This edition of the Canadian Foreign Policy Bulletin covers early reactions of Canadian officials and parliamentarians to Hamas attacks against Israel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to Ottawa amid a House of Commons scandal, continuing diplomatic fallout with India, and more.
Watch IPD's 3rd annual Middle East Strategy Forum (MESF 2023) which took place in Ottawa on September 26. MESF featured speakers including Turkish Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmet Yildiz, Major-General Greg Smith from the Department of National Defence, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary Chris Backemeyer, and more. WATCH NOW
IPD Advisor and former Ambassador Matthew Levin writes that "we should not underestimate the extent to which Canada’s international reputation and influence, and the admiration that has historically existed for Canada in Latin America and much of the world, has derived from our ability and willingness to speak with an independent voice."
In an op-ed for the Globe & Mail, Research Fellow David Polansky writes that "restoring the habits of reflecting on and speaking in terms of national interests could well prove salutary for [Canadian] elected officials and citizens alike."
IPD Young Fellows Andrew Erskine and Alexander Landry write for the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, arguing that NATO members "must go beyond their traditional notions of contributing to NATO. For Canada, this will mean an outlook to assume a position as a leader in implementing NATO’s plans for energy security."
DEVELOPING STORY
Over 200 Israelis Including Civilians Killed in Hamas Attacks. Canadian Leaders Condemn the Terror Attacks in Messages of Solidarity with Israel
Hamas militants launched a series of attacks against Israel earlier on Saturday, characterized by an intense barrage of rockets and the unprecedented move of militants crossing into Israeli territory. The early morning assault, which shockingly occurred during a major Jewish holiday, resulted in the deaths of more than 200 people in Israel including many civilians. In response to these events, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel is now "at war" with Hamas. The gravity of the situation is further underscored by reports from the Israeli military that some civilians and soldiers have been taken hostage by the militants. As night fell, Israeli airstrikes in Gaza intensified in retaliation, with the Israeli leadership asserting their intention to exact an "unprecedented price" for Hamas' actions.
Canada's reaction to attacks against Israel — Canadian officials and leaders of the opposition parties in the House of Commons have reacted to the attacks against Israel:
"Canada strongly condemns the current terrorist attacks against Israel." Prime Minister Trudeau said in a message posted on his Twitter page. "These acts of violence are completely unacceptable. We stand with Israel and fully support its right to defend itself. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this. Civilian life must be protected" he added.
"I unequivocally condemn the invasion of Israel by Hamas terrorists and the sadistic violence they have subsequently carried out against innocent civilians" Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said in a message about the attacks against Israel. He added: "Israel has the right to defend itself against these attacks and respond against the attackers. Canadians pledge their solidarity with all the victims."
In his message, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also said that he strongly condemns "these horrifying attacks by Hamas on Israel." He added that "civilians should never be targeted and all hostages must be released immediately."
TOP STORIES
Zelenskyy's Visit to Ottawa Marred by House of Commons Scandal
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited Canada for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine late last month. While his speech and diplomacy in Canada received praise, the House Speaker’s decision to honour a Nazi-linked Ukrainian World War II veteran for the occasion did not.
Zelenskyy’s North American tour — With Western support appearing to show cracks, Zelenskyy looked to inspire on both sides of the border:
After wrapping up the UN General Assembly in New York and a visit to Washington, D.C., Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s delegation visited Ottawa and Toronto to continue to shore up support for the Ukrainian war effort.
Western support has started to look shaky with U.S. Republican factions fed up with sending assistance, Poland announcing an end to its weapons deliveries, and Slovakia’s newly-elected government vowing to send “not a single round” more to Ukraine.
Zelenskyy also appeared in the House of Commons where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged $650 million more in aid over the next three years to supply armoured vehicles in addition to further details on an existing $500 million military assistance package.
Addressing parliament, Zelenskyy stated that "Moscow must lose once and for all. And it will lose," adding that Canada has always been on the “bright side of history” and has helped save thousands of lives with its aid and hosting of refugees.
Scandal in the House — Zelenskyy’s visit was overshadowed by the contentious honouring of a Nazi-linked Ukrainian veteran in Parliament:
House Speaker Anthony Rota invited and honoured Ukrainian veteran Yaroslav Hunka from his riding of Nipissing-Timiskaming, calling him "a Canadian hero." Hunka had served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the First Ukrainian Division.
