Anand says Indo-Pacific strategy will have economic focus but maintain values

Canada's global affairs minister says foreign policy "an extension of domestic interest and particularly domestic economic interests" while the world economy is under stress.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the economy is becoming the primary focus of Canada’s relationships in the Indo-Pacific — a shift that appears linked to Canada’s recent moves to overcome its security dispute with India.

Anand was in Japan and Malaysia this week for her first trip to the region since taking over as foreign minister in May. Her message coming out of that trip was that Canada’s foreign policy is shifting — though not abandoning — the priorities set by the previous Liberal government of former prime minister Justin Trudeau.

“It is important for us to revisit our policy — not only in the Indo-Pacific but generally speaking — to ensure that we are focusing not only on the values that we have historically adhered to,” Anand said Thursday in a teleconference from Malaysia.

“Foreign policy is an extension of domestic interest and particularly domestic economic interests. This is a time when the global economy is under stress.”

The Trudeau government put language on environmental protection, labour standards and gender equality in its trade agreements.

Goldy Hyder, head of the Business Council of Canada, said that made Canada appear “a bit preachy” to other countries. He said Canada has to be respectful in the way it stands up for democratic values.

A focus on the economy is quickly becoming a defining trait of the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney, a former central banker who is intent on building up Canada’s domestic capacity and reshaping its trade and security plans to rely less on the United States.

Carney has been mostly focused on Europe so far; he has visited the continent three times since March. Anand’s visit this week “sets the stage” for Carney’s planned visits this fall to the Association of South East Asian Nations leaders’ summit in Malaysia and the APEC forum in South Korea, said Vina Nadjibulla, research vice-president for the Asia Pacific Foundation.