Justin Trudeau will bring Canada back to its roots, restoring its social conscience and progressive foreign policy, writes Shannon Ebrahim.
Canadians have a reason to be proud again – thanks to the decisive victory of the Liberals this week, under the country’s second youngest Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
After almost a decade of conservative rule by the right-wing Steven Harper, many Canadians hung their heads in shame at the pivot to the right of Canadian foreign policy, which was uncharacteristic of the country’s image as progressive and peace loving. The 43-year-old Trudeau will hopefully restore what it means to be Canadian, to put compassion back into the national identity.
The change in Canada’s direction is personal to me. At the age of 27, I was thrust into Canadian politics as the policy adviser to the Secretary of State for Africa and Latin America. Having left South Africa as a child under apartheid, I was proud of Canadian foreign policy under the then-Liberal government, which was centred on human security.
A colleague, Dr Eric Hoskins, who was the adviser to then-foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy, had worked in Iraq when Iraqi children could not receive medicine under the sanctions regime. He had subsequently coined the term “human security”. Human security became the catch phrase of the left, and a doctrine that guided progressive foreign policy establishments.
Those were the days when Canada led from the front, championing a multilateral approach in international relations, people-centred development and shifting the state-centric understanding of security to one based on the security of civilians in armed conflict. This was the Canada which was a partner to the developing south and prided itself on embracing multiculturalism and serving as a haven for refugees.
The past decade of conservative rule under Harper turned all that on its head. Canadian foreign policy became militaristic and Harper was dubbed “the prime minister who loves to go to war” by some local media.
Canadian troops, which had primarily been known for their role as peacekeepers, were deployed to fight wars in Syria and Iraq and Canada was all of a sudden voting alongside Israel at the UN.
Under the Harper administration, Iran was the ultimate evil, China wasn’t much better and, domestically, wedge politics became the order of the day.
Harper drove a wedge between Muslim and Jewish Canadians, stoking anti-Muslim sentiment in the hope of winning the Jewish vote. The conservatives adopted fiercely controversial policies that included a ban on women wearing the niqab while taking the oath of Canadian citizenship.
But, in the end, Harper’s neo-conservative jingoism failed to win him votes. The conservatives won none of the 13 ridings where the Jewish vote was significant, and Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who was the only Jewish member of cabinet, lost his seat.
The outcome of this week’s national elections represents a cataclysmic shift away from the politics of militarism to a sunnier and more collaborative foreign policy, which will once again prioritise a multilateral world order. While the chemistry between Trudeau and US President Barack Obama is likely to be warm, the young prime minister has made the independence of Canada’s foreign policy clear.
“There is value in not always following Washington’s lead,” he said recently.
This week, Trudeau informed Obama that Canada would be withdrawing from the coalition fighting in Syria and Iraq and instead would focus on humanitarian efforts in both countries. Trudeau has already pledged to invest millions to process new refugees from the region and will welcome a further 25 000 refugees.
Canadian trade policy expert Dr John Curtis believes that Trudeau is likely to open up relations with Iran, allowing Canadian businesses to take advantage of the lifting of sanctions and will deepen trade relations with China, which Harper had shied away from.
Curtis is of the opinion that Trudeau is also likely to have a more even-handed approach to the Middle East, especially the Israel-Palestine crisis.
The son of arguably Canada’s greatest prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, will bring the country back to its roots and restore its social conscience.
Ultimately, Canada is a liberal country, with the liberals having governed for 80 of Canada’s 110 years – from 1896 to 2006. The past nine years will be deemed an aberration. If Justin is anything like his father, he will be the darling of the left. Between 1968 and 1984, his father distanced Canada from the foreign policies of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, was Cuban leader Fidel Castro’s greatest Western ally and was a vociferous anti-apartheid campaigner.
Pierre was also a charmer, once having been caught on camera sliding down a banister and performing a pirouette behind Queen Elizabeth’s back.
Justin was well groomed for the role he takes on. Before the age of 14, he had met Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Schmidt and Princess Diana and attended Leonid Brezhnev’s funeral.
The young father of three and former school teacher will now lead his country, which has one of the highest standards of living in the world. The most important difference is that he will do so while caring for those with the lowest and leading the charge for a new multilateral world order.
* Shannon Ebrahim is Independent Media’s Foreign Editor.