Increased longevity needed for Canada’s foreign minister, says past top diplomat Baird

Canada’s longest-serving foreign minister in nearly 23 years is calling for increased tenure for Canada’s top diplomat, as Ottawa is in the midst of a foreign service review. Former Conservative foreign affairs minister John Baird said that his past role requires time so relationships can be built with international counterparts. There have been 13 ministers in the post, and two acting ministers, in the 23 years since Lloyd Axworthy left Ottawa’s foreign service headquarters at the Pearson Building in 2000 as then-prime minister Jean Chrétien’s long-serving top diplomat. Since the Liberals came to power in 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) has appointed five top diplomats over seven and a half years, with now Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland (University-Rosedale, Ont.) being the longest serving with a tenure of nearly three years, from January 2017 to November 2019. Current Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly (Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Que.) has been in the post since October 2021. “I think switching it up too often is just a bad idea. That’s not a partisan comment against this prime minister. I was prime minister Harper’s fifth foreign minister. I do think they should look at that position as one that’s longer term,” Baird told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee on March 9. “It takes relationships to be a successful foreign minister, and I think when you’re changing them too often—sometimes they’re by choice, and sometimes they’re by necessity—but I do think that the prime minister of any party, when they make a decision on who their foreign minister will be, should be thinking for the full term, at minimum,” he said. The former Ottawa-area MP was minister of foreign affairs from 2011 to 2015. He served as campaign co-chair during Pierre Poilievre’s (Carleton, Ont.) winning Conservative leadership campaign last year. Baird's comment came in response to a question from Independent Senator Mary Coyle (Antigonish, N.S.) who noted that the committee had heard some previous witnesses raise concerns that foreign ministers don’t have the time to build the relationships required to do the job well. “You can’t establish those relationships and that trust unless you’re there for a long time,” Baird said, adding United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who has been in his post since 2006, is among the best in the world. He also spotlighted the tenure of Russian Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, who has been in the role since 2004. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has named five foreign affairs ministers over seven years. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Earlier in the committee meeting, Baird said that despite what people may think of Lavrov's “opinions and pronouncements,” he is “an incredibly intelligent, incredibly active foreign minister with more experience than the last, probably, 10 Canadian foreign ministers combined.” Baird pointed to Axworthy, who served in his role from 1996 to 2000, and former prime minister Joe Clark, who was Canada’s top diplomat from 1984 to 1991, as “better models.” He said considering increased longevity for the foreign affairs minister should be an “easy recommendation to make.” The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee is currently investigating whether Canada’s foreign service is fit for service. At the same time, Global Affairs Canada is in the middle of an initiative to analyze the future requirements of its department. Joly launched the department’s review last May to focus on what personnel, capacities, technologies, and global presence will be needed for the future of the department. Work remains underway on the review inside the department, with hopes a report will be finalized before the summer. The follow-up implementation phase is expected to take around two years. A briefing note for then-deputy minister of foreign affairs Marta Morgan for the inaugural meeting of the review’s advisory council last June gives insight into why the department feels the review is needed. Morgan retired from the public service last October. The Hill Times obtained the briefing note under the Access to Information Act. It notes that the global environment that Canada operates in is “more challenging and volatile in recent years” due to a less predictable world. “The department is increasingly asked to respond to situations and events that are without precedent using tools, structures, and processes born from, and designed for, a different time,” the note reads. “Canada needs to retain and build its capacity to exert influence on the international scene.” The briefing note affirms that the review isn’t a cost-cutting exercise, but the question of resources will likely be considered in relation to Canada’s global engagement. “Budget and capacity constraints affect Canada’s global engagement and footprint, including our mission network abroad where several of our missions are minimally staffed thus affecting the depth of our engagement in the host country or with multilateral organizations,” the note suggests. When the department's review started, the advisory council was composed of past McKinsey and Company global managing director and former ambassador to China Dominic Barton; former University of British Columbia president Stephen Toope; World Trade Organization Ambassador Nadia Theodore; former senior-level diplomat Susan Gregson; academic