To sum up Andrew Scheer’s recent foreign policy speech in a sentence: Advance and protect Canadian interests abroad, stand proudly for the values Canadians we hold dear, strengthen our relationships with traditional allies, and leave Mr. Dress-Up’s tickle trunk at home.
After four years of Justin Trudeau’s “Canada is Back” bungling, a back to basics approach is ironically refreshing — and badly needed.
The old chestnut that the world needs more Canada was nice to hear 16 years ago when Bono first said it but we’ve really got to let it go. If only life were so simple.
The fact is Canada prospered throughout the 20th century because we stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our European and American allies fighting against tyranny and then built the international order: rule of law, business and trade, and democratic society. The 21st century is shaping up to be more of the same, and Andrew Scheer is right to tell it like it is.
The threats to our way of life are as pervasive as they’ve ever been. The dreams of idealists hoping for democracy in Russia and China have been dashed. Peace in the Middle East has become a punchline — mostly due to the fact the Israelis don’t yet have a partner in Palestine that genuinely wants it. And state-sponsored terrorism in Iran and elsewhere preoccupies military and intelligence apparatuses around the world.
At the same time, our economic interests need to be defended, even from our closest allies who are now our fiercest economic competitors. We’re learning this lesson painfully in real-time as the U.S. plays hardball with us on a variety of fronts.
The reality is that even though we line up with the Europeans, Americans and other allies around the world in battle, we’re trying to crush each other in the finite pursuit of investment dollars and government procurement contracts, and we’re always trying to one-up each other in trade deals.
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See Also:
(1) ‘The fight of your life’: In a Postmedia exclusive, Mark Norman tells his side of the story
(2) That old Liberal story: the ‘hidden agenda’
(3) What’s with the hold-up on Canada’s Huawei ban?
(4) ‘Completely inconsistent’: Carbon taxes applied unequally between provinces, new report says
(5) For the Liberals, the Norman file is yet another case closed