Jewish organizations such as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center and B’nai Brith Canada demanded an apology with the former stating that “it is incredibly disturbing to see Canada’s parliament rise to applaud an individual who was a member of a unit in the Waffen-SS — a Nazi military branch responsible for the murder of Jews.”
In a public apology, Trudeau insisted that Rota, who has resigned from his role as Speaker over the issue, was solely responsible for inviting and asking parliamentarians and visiting dignitaries to recognize Hunka.
Trudeau went on to say “how deeply sorry Canada is for the situation this put President Zelensky and the Ukrainian delegation in. It is extremely troubling to think that this egregious error is being politicized by Russia and its supporters to provide false propaganda.”
The office of Canada's Governor-General Mary Simon has also since apologized over the past award of the Order of Canada to Ukrainian-Canadian Peter Savaryn, a University of Alberta chancellor who had also served in the Waffen-SS in WWII.
International backlash — The incident has drawn reactions from Poland, Russia, and around the world:
Polish Education Minister Przemyslaw Czarnek vowed to "have taken steps towards the possible extradition of [Hunka] to Poland" for war crimes, though no such request has yet been officially made to Canada.
Warsaw's ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski called the scandal "deeply hurtful," adding that "it’s important that allies working together need to have their facts right" and criticizing the omission of Polish victims of the SS in Trudeau's apology.
Canada hosts the second-largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world behind Russia and has several contentious war monuments around the country that have gained increased attention over what are viewed as anti-Soviet Ukrainian nationalists but also belong to the same Nazi-commanded 14th Waffen-SS division as Hunka's.
Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov also demanded an apology for the omission of Russian victims from the Prime Minister's statement, saying "a formal and unequivocal apology to all Russians and the Russian Canadian community" is necessary.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland responded to Russian commentary on the incident, stating that “we can’t change the fact that he made that mistake. We can, though, all of us decide how effective Vladimir Putin is at weaponizing that mistake."
What commentators think — Experts have reflected on how Canada has some uncomfortable reckoning with history to do:
Gary Keller, former chief of staff to then-Conservative foreign affairs minister John Baird, said that “it is a disastrous moment for Canada and a huge black eye, not just for us domestically, but in the eyes of the world as well."
Keller said the incident has thrown “complete chaos” into Zelenskyy’s attempt to rally support in Canada and the U.S., remarking that Russia “clearly seized” on it through “propaganda and disinformation,” as have other opponents of the war effort.
President Jurij Klufas of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada has defended Hunka, stating that "in this case, the senior gentleman [Hunka] here was a soldier, in his understanding, fighting for Ukraine.”
B’nai Brith Canada’s CEO Michael Mostyn said it was “outrageous," noting that Ukrainian “ultranationalist ideologues” who volunteered for the Galicia Division “dreamed of an ethnically homogenous Ukrainian state and endorsed the idea of ethnic cleansing.”
Dominique Arel, Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa, called it "highly problematic… we have the issue of symbolism here, the optics of serving in a military unit whose logo is that of arguably the greatest criminal organization in the 20th century."
Executive Director Pawel Markiewicz of the Polish Institute of International Affairs stated that "for many in the West... the understanding of the Second World War is in very black and white terms of, 'we won, they lost'... the minutiae of it gets very delicate and you have to tread softly on these issues."
India Orders Canada to Cut Back Diplomats Amid Assassination Fallout
In the aftermath of the affair around the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar that Canada has blamed on India, New Delhi has demanded the withdrawal of 41 Canadian diplomats out of a total number of 62 in the country, calling for their removal by October 10.
Collapsing relations — Anonymous sources told the Financial Times that India is calling for parity in the diplomats posted:
Following an Indian visa ban imposed on Canadians, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly public commentary has been measured, stating that “we think that diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private.”
Separately, Joly said to journalists that "in moments of tensions — because, indeed, there are tensions between both our government[s] — more than ever it's important that diplomats be on the ground."
CTV has nonetheless reported that the majority of Canadian diplomats working outside of Delhi in India have been relocated to Singapore and Malaysia with Global Affairs Canada previously acknowledging a decision to "temporarily adjust staff presence."