Laurence Deschamps-Laporte, a former chief of staff to then-foreign affairs minister François-Philippe Champagne (Saint-Maurice-Champlain, Que.); and Eurasia Group’s Graeme Thompson. The council members have signed non-disclosure agreements and are instructed to alert the secretariat about inquiries from third parties, including the media. According to the terms of reference for advisory council members, they are “expected” to recuse themselves in cases of conflicts of interest. ‘Too much groupthink’: Baird During his Senate committee testimony, Baird also pointed to the need for Canada’s foreign service to adopt a culture that allows for greater diversity of thought and divergent opinions. “At times in the department, there is too much groupthink. Too many people that think the same way, and we need a diversity of views,” he said, noting that divergent views improved decision-making during his time in cabinet. “I think you need to create an environment where all people feel free to speak up,” he added. Global Affairs Canada, located in the Pearson Building in Ottawa, is in the middle of a foreign service review. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Independent Senator Yuen Pau Woo (British Columbia) told The Hill Times that Global Affairs needs to foster an ability for divergent views to surface, especially as Canada lacks “a very robust think tank or academic community that can play this role.” “Now more than ever, we need to create safe spaces for alternate views on important foreign policy issues,” he said in an email. Woo remarked that continuity is important for the role of foreign affairs minister, but it is “perhaps less important” than spotlighting the need to recognize the international responsibilities of all Canadian ministries, and having a “clearer delineation” of those responsibilities and their relationship with Global Affairs. Baird suggested the foreign service should use the connections made through parliamentary diplomacy to a greater degree. He said when he was transport minister, then-Conservative MP Rob Merrifield was the co-chair of the Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group and his contacts with senior members on Capitol Hill were “a great benefit” to the Canadian government. “Rob Merrifield could get in to see any committee chair on Capitol Hill on a moment’s notice, and I think perhaps that was underutilized by the department over the years,” Baird said. Conservative Senator Leo Housakos (Wellington, Que.) said he feels that sometimes Global Affairs views parliamentary diplomacy as an “obstacle.” Longevity, PM’s confidence needed in a foreign minister, say experts Royal Military College professor Adam Chapnick, an expert on Canada’s foreign policy, said Baird is spot on in his recommendation for foreign affairs ministers to be in their posts for longer. “In order to maximize a foreign minister’s effectiveness on the world stage, they need to be in the job long enough to build trust, to build relationships, and truly understand the international context in which they are working,” he said. “They can’t do that when they are coming in and out.” Chapnick added that addressing some of the human resources problems that exist within Global Affairs also takes a foreign minister who will be in the role for the long term. Now-former Liberal MP Marc Garneau was a foreign affairs minister for only 10 months in 2021. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Past senior-level Canadian diplomat Barbara Martin echoed the need for increased longevity for Canada’s top diplomat. “ gives someone time to learn the issues in foreign policy broadly and with respect to specific countries. Too often, foreign ministers just repeat the lines the department prepares for them, and they sound wooden when they do. But there are those—like Marc Garneau and Chrystia Freeland—who have a deep understanding of the international context, how to play in it, and how to speak about it,” she said. Former Canadian diplomat Colin Robertson, now vice-president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, said while an extended tenure makes for an improved foreign affairs minister, it is more important for Canada’s top diplomat to have the confidence of the prime minister. “Having the confidence of the prime minister and the ability then to act is vital,” he said, noting that confidence was seen in Freeland, but was lacking by Trudeau when it came to Garneau's short-lived tenure in the post. Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers president Pamela Isfeld said the short tenures of foreign affairs ministers is less of a concern than the frequent shuffles that happen among the bureaucratic leadership at Global Affairs. “Where it has broken down in the last few years is when you’ve had a lot of shuffling at the senior official level,” she said, remarking that current deputy minister David Morrison is the first DM in a while with foreign service experience. She said the system should be able to manage shuffling at both the political and bureaucratic level. “But when you’ve got constant turnaround and constant lack of expertise at both the political level and senior officials’ level, that is when, in our view, that you get into trouble,” she said. nmoss@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

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Increased longevity needed for Canada’s foreign minister, says past top diplomat Baird

Canada has had 13 foreign affairs ministers and two acting ministers over the last 23 years.

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