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Trudeau’s diplomats show foreign relations still a blend of politics and policy

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[The Trudeau government announced 26 diplomatic appointments this week, and kept some Harper-era public servants. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld]

Canada’s diplomatic corps, which got an overhaul from the Liberals this week, wasn’t exactly known for having an amicable relationship with the previous Conservative government.

It was particularly striking to see Stephen Harper shower praise on Ian Burney last year. The diplomat joined Canada’s foreign service in the late 1980s around the time Harper first ran for office, making him one of the career public servants Harper supposedly had it out for.

But Harper saw in Burney a tireless workhorse who, most importantly, advanced his government’s trade agenda. He tied Burney’s efforts with those of the Conservatives; Tories, he said, “understood very early on that bilateral and regional trade agreements were the key to the future, and thanks to the efforts of Ian and his team, that future is now our present.”

It all served to demonstrate the delicate dance between Canadian political masters and their public servants, a dance that involves aligning and diverging interests, career paths, personalities and political agendas.

Now, Burney’s new position demonstrates that again. Burney has received one of the biggest spots in a major Trudeau government diplomatic shakeup, becoming Canada’s new ambassador to Japan, the world’s third-largest economy.

Tuesday’s 26 diplomatic appointments, by far the Trudeau government’s biggest round yet, was seen as a move to “wipe the diplomatic slate clean” of Tory-appointed ambassadors.

Indeed, big political names associated with the Harper government, like Harper’s former bodyguard Bruno Saccomani who was made ambassador to Jordan have been swapped out.

Others who lost their posts include Vivian Bercovici, a controversial Harper-era appointment to Israel, and Gordon Campbell, the former premier of British Columbia for the right-leaning B.C. Liberals, who Harper appointed to be Canada’s man in London.

But in some ways the story is more complex, as the Liberals appear to be continuing the tradition of blending the political and the bureaucratic when it comes to foreign affairs.

Former Harper cabinet minister Lawrence Cannon, for example, appointed to be ambassador to France, is staying put for now. (The Globe and Mail reported he “negotiated a deal to stay until May,” citing anonymous sources).

The former Progressive Conservative premier of New Brunswick, David Alward, appointed last year by the Harper government to be consul general in Boston, was also not dropped in the recent diplomatic shuffle.

Neither was former sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers, appointed to serve as ambassador to Ireland by a grateful Harper after Vickers was credited with stopping the Parliament Hill shooter. He remains in place, so far, despite an unusual event this spring where he tackled a protester in Dublin.

Meanwhile, long-time Liberal operative Patrick Parisot will become ambassador to Cuba. Parisot was an adviser in the office of former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien, before being posted to Chile, Portugal and Algeria. In 2010 he moved back to politics as principal secretary to former Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

Phyllis Yaffe, chairwoman of Cineplex and the new consul general in New York, served on the board of World Wildlife Fund Canada, led previously by Trudeau’s principal secretary Gerald Butts.

The Liberals are also demonstrating that they are not ideologically opposed to furthering the careers of Harper-era senior civil servants and ambassadors.

Janice Charette was Clerk of the Privy Council, the top civil servant in the Canadian government, during part of the Harper majority. Despite receiving some flack early this year for unceremoniously turfing Charette, the Liberals managed to give her one of the most plum postings on offer: high commissioner to the United Kingdom, replacing Campbell.

Similarly, Peter MacDougall, who worked during the Harper years in the Foreign and Defence Policy Secretariat at the Privy Council Office, which serves the Prime Minister’s Office, now gets the posting to Jordan — replacing Saccomani.

Deborah Lyons, a long-time diplomat, became ambassador to Afghanistan in 2013 at a crucial time for Harper, who was trying to formally end Canada’s military involvement in the country, something he called a “significant milestone.” She now gets the important Israel posting, replacing Bercovici.

Full list of Canadian diplomatic appointments announced July 19, 2016 by Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion:

Nations

Barbados
In: Marie Legault
Out: Richard Hanley

Belgium
In: Olivier Nicoloff
Out: Denis Robert

Colombia
In: Donald Bobiash
Out: Carmen Sylvain

Cuba
In: Patrick Parisot
Out: Yves Gagnon

Czech Republic
In: Barbara Richardson
Out: Otto Jelinek

Denmark
In: Emi Furuya
Out: André-François Giroux

Ghana
In: Heather Cameron
Out: Christopher Thornley

Hungary
In: Isabelle Poupart
Out: Lisa Helfand

Israel
In: Deborah Lyons
Out: Vivian Bercovici

Japan
In: Ian Burney
Out: Mackenzie Clugston

Jordan
In: Peter MacDougall
Out: Bruno Saccomani

Mozambique
In: Antoine Chevrier
Out: Shawn Barber

Pakistan
In: Perry Calderwood
Out: Heather Cruden

Senegal
In: Lise Filiatrault
Out: Philippe Beaulne

Spain
In: Matthew Levin
Out: Jon Allen

Tanzania
In: Ian Myles
Out: Alexandre Lévêque

Thailand
In: Donica Pottie
Out: Philip Calvert

Trinidad and Tobago
In: Carla Hogan Rufelds
Out: Gérard Latulippe

Turkey
In: Chris Cooter
Out: John Holmes

United Arab Emirates
In: Masud Husain
Out: Arif Lalani

United Kingdom
In: Janice Charette
Out: Gordon Campbell

Vietnam
In: Ping Kitnikone
Out: David Devine

Regions

Bangalore, India
In: Jennifer Daubeny
Out: Sidney Frank

Hong Kong, China
In: Jeff Nankivell
Out: Ian Burchett

Istanbul, Turkey
In: Ulric Shannon
Out: Andrew Smith

New York, United States
In: Phyllis Yaffe
Out: John Prato