No more dubious friendships with dictatorships. We need to speed up the approval of major energy projects, especially LNG, to come to the rescue of our European allies who fear they won’t be able to heat themselves this winter.

Post-Cold War comfort is gone, the war in Ukraine and China’s hegemonic ambitions call for a new world order.

Western democracies in particular must be willing to invest political capital in order to pass the pill on to their electorate.

The world has changed. It’s time to adapt. That’s the clear message delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland in a high-profile speech in Washington earlier this week.

Did he want to prepare the ground for a later career on the international stage (remember the NATO episodes) or did he want to bully his colleagues in the Council of Ministers? The debate is open.

Still, Chrystia Freeland appears to have redefined Canada’s foreign and energy policies.

“Since 1989 we have been reaping the fruits of peace, now is the time to insure against war. »

Why ?

Since Justin Trudeau’s famous “Canada is back” the day after his victory, his administration has not been a leader on the international stage.

Hence the surprise at Chrystia Freeland’s speech.

Canada for once had something off the beaten track to say, why them?

Shouldn’t the Prime Minister have made such an important speech? Or at least the nominal foreign minister?

But no, Justin Trudeau distributed green energy grants. Mélanie Joly did business in Asia.

So is it Canada that is calling for this new world order, or Chrystia Freeland? The dilemma is complete. Everyone will have noticed that she spoke of the audacity of “her” plan and not Canada’s.

heated debates

In particular, the paradigm shift proposed by Chrystia Freeland confuses some previous notions and will require serious changes.

Of course, Conservatives are happy that Canada is opening the door to mining and gas projects. Also, will GNL Québec find the necessary levers to restart the project?

But we remain 1,000 miles from the philosophy this administration has upheld.

It is hard to imagine that Steven Guilbeault was happy to have this new energy policy imposed on him. How many snakes will he be willing to swallow to stay at the ministers’ table?

We also look forward to hearing from Mélanie Joly what compromises voters have to make to support our allies.

And what about the deplorable level of our military spending that Canada has been content with for so many years?

Finally, the deputy prime minister’s realpolitik lesson confronts the Trudeau government with the limits of its virtue politics. Is the current Prime Minister ready to follow him?