Canada’s standing in the world is suffering under the tenure of leftist Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, former foreign affairs minister Marc Garneau reportedly claims in his new autobiography.
He adds the very man who appointed him to his former job as the country’s top diplomat is an ill-prepared leader much given to politics and big pronouncements without any follow-through, the Canadian Press (CP) reports.
Trudeau sees himself as a “brand” rather an elected leader for all Canadians with little to no interest in engaging with the wider world exhibited during his nine-year tenure.
“I believe Justin Trudeau has overestimated Canada’s impact abroad,” Garneau writes in his autobiography, A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream, which is scheduled to be released in October by Penguin Random House.
Garneau’s pre-politics career in the military and as an astronaut is the mainstay of the book but the final third is devoted to his time as a member of Parliament and forms the basis for his harsh assessment of Trudeau.
The 75-year-old was first elected as a Liberal MP in 2008. The CP report details he staged an unsuccessful run for the party leadership in 2013, ultimately withdrawing and backing Trudeau, who would go on to win in a landslide victory.
He spent the final nine months in Ottawa as minister of foreign affairs until Trudeau dropped him from cabinet completely after the 2021 election.
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In his book, Garneau reportedly acknowledges being blindsided by that decision — one he says Trudeau never sought to explain.
He makes it clear the two had little if anything in common outside of their “Liberal values,” and they were not close.
Another thing he makes clear, according to the CP report: Garneau thinks Trudeau is all talk and little action on the world stage.
“Unfortunately Canada’s standing in the world has slipped, in part because our pronouncements are not always matched by a capacity to act or by actions that clearly demonstrate that we mean what we say,” Garneau writes.
“We are losing credibility.”