends ‘state of siege’ in violence-hit eastern region,” Al Jazeera English, June 4, 2021, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/4/dr-congo-extends-state-of-siege-in-trouble-hit-eastern-region.


49 Joseph Bouchard, “NATO Consensus-Building On Climate Change, Energy Security, And China,” NATO Association of Canada, September 17, 2021,


50 “Defence Expenditure of NATO Countries,” NATO Public Diplomacy Division, June 25, 2019, https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/pdf_2019_06/20190625_pr2019-069-en.pdf.


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