Dear members,
The tulips are out in the NCR, the goslings have hatched, discussions on new directions in foreign policy have begun, and a new cabinet has been sworn in. Here are my thoughts on those latter points, along with a few other updates and a request for this week.
New directions for the Foreign Service?
The new Prime Minister has talked at length about how central the Foreign Service is to his government’s vision for Canada. International trade along with political and economic sovereignty were central in last month’s federal election campaign. In fact, in its platform, the Liberal party vowed to expand trade and restore Canadian leadership on the world stage by sending “more Canadian diplomats and officials abroad.” I can’t help but feel optimistic about how all of this attention being paid to our profession could be good news for the FS. But the devil is in the details.
On Monday, I attended the AMBCANADA-CIPS conference on “Finding Canada’s Place in a Disordered World.” Not surprisingly, the broad consensus among the panels of experts, which included both experienced diplomats and academics, was that we must define our interests and pursue them with focus, dedication, and resources. That process will not be easy, however.
This Tuesday’s swearing in of the new cabinet signalled to me that this government is trying to strike a balance between what has worked in the past and the need for different approaches to address an uncertain future. On the one hand, the new leadership team wants to differentiate itself from its predecessor. But it also wants to maintain some continuity. While over half of the new cabinet consists of fresh faces, several seasoned MPs were chosen to take on the larger portfolios. For example, we are pleased to see that Anita Anand has been appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. We have enjoyed a good working relationship with her in the past when she was President of the Treasury Board. On the trade side, Maninder Sidhu, who has served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development is now the new Minister of International Trade, and Dominic LeBlanc is the Minister responsible for Canada–US trade. Lena Diab is now in charge of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship and Randeep Sarai is the new Secretary of State for International Development. We look forward to working with them in their new roles.
Now that we have heard some of the government’s plans, and their key players have been selected, we must see how it all translates into action. It’s one thing to talk about enhancing diplomacy, it’s another to put the required resources in place. At many missions across the world, Canada’s Foreign Service is stretched thin. Sending more diplomats abroad will require more than just a reallocating of current employees, but a real investment in additional resources. We will be watching the International Assistance file particularly closely. We believe it is time for a proper foreign policy review and a fresh plan moving forward. The last major review of Canada’s Foreign Service was 20 years ago, under Prime Minister Paul Martin, when the world was a very different place.
All this to say that the emerging outlines seem quite promising, but we need more precision on the details and their implementation. Those specifics, we hope, will be revealed in the upcoming throne speech, scheduled for the end of the month. I’ll be sure to share with you my thoughts on that in my next message, and we will certainly be consulting with you on your priorities in any foreign policy review. In the meantime, you can read a bit more of my take on this, as well as those of former PAFSO member, Senator Peter Boehm, in Catherine Morrison’s latest article for National Newswatch.
Diversity and Inclusion in the Foreign Service: please get involved!
After seeing the list of new cabinet appointees, several members reached out to me to point out that Minister Anand will be Canada’s first visible minority Minister of Foreign Affairs, and indeed, all of “our” ministers (Ministers Anand, Sidhu, Ali, and Diab) share that background. The fact that this new group is also gender-balanced and contains three Indigenous members, bodes well for progress on diversity and inclusion in Canada, but there is still a lot to do.
PAFSO’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, chaired by Executive Committee member Michael Creighton, supports efforts to foster a diverse and engaged Foreign Service officer cadre that is representative of Canada and its intersectional complexities. The committee is working to refine its priorities, which will involve issues such as improving knowledge and awareness, identifying ways to engage with members, and supporting career advancement. At the moment, their main concrete activity is engaging with GAC’s employee networks to identify appropriate ways to honour the memory of our colleague CJ Scott and her work on advancing diversity and inclusion in our profession.
We need your help on this important work. If you are interested in helping to make the Foreign Service a more diverse and welcoming environment, please consider joining the committee. You can reach Michael for more information via our office at info@pafso.com.
The PAFSO 60 Diamond Jubilee Celebration is less than a month away
June 4 is coming up quickly, and our Diamond Jubilee Celebration promises to be a night to remember. Tickets are going fast. We only have a set number for sale, so if you would like to join us to celebrate PAFSO’s 60th anniversary, you can purchase your tickets on our Eventbrite page. Whether you are planning to bring a few guests or to come as a large group, you can now purchase up to 10 tickets at a time. I look forward to seeing you there to celebrate PAFSO’s six decades of promoting Canada’s professional Foreign Service, network with each other and with friends of the Foreign Service and honour the nominees for our Diamond Jubilee Award for exceptional achievement.
That’s it for this week’s message. As always, if you are having issues with your pay, if you feel harassed or discriminated against, if you have a grievance or a staffing complaint, or if you simply need some clarifications on our collective agreement or the FSDs, please reach out to us. We’re here for you. Just send us an email with your name, department and a detailed description of your concerns and we’ll put you in touch with our Labour Relations team. For anything and everything else, just email info@pafso.com and we will get back to you as soon as we can.
I hope you can enjoy some downtime over the May long weekend. My next message to you will be on June 6. Until then, take care of yourselves and each other.
All the best,
Pam Isfeld
President
@PafsoPresApase