OTTAWA — Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland praised the United States while frequently condemning its current president in a major foreign policy speech Tuesday.
Speaking to the House of Commons, Freeland called the U.S. “the indispensable nation” and praised its “seven decades-long contribution to our shared peace and prosperity.” Then, pausing, she said, “I would like to profoundly thank our American friends.”
But she had few accolades for President Donald Trump, frequently referring to his policies but never his name.
Saying that Canada, like the U.S., does not face any threats on its border, Freeland mused: “This might be the time to say ‘Canada first.’ That would be wrong.”
She also claimed that “many voters in the last presidential election cast their ballots to shrug off the burden of world leadership.”
Freeland’s speech insisted that Canada can keep everybody happy: engaging in the “war on climate change” while recognizing threats in the world. While suggesting the “hard power” of military intervention is sometimes necessary to solve conflict in the world, Freeland’s speech emphasized the soft power politics that successive Liberal governments have trumpeted. She called climate change “a shared menace” and insisted that world “poverty threatens us.”
Promising to maintain a “robust” military, Freeland suggested that additional funding for the Canadian Armed Forces might be imminent. She said the release of Wednesday’s defense review, would announce some measure of government spending.
Freeland also insisted that the foundation of the Trudeau government’s commitment to human rights is based on its profound belief in feminism: “because women’s rights are human rights.” Those rights include “reproductive rights and the right to safe and legal abortion.”
Freeland spent a great deal of her speech discussing Canada’s relationship with the United States and criticized the Trump administration’s attitude toward free trade, which she called part of an “international system based on rules” because “rising trade barriers hurt the people they were meant to help.”
She insisted that Canada could not rely on the “security umbrella” of the United States because that would make it a “client state,” even though Canada did seek cover under the American nuclear umbrella throughout the Cold War.
The minister repeated her response to the recent decision by the president to withdraw from the Paris climate accord, saying she and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were “deeply disappointed” but that the federal government would continue to “seek constructive involvement with the U.S.” on a variety of environmental issues.
In response to the speech, the Conservative opposition accused the government of “hypocrisy and appeasement” because it has slashed funding to the military while withdrawing Canada’s military presence from Iraq.
Albeta Member of Parliament (MP) Garnett Genuis also commented on the quick exit from the House of dozens of Liberal MPs after the conclusion of Freeland’s speech. “I am not surprised,” he said. “They don’t want to be reminded about the failure of this government to live up to its defense commitments.”