Trudeau’s foreign policy: progressive rhetoric, conventional policies

The analysis argues that while Justin Trudeau has positioned Canada as a reliable, progressive partner for the EU and a defender of the rules-based international order, his actual record is marked by contradictions. Key discrepancies include a gap between international climate leadership and domestic support for extractive industries, a failure to meet UN peacekeeping pledges, and continued arms exports to Middle Eastern states despite human rights rhetoric. The document also contrasts Trudeau's approach with the more hawkish, US-aligned foreign policy proposed by Conservative leader Andrew Scheer.

• Canada's relationship with the EU has strengthened under Trudeau through the EU-Canada Strategic Partnership Agreement and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), the latter of which aims to remove tariffs on 98 per cent of goods.
• Despite promoting a 'progressive agenda' at the 2018 G7 presidency and signing the Paris Agreement, the Trudeau government is criticized for lagging in domestic climate action, remaining the fourth largest oil producer and exporter globally and approving the Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline expansion.
• Canada's commitment to UN peacekeeping has been limited; despite a 2016 pledge of 600 soldiers and 150 police officers by 2019, only 22 soldiers participated in four UN Security Council missions as of February 2018, and a major mission in Mali ended in September 2019.
• The Feminist International Assistance Policy aims to allocate at least 95 per cent of international assistance to equality and women's empowerment by 2022, with 50 per cent targeted for Sub-Saharan Africa, though Canada's overall development spending (0.26 per cent of GNI) remains well below the UN target of 0.7 per cent.
• Canada continues to be a major arms exporter to the Middle East, specifically Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and has decided to honour a 15 billion Canadian dollar deal for 737 armoured vehicles to Riyadh.
• Canada has significantly increased its intake of Syrian refugees, accepting almost 60,000 since 2015, and admitted 28,100 resettled refugees in 2018.
• Conservative leader Andrew Scheer proposes a more hawkish foreign policy, including tougher stances on China and Iran, recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and repealing the federal carbon tax.

APA

Tolksdorf, D., & Kuenning, X. (2019). Trudeau’s foreign policy: progressive rhetoric, conventional policies. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/trudeaus-foreign-policy-progressive-rhetoric-conventional-policies/

Chicago

Tolksdorf, Dominik, and Xandie Kuenning. Trudeau’s foreign policy: progressive rhetoric, conventional policies. Green European Journal, 2019. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/trudeaus-foreign-policy-progressive-rhetoric-conventional-policies/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tolksdorf |first1=Dominik |last2=Kuenning |first2=Xandie |title=Trudeau’s foreign policy: progressive rhetoric, conventional policies |publisher=Green European Journal |date=25 September 2019 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/trudeaus-foreign-policy-progressive-rhetoric-conventional-policies/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tolksdorf2019trudeaus, author = {Tolksdorf, Dominik and Kuenning, Xandie}, title = {{Trudeau’s foreign policy: progressive rhetoric, conventional policies}}, institution = {Green European Journal}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/trudeaus-foreign-policy-progressive-rhetoric-conventional-policies/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }