Former Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his office, saying that “you’ll never know if what was communicated to the prime minister’s office reached the prime minister’s ears.”
In an interview with rosemary burton live On Sunday’s broadcast, he said he feels the PMO is “acting as a bit of a filter” and that some ministers are as close to Trudeau as childhood friends.
“There are times when ministers want to speak directly to the Prime Minister, and even though the Prime Minister has said the door is always open, it never felt like it was really an invitation from the Prime Minister.” he told CBC chief political correspondent Rosemary Burton. .
Garneau served in Trudeau’s cabinet from 2015 to 2021, first as transport minister and then as foreign minister. He was removed from the cabinet in October 2021, but remained a member of parliament until March 2023.
his autobiography, The Most Extraordinary Journey: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of the Canadian Dream, ” is scheduled to be released by Penguin Random House in October. The book partially chronicles Garneau’s political experience.
Garneau wrote that he was “surprised” to be appointed transport minister, but it didn’t take long for him to “fall in love” with the portfolio.
But during several phone calls between the two, Trudeau “did not seek my opinion on any issues,” Garneau wrote. “Generally speaking, he wasn’t really interested in transportation unless a problem surfaced.”
When Mr. Garneau was transferred to foreign affairs, a move he says in his book was unexpected, he writes that his new responsibilities did not bring him closer to Mr. Trudeau.
Instead, he was called only once to provide advice in a meeting with then-Ambassador to China Dominic Barton to discuss the situation of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who were imprisoned in China at the time. It was.
“The Prime Minister’s aloofness led me to conclude that he does not consider my advice as useful as he would like to hear from me directly, and instead relies on his staff,” Garneau wrote. “This was disappointing, to say the least.”
Garneau said in an interview that he does not yet know why he was removed from Trudeau’s cabinet.
Former cabinet minister Marc Garneau has announced his resignation to the House of Commons after a 14-year career in politics.
“It was like a punch in the gut. I was very disappointed,” Garneau said. “There were so many things I wanted to do at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but it didn’t happen.”
Garneau declined to say whether Trudeau should resign as party leader, as the Liberal Party continues to struggle in the polls.
Instead, he said Trudeau is “a guy who doesn’t want to give up. He likes a good fight and I think he’s determined to fight that fight. So we’ll see what happens.”
Canada’s position in the world is ‘in decline’
Garneau also expressed concerns about Canada’s international reputation and diplomatic strategy, saying, “We don’t always know who we’re dealing with.”
“This applies primarily to the Indo-Pacific region. The world’s center of gravity is shifting and will remain there for most of this century,” Garneau said. “We don’t know as much about the country there as we should.”
Garneau said Canada’s second shortcoming is that “we want to be a voice that is heard in the world, but we don’t have the credibility to match that word.”
“We want to do our share of the heavy lifting of collective security, but we can’t because we’ve been neglecting our military for too many decades.”
Following a series of criticisms from allies, particularly the United States, the Liberal government announced in early July that it wants to achieve NATO’s military spending standard of 2% of a member country’s gross domestic product by 2032.
But Garneau said “nobody came to see us” about Canada’s failure to seek a spot on the UN Security Council in 2020 and new multilateral partnerships such as AUKUS and the Quad. He also cited other examples that suggest Canada’s reputation is in decline.
“From that perspective, we’re stalling. If that’s going to happen, we’ll make that decision and accept it,” Garneau said. “But we shouldn’t expect to be taken as seriously as we would like.”
