"Are Canada's Diplomats up to doing the job? Assessment says, not really." June 26, 2023 Canadian News Update + Commentary
You don’t build trusting relationships with other nations with Zoom calls and interpreters.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says that Canada must bolster it’s influence on the world stage.
I couldn’t agree more, but the Minister must understand that saying it doesn’t make it so!
She told CTV’s Vassy Kapelos that she’s working to make sure that Canada’s diplomats are well tooled to do their job.
Yet, a recent assessment of our diplomatic corps says that too many Canadian diplomats are centered in Ottawa, not overseas, and too many of them lack the multi-lingual skills necessary to do the job.
You don’t build trusting relationships with other nations with Zoom calls and interpreters.
Then, there is the current state of Canada’s military.
The consensus among our NATO partners seems to be that, when Canada shows up, they are well trained and effective, but we just don’t have enough people in uniform to fulfill NATO’s needs in these tumultuous times.
And that’s reflected in NATO’S assessment of our capabilities.
When the world was in crisis mode this past weekend because of the Wagner threat to Moscow, we’re told that the White House immediately reached out to the UK, France and Germany to discuss strategy; Canada was not included, again!
If Minister Joly wants Canada to have more influence in global affairs, it’s going to take a lot more money than her Prime Minister is willing to spend to address our shortcomings.
Global respect must be earned, and Canada still has some work to do.
Further Reading: Toronto Sun: Melanie Joly admits Canada's influence waning under Trudeau