Joly also revealed that Ottawa is looking for private talks to dial back tensions, disclosing that "we take Canadian diplomats' safety very seriously and we will continue to engage privately because we think diplomatic conversations are best when they remain private."
In a press conference, Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi justified the expulsions on the grounds of "the much higher diplomatic presence of Canadian diplomats and their continuing interference in our internal affairs."
'Toxic combination' — India's External Affairs Minister has defended the removal of Canadian diplomats:
Speaking in Washington D.C., Joly's counterpart S. Jaishankar stated that "my diplomats in Canada are unsafe going to the embassy or to the consulates. They are publicly intimidated. And that actually has compelled me to temporarily suspend visa operations in Canada."
He added that "secessionism, violence, terrorism — it's a very toxic combination of issues and people who have found operating space there. So a lot of our tensions with Canada which well preceded what Mr. Trudeau said actually come out of that."
Kanwal Sibal, former Foreign Secretary of India, argued that Ottawa has "rejected cooperation with India to curb the activities of Sikh extremists... Cooperating with India to control the activities of such elements serves the interests of both Canada and India."
Sibal went on to say that Trudeau "cannot take a position that he will not cooperate with India to address its concerns, but India needs to cooperate with Canada in addressing his concerns," adding that Canada has "overstepped limits" with its accusations.
Navdeep Suri, a former Indian diplomat and a Distinguished Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, suggested that "Trudeau has allowed his domestic political imperatives to dictate his country’s foreign policy agenda and done enduring harm to relations."
Caution in D.C. — American officials have been careful to acknowledge the seriousness of the allegations without offending India:
Deputy State Department Spokesperson Vedant Patel declared that "it's critical that Canada's investigation proceed and the perpetrators be brought to justice. We also have... publicly and privately urged the Indian government to co-operate."
Asked, however, of the impact on U.S.-India relations, Patel said "I certainly don't want to get into hypotheticals. As it relates to our Indo-Pacific strategy and the focus that we continue to place on the region, that effort and that line of work is going to continue."
State Secretary Blinken stated "we have engaged with the Indian government and urged them to work with Canada on an investigation, and I had the opportunity to do so again in my meeting yesterday with Foreign Minister Jaishankar."
A separate anonymous official revealed to Politico that U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti warned his diplomats of the potential for worsening relations and the possibility of reducing contacts with Indian counterparts.
What commentators think — Experts have framed the rupture in Canada-India relations as a complicating factor in broader Indo-Pacific strategy:
Christopher Sands, Director of Wilson Center's Canada Institute, noted that the U.S. is "trying not to lose India over confronting Modi’s behavior or inaction unless… something shows it to be outside the kind of norms that we expected in the Western alliance."
Deanna Horton, Senior Fellow at the Munk School, stated that "Canada should use any hiatus in the Canada-India economic partnership talks to place more emphasis on the other important regional economies in the Indo-Pacific."
David McKinnon, former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, argued that "allies have enough at stake in their own relations with India that they are unlikely to countenance their own serious ruptures with Delhi, even if they accept our version of events and want to be supportive."
Daniel Markey, Senior Adviser at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said that "India’s leaders do not accept precisely the same rules and may not always see eye to eye when it comes to ‘shared values’ as defined by the US and its allies."
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Indian Prime Minister Modi is not afraid to intervene in another country if he feels India’s interests are threatened. These allegations and India’s denial of them show that India is not always going to play by the rules-based global system in which Canada has a profound stake... Canada is now at odds with three global powers: China, India, and Russia. This is not a good place to be and Canada will need to reconfigure its foreign policy approach for this new state of affairs.
Values are important, but they should guide how we pursue our interests, rather than define them... We are taken less seriously because we are seen as primarily interested in broadcasting our judgments rather than engaging with other countries to find common ground. The world has dramatically changed, and it will continue to do so. Without a serious rethink of how we engage internationally, it will be difficult to ensure Canada’s security and prosperity in an ever more uncertain world.
— David McKinnon, Former Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka
Interests, not morals, drive international relations... The India-Canada crisis could lead to some uncomfortable conversations between Washington and New Delhi at an otherwise warm moment for their relationship. But strategic imperatives and a deep partnership with strong support from all sides mean that the risk of such tensions plunging the relationship into crisis remains low.
— Michael Kugelman, Director, South Asia Institute, Wilson Center
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