Inside-Out

A troubling pronouncement, it nevertheless seemed to be met with quiet assent, even from those on the government side of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Peter Harder was the former Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and getting him to testify at the committee was quite a plumb. After serving under a number of prime ministers, he had resigned two years ago but still holds a penchant for Canada's image in the world. So, when he stated: "I am concerned that Canada has lost much of its foreign affairs and diplomacy structure that once made it the envy of the world," we all had to take his words seriously.Beginning with this post, we'll be considering the ramifications of this new reality and how our country's ability to actually help shape a troubled world is strategically diminished. I don't think this perception is a secret to anyone. From university campuses and Rotary Clubs to civil servants at both Foreign Affairs and CIDA, mutual discussions reveal a sense of loss. Perhaps more telling has been the series of receptions I have been having with diplomats from numerous foreign embassies stationed in Ottawa. Almost universally they confess to a sense of confusion at this country's foreign policy direction.We shouldn't be so surprised. Admittedly, we started down this slippery slope in the 1990s, when Chretien's Liberals pilfered from the foreign service to pay off the deficit. But it has been the Harper years that have brought about the steep decline, both in our image and in our diplomatic power. While the Conservatives delight in touting their commitment to Afghanistan as their proof that "Canada is back," no one, especially in the UN or with our other multi-lateral partners, believes this to be true.We should easily understand that a government that takes the word "equality" out of the Status of Women charter, that divides the country into regions in order to win elections, that pulls foreign aid out of numerous nations without ever informing them, and treats parliament itself as something of a locker room, will hold to an "us-versus-them" vision of the world. The rough and tumble world they have brought to Ottawa has also spread into the world and the results are less than stellar. We are not what we were and we won't be what we could be if we stay on this course.When former British PM William Gladstone was asked for a definition of foreign policy, he responded: "My first principle of such policy is: a good government at home." This is where we strategically struggle at the moment. If Canadians permit the cutting of women's and aboriginal programs, the trite treatment of climate change or the pulling out of Africa, they shouldn't be surprised that the world itself now views Canada differently. I have heard this repeatedly in numerous travels, and with the recent observations of many foreign dignitaries as to our international slippage, we must admit to the reality that we are in the world what we are at home, and right now that's a pretty mean place. We require good government again if we are to be a significant international force. The bickering must stop on all sides, the government must develop a more "human" face, and we must invest significantly in our foreign service - only these will bring us back.