Canada’s functional principle: 75 years on

AuthorAdam Chapnick
Published date01 June 2017
Date01 June 2017
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1177/0020702017709978
Subject MatterLessons of History
Lessons of History
Canada’s functional
principle: 75 years on
Adam Chapnick
Canadian Forces College, and the Royal Military College of
Canada Toronto
Abstract
On 29 March 2016, in a speech at the University of Ottawa, Ste
´phane Dion outlined ‘‘the
guiding principle’’ that he intended to follow as the Trudeau government’s first minister of
global affairs.He called it ‘‘responsible conviction’’: anapproach to policymaking thatcom-
bined the need to balance his personal sense of right and wrong with a pragmatic under-
standingof the consequencesof Ottawa’spolicy choices.The decision to announceCanada’s
new global posture so publicly recalls the conductof the Canadian foreign policyestablish-
ment duringthe Second WorldWar,when Ottawa firstproclaimed its allegianceto another
decision-making framework:the functionalprinciple. Thisbrief essay reviewsthe history and
utility of the Canadian version of functionalism with an eyeto drawing lessons for Minister
Dion’s successor, Chrystia Freeland, and her contemporaries. Understanding the ultimate
plight of the functional principle might make the new minister less adamant about placing
responsible conviction at the centre of her foreignpolicy platform.
Keywords
Functional principle, Canadian diplomacy, Hume Wrong, William Lyon Mackenzie King
On 29 March 2016, in a speech at the University of Ottawa, Ste
´phane Dion out-
lined ‘‘the guiding principle’’ that he intended to follow as the Trudeau govern-
ment’s f‌irst minister of global af‌fairs. He called it ‘‘responsible conviction’’: an
approach to policymaking that combined the need to balance his personal sense
of right and wrong with a pragmatic understanding of the consequences of
Ottawa’s policy choices. Over the next four years, he proclaimed, Canadian foreign
policy would be ‘‘principled, but less dogmatic.’’
1
The controversial $15 billion
arms sale to Saudi Arabia that had been approved by the previous Conservative
International Journal
2017, Vol. 72(2) 269–278
!The Author(s) 2017
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702017709978
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Corresponding author:
Adam Chapnick, Canadian Forces College, 215 Yonge Boulevard, Toronto, ON, M5M 3H9, Canada.
Email: a.chapnick@gmail.com
1. Ste
´phane Dion, ‘‘On ‘responsible conviction’ and Liberal foreign policy,’ Ottawa, 29 March 2016,
cited at Macleans.ca, http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/stephane-dion-how-ethics-inspires-
liberal-foreign-policy/ (accessed 2 August 2016).

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