Given the arrival of the Ukrainian president in Canada, we might ask ourselves who, Volodymyr Zelensky or Justin Trudeau, needs more meetings with friends.
Last week reminded us once again that Canada’s influence on the international stage is not what the Prime Minister has been selling us for eight years.
Time will tell whether Justin Trudeau’s historic accusation against one of his allies was well-advised.
A bad record
We should move closer to India to counter China’s expansionism. Here we are, in the freezing cold of the most populous country on earth, courted by all our allies. In the trash, a good part of our grand Indo-Pacific strategy.
In New York, Justin Trudeau gave a lecture at the United Nations on Canada’s environmental record. We are no longer the laughing stock we were under Harper, but we are far from being cited as an example in the good student column.
We learned this week that François-Philippe Champagne is looking for allies to bring the world food giants into line. Here’s hoping he has better luck than Ottawa in the war against the digital giants.
Our NATO allies are increasingly openly criticizing us over our military spending.
In short, Justin Trudeau promised that Canada would be back on the international stage in 2015. Eight years later, we cannot say that the Liberals have managed to translate the defense of their progressive principles abroad into political victories.
The Ukrainian friend
Now Zelenskyy comes to the rescue. The charismatic actor-turned-warlord had nothing but good words for Canada.
The warm-hearted images of him and Justin Trudeau will go around the world.
Canada has put a lot of effort into building a coalition to support Ukraine. We have been one of the most aggressive countries in condemning Russia.
But we must not overestimate Canadian aid. With total aid to Ukraine at $9 billion, we are far behind some of our allies relative to our economic weight.
In the absence of Canadian material and military assistance matching our rhetoric, Ukraine can count on the unwavering moral support of almost all Canadians.
The same cannot be said for certain allies, where fatigue over financial support for Ukraine is increasingly felt.
This is President Zelensky’s great challenge: counteracting the apathy of his allies in the face of war.
He found some solace and money in Canada. Justin Trudeau also needed a visit from a friend in need.
