Canadians have always assumed that their nation is a friend to all; peaceful, just, and highly respected in the international community. It does not really register in this stereotype that Canada, like all countries, has strategic national interests that guide its foreign policy. From Chrétiento Harper, it is safe to say that Canada has adopted a more muscular foreign policy. The Harper government likes to tout this as moving beyond naïve peacekeeping and into moral righteousness. But this viewpoint misses the much bigger picture: Canada’s foreign policy is not set in the interest of anybody or anything other than the Canadian state. The only thing that has changed is what the government sees as strategic interests.
However, sometimes strategic interests line up with moral interests. Boycotting the North Korean-led UN Nuclear Disarmament Conference was certainly justifiable. This is, after all, a country keen on developing nuclear weapons for themselves and willing to let millions of their own people starve while they do it. Also, the government chose not to send diplomats to Durban Three, which is supposedly a major UN conference against racism, but actually operates as a one sided forum for bashing Israel. Canada was joined in this boycott by thirteen other first world countries. Furthermore, the government has taken what they claim to be a principled stance on more controversial issues such as opposing unilateral Palestinian statehood and their support for the NATO bombing campaigns in Libya.
However, morality is often superseded when serious economic issues are involved. A striking example for the current government is improving relations with China. The Asian behemoth represents a massive market for Canadian raw materials and oil. As an emerging market, the possibilities for growth are open-ended as well; China would be a far less fickle consumer of the Alberta oil sands than the United States. Previously, the Harper government had taken a stern tone with China pertaining to their spotty human rights record, but now “little” issues like state censorship and Tibetan repression have taken a backseat to serious economic concerns. The return of white collar Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing, which had been held up previously on account of China having the death penalty, represents a symbolic turning point. No doubt the recent financial crises in the United States has led policymakers in Ottawa to imagine a post-American dominated world. The more friends Canada can line up, the better.
None of this means that Stephen Harper seriously believes that the United States will lose their position as Canada’s number one trading partner in the foreseeable future, but what it shows is that a changing world requires a changing world attitude. Moral highhandedness and a resolute ethical clarity may play well domestically with voters, but if the government is really taking Canada’s economic sustainability as a serious priority then the warming of relations with China makes perfect sense. After all, what are a few deported fugitives among friends?
