When it comes to U.S. and China, Canada has to clearly define its own national interest

Defending that national interest will require much spine, as it did when we disagreed with the U.S. on Vietnam, Cuba, or Iraq. In many respects, the country we fear most is not China, but the United States.

Global Affairs Canada appears to have been given a minor role in the big questions of foreign policy. Since the Trudeau government was elected in November 2015—less than six years ago—we have had four ministers at Global Affairs, and none have spent even two full years in the portfolio, making the department something of a revolving door. Stéphane Dion, left, was the first, followed by Chrystia Freeland, then Francois-Philippe Champagne and, most recently, Marc Garneau.The Hill Times photographs by Andrew Meade and Jake Wright

Opinion

BY DAVID CRANE

July 8, 2021

TORONTO—When Canada was blindsided by unilateral U.S. actions, then prime minister Pierre Trudeau liked to say Canada was a bit like a mouse living next to an elephant. Today, with the rise of China, there are two elephants and, as a friend asked the other day, how does Canada avoid being squashed...

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