RCI | English : Diplomatic Dispatch

Climate action has to become the cornerstone of not only Canada's domestic policy but also of Ottawa's foreign policy, says Dominique Souris, co-founder and executive director of Youth Climate Lab.

"As far as I'm concerned, foreign policy is climate policy," Souris says. "We're talking about a global climate problem, a global climate emergency."

She also calls on the federal government to incorporate traditional Indigenous knowledge in its policy and recognize the role Indigenous people play in safeguarding the planet's biodiversity.

Duration: 12 minutes 18 seconds

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Canada needs a “revolution” in its foreign policy thinking to deal with the tectonic geopolitical changes going on in the world, says Leonard Edwards, a former Canadian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“The issue is how do we manage within an international frame where there is tension between the United States and China and where we will be caught in the middle on some issues?” Edwards told Diplomatic Dispatch during an interview in Ottawa at the sidelines of the Summit on Canada’s Global Leadership at the end of November.

“And I think that the only way we are going to deal with that is if we stand aside, be more independent, speak more loudly, ensure that we have the security wherewithal to look after ourselves, develop alliances with other major countries – we are a major country in this world, there are number of countries that are feeling exactly the same pressures we are – and to work with them to mitigate the impact of this bilateral split that seems to be evolving.”

Duration:  17 minutes 51 seconds

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Canada has plenty of opportunities to show leadership on the international stage, says Peggy Mason, president of the Rideau Institute, an independent foreign policy and defence think tank.

These include taking on a greater role – and not necessarily a military one – in UN peacekeeping operations, working on defending and strengthening international law, leading an international campaign to ban weapons in space and killer robots.

But first, Ottawa needs to conduct a root-and-branch foreign policy review and reinvest massively in its diplomatic cadres, says Mason.

Duration: 22 minutes 13 seconds

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Canada needs to think very seriously about 'greening' its foreign and development policy, says Stephen Cornish, CEO of the David Suzuki Foundation, a leading Canadian environmental group.

He spoke to Diplomatic Dispatch about the challenges facing Canada's foreign policy in the age of climate crisis at the Summit on Canada's Global Leadership in Ottawa on Nov. 28, 2019.

Duration: 15 minutes 22 seconds

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The event was organized by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID), the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

There I met with Robert Greenhill, executive chair of Global Canada and former president of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Greenhill says the minority Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs to take a page from its recent defence policy and commit to serious increases in its international development budget.

"If you don't want a climate crisis become a catastrophe, we have to help developing countries leapfrog how they're doing energy," Greenhill says. "If we don't want to have the Zikas, the SARS, the Ebolas, as just being early examples of terrible pandemics in the future, we need to improve healthcare systems around the world.

"If we don't want to have Western Europe that is massively destabilized because of millions of irregular immigrants and refugees, we all have a vested interest to help places like the Sahel and others be able to take control of their own destiny in a more successful way."

Duration: 13 minutes 53 seconds

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I met with Allan Rock at the Summit on Canada’s Global Leadership in late November of 2019. He is a former Liberal cabinet minister and also served as Canada's ambassador to the United Nations after leaving federal politics, as well as president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa.

He says the possible re-election of President Donald Trump for another term in 2020 would present the greatest challenge for Canadian foreign policy.

"The decision that is going to have the biggest impact on Canada's foreign policy is not going to be made by Canadians, it's going to be made by Americans," Rock says. "If he [Trump] continues in power, after the election of November 2020, we're going to have to think very carefully how we're going to survive that.

"And if he doesn't, we're going to have to think very carefully how we're going to rebuild and restore, and recover from these awful years."

Duration: 15 minutes 9 seconds

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In June of 2017, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveiled its feminist foreign and development policy. But what is at the core of that policy? And has Canada put its money where its mouth is when it comes to upholding the principles unveiled in that policy? Does that policy need to change and if yes, how? What should be Canada's international development priorities?

These are all questions that I’m hoping to ask and try to answer in this podcast series. And my search for the answers began in Ottawa, at the Summit on Canada’s Global Leadership in late November of 2019.

The event was organized by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID), the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

There I met with Kate Grantham. She's an international development consultant and vice president of the CASID.

Duration : 20 minutes 22 seconds

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/01/Diplomatic_Dispatch-E3-The_feminist_perspective.mp3

Does Canada need its own foreign intelligence service?

The world is undergoing fundamental change and Canada cannot rest on its laurels at a time of rising global threats, including the increasingly isolationist United States, dysfunctional Western allies and the emergence of China and Russia, cyber threats and terrorism, says Richard Fadden, former national security adviser to both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his predecessor, Stephen Harper.

I spoke with him at the Summit on Canada’s Global Leadership in Ottawa at the end of November in 2019. The event was organized by the Canadian Council for International Cooperation (CCIC), the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID), the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

Duration: 19 minutes 33 seconds

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/12/Diplomatic_Dispatch-E2-The_national_security_view.mp3

My search for the answers began in Ottawa, at the Summit on Canada's Global Leadership in late November of 2019.

The event was organized by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), the Canadian Association for the Study of International Development (CASID), the Canadian Partnership for Women and Children’s Health (CanWaCH) and the Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI).

There I met with one of the principal organizers of the summit, Nicolas Moyer, president and CEO of the CCIC.

Duration: 19 minutes 16 seconds

https://www.rcinet.ca/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/01/Diplomatic_Dispatch-E1-Rethinking_Canadas_foreign_policy.mp3