Roundup: Freeland articulates her vision

Posted on by

Foreign Affairs minister Chrystia Freeland gave her major foreign policy speech yesterday in the House of Commons, and the theme was basically that we can’t rely on the Americans anymore, so it’s time to step up more, and that includes hard power. That also means more spending on the military, some of which is there and waiting to actually be spent once we get some of our procurement issues sorted, but that particular speech is later today as the Defence Policy Review is finally unveiled. (And incidentally, on Friday, Marie-Claude Bibeau will unveil our feminist foreign aid policy). It was noted by a couple of people, chiefly among them Paul Wells, that we really should have a major foreign policy speech every year or so, and this is certainly a better indication of where the government’s thinking is at.

https://twitter.com/AaronWherry/status/872099635107704832

This was not the case with the previous government, and it’s certainly worth noting. That this government actually uses the time allotted for statements by ministers is a good thing, as the constant eschewing of Parliament in favour of human backdrops in some alternate location was insulting.

Meanwhile, Stephanie Carvin offered some cogent analysis over Twitter, so here you go:

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872137661275934723

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872138106413166593

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872138388056551425

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872138744316534784

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872139113910194177

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872139424515149824

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872139675980443648

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872140002398003200

https://twitter.com/StephanieCarvin/status/872140341067034624

You can also find Carvin’s thoughts in expanded form here. For some more analysis on the speech, read Paul Wells for some more context around the points Freeland made in the speech, Susan Delacourt on the jabs made at the Trumpocalypse, and Stephen Saideman for some more foreign and defence policy angles.

Good reads:

  • The government introduced a bill to clean up more “zombie laws” from the Criminal Code, and to tighten the language on sexual assault law. (Video here).
  • Marc Garneau is threatening mandatory drug and alcohol testing for airline pilots.
  • The government is declaring police roadside saliva-tests for drug impairment to be a success, despite the fact the cold weather cause problems with the machines.
  • While Maxime Bernier’s people (and Kevin O’Leary) continue to grumble about the leadership vote count, Deloitte won’t clarify what their role in said count was.
  • Bernier finally came out today to distance himself from that grumbling, for the record.
  • Kady O’Malley walks us through the proposed changes to political fundraising laws.
  • My column this week looks at the way the Liberals keep hurting themselves by ham-fisting things through Parliament, and the predictable outrage cycle that follows.

Odds and ends:

The government says they will turn the old US embassy, across from Parliament Hill, into an “Indigenous Centre.” The mayor would have preferred the portrait gallery.

2 thoughts on “Roundup: Freeland articulates her vision”

  1. Am very happy with this policy speech by Freeland. A new direction is needed and this is the right tone. Don’t be surprised if critics claim that it is a departure from the old Pearson policies, but that was another era. Now with the USA in decline we like others must look at our own interests.

Comments are closed.