The 2015 Canadian Federal Election Debate On Foreign Policy

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau squared off on September 28, 2015, in Toronto, for the first-ever federal election debate on Canada’s foreign policy. Too often, foreign policy issues have been afterthoughts in federal election campaigns. Now, for the first time, Canadians will have the opportunity to see the three federal party leaders recognized in Parliament defend their foreign policy visions for the country in a nationally televised debate. From the war against terror to Canada-U.S. relations to challenges and opportunities of international trade, the Munk Debate on Canada’s Foreign Policy will provide the public with important insights into how our next prime minister will defend and project Canada’s interests and values on the global stage.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, and Liberal leader Justin Trudeau squared off on September 28, 2015, in Toronto, for the first-ever federal election debate on Canada’s foreign policy.Too often, foreign policy issues have been afterthoughts in federal election campaigns. Now, for the first time, Canadians will have the opportunity to see the three federal party leaders recognized in Parliament defend their foreign policy visions for the country in a nationally televised debate. From the war against terror to Canada-U.S. relations to challenges and opportunities of international trade, the Munk Debate on Canada’s Foreign Policy will provide the public with important insights into how our next prime minister will defend and project Canada’s interests and values on the global stage.

The fourth edition of this widely used text includes updates about the many changes that have occurred in Canadian foreign policy under Stephen Harper and the Conservatives between 2006 and 2015. Subjects discussed include the fading emphasis on internationalism, the rise of a new foreign policy agenda that is increasingly shaped by domestic political imperatives, and the changing organization of Canada's foreign policy bureaucracy. As in previous editions, this volume analyzes the deeply political context of how foreign policy is made in Canada. Taking a broad historical perspective, Kim Nossal, St phane Roussel, and St phane Paquin provide readers with the key foundations for the study of Canadian foreign policy. They argue that foreign policy is forged in the nexus of politics at three levels - the global, the domestic, and the governmental - and that to understand how and why Canadian foreign policy looks the way it does, one must look at the interplay of all three.

Since the 2015 Canadian federal election, Canada has undergone a significant foreign policy shift. We have moved from a foreign policy based on Canadian values to a foreign policy based a particular (and somewhat suspect) reading of Canadian interests. "The Fight for a Principled Foreign Policy" is written by Garnett Genuis, an opposition Conservative MP who has repeatedly made the case for a return to Canada's historic principle-based foreign policy. Such a foreign policy, he contends, must also be grounded in strategy and in an appreciation for Canada's unique capacity to promote international human rights. Canada's foreign policy can be both uncompromising on key principles and strategic in its implementation. For the most part, this book is a collection of Genuis' speeches, with associated explanation and commentary. The speeches cover a wide range of specific topics, including Canada's withdrawal from the fight against Daesh/ISIS, Canada's response to Chinese human rights abuses, Canada's relationship with India and Pakistan, and the relationship between religion and foreign policy. While covering a variety of specific situations and hot spots, these speeches also shape a common narrative about the choice Canada faces. As a country, we can either draw on our own domestic human rights experience to fearlessly promote our values on the international stage, or we can compromise our values in order to pursue the acclaim of nations who do not share our values. Both paths will involve some cost, with regard to either short terms interests or longer term ideals. Genuis analyzes both sides of this choice, and argues passionately that the principle-based approach is the right way to go.

This is a reader for courses in Canadian foreign policy--it can be used on its own as a core text or alongside a single-authored text. The book is structured in six sections covering a broad range of topics: approaches to Canadian Foreign Policy; external sources; domestic sources of CFP; security; trade and economic issues; and social considerations, which include human rights, environment, and development issues.

Canadian Foreign Policy, as an academic discipline, is in crisis. Despite its value, CFP is often considered a “stale and pale” subfield of political science with an unfashionably state-centred focus. Canadian Foreign Policy asks why. Practising scholars investigate how they were taught to think about Canada and how they teach the subject themselves. Their inquiry shines a light on issues such as the casualization of academic labour and the relationship between study and policymaking. This nuanced collection offers not only a much-needed assessment of the boundaries, goals, and values of the discipline but also a guide to its revitalization.

This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of Canadian foreign policy under the government of Justin Trudeau, with a concentration on the areas of climate change, trade, Indigenous rights, arms sales, refugees, military affairs, and relationships with the United States and China. At the book’s core is Trudeau’s biggest and most unexpected challenge: the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Drawing on recognized experts from across Canada, this latest edition of the respected Canada Among Nations series will be essential reading for students of international relations and Canadian foreign policy and for a wider readership interested in Canada’s age of Trudeau. See other books in the Canada Among Nations series here: https://carleton.ca/npsia/canada-among-nations/

In 2015 the Harper era in Canadian foreign policy was over, suggesting a return to the priorities of a gentler, more cooperative Liberal governments. But was the Harper era really so different? And if so, why? This comprehensive analysis of Canada’s foreign policy during this era addresses these very questions. The chapters, written by leading scholars and analysts of Canadian politics, provide an excellent overview of foreign policy in a number of different policy areas. They also come to a surprising conclusion as to whether the transition from a minority to majority government in 2011 shaped the way the Harper Conservatives conceived of, developed, and implemented international policy.