The parliamentary session that ended in Ottawa gives the impression of a government in disarray. First, a crisis is brewing in passport offices as services are overwhelmed with document renewal. The Liberal government is also suspected of political interference in the April 2020 shooting in the province of Nova Scotia. At the risk of jeopardizing the investigation, the Liberals appeared to want information about the guns used by the shooter, adding them to the 1,500 guns later banned by the government.

In particular, the independent public inquiry into the promulgation of the emergency law in response to truck driver demonstrations last February has undermined the government’s credibility. When the Minister of Public Security (Marco Mendicino) confirmed that this text had been requested by the police forces, we were more likely to learn that the police forces were asking for more legal instruments, but not necessarily this one. And Treasury Secretary Chrystia Freeland has spared herself examining the exact extent of the economic dislocation caused by the protests. Nothing, then, to improve the file that many already see in Justin Trudeau’s chair.

Marginalization. On the foreign policy front, too, the government’s directions raise many questions, despite genuine efforts to restore Canada’s place on the international stage. At the start of the Ukraine crisis, the government’s response was well coordinated with foreign trips by the prime minister and his foreign minister (Mélanie Joly). The latter also announced that a review of Canadian diplomacy would take place, while the Secretary of Defense (Anita Anand) also reiterated that defense policy would be reviewed. Given Washington’s impatience, Canada will also make significant investments in upgrading missile detection radars, located in Canada’s far north and part of the NORAD agreement with the United States.

Will all of this be enough to curb Canada’s marginalization on the international stage? Apart from international meetings such as those of the G7 and the Atlantic Alliance, where Justin Trudeau has made his presence felt, Canada does not seem to be able to secure the necessary means to get there and thus put itself back into a more active role. A NATO report shows that the country has still not reached the target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on military spending. As if to compensate, Mélanie Joly announced that Canada will open four new embassies (Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Armenia).

Given the refusal to provide a precise timetable for achieving NATO’s goals, one may wonder whether Justin Trudeau’s political will to achieve them is genuine, especially since the bill would be substantial ($75 billion over five years, according to the parliamentary budget officer). Combined with the problems on the domestic political scene, it is then tempting to conclude that the Liberal government lacks leadership. That’s why the government needs to pick up steam again if it hopes to take the initiative again in the autumn.

Frédéric Boily, Professor of Political Science at the University of Alberta, contributed to Jean-François Caron’s book Marginalised. Reflections on Canada’s Isolation in International Relations” (2022).