Saturday, January 2, 2016

Downsides, upsides of 2015


Louis A. Delvoie, thewhig.com

image from

Excerpt:
[I]t is worth noting the slogan "Canada is back" on the world scene. The first two months of the new Liberal government have provided some encouraging indications this is not mere verbiage. The government rapidly unmuzzled Canadian diplomats serving abroad, thus allowing them to perform their necessary roles in the field of public diplomacy. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held what were reportedly highly positive meetings with the leaders of Canada's two largest trading partners: the United States and China. Canada played a very useful and constructive role at the Paris summit on Climate Change. And the government acted boldly and decisively to welcome significant numbers of Syrian refugees to Canada. All of this was in marked contrast to the record of the Harper government. Whether the new government follows up with the much-needed financial reinvestment in Canada's diplomatic, defence and development assets remains to be seen. But Trudeau and his team are certainly off to a good start. ...

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