US partisan perceptions of Stephen Harper’s shift in foreign policy
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0020702018783321 |
| Subject Matter | Scholarly Essay |
Scholarly Essay
US partisan perceptions
of Stephen Harper’s shift
in foreign policy
Jonathan Paquin
Political Science, Universite
´Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Abstract
While Stephen Harper’s foreign policy sparked heated debates during his entire tenure
as prime minister, these debates were mainly confined to Canadian foreign policy cir-
cles. Little attention was paid to allies’ perceptions of these developments and, more
specifically, to the perception of the United States, Canada’s main economic and security
partner. How did the Bush and Obama administrations perceive these changes? Were
they seen as a break from Canada’s past? Did Harper’s handling of foreign policy alter
White House calculations with respect to Canada? Based on a series of semi-structured
interviews conducted in Washington DC with executive officials a few months prior to
the end of the Harper era in 2015, this essay shows that despite a widespread percep-
tion in Washington that Canada’s foreign policy approach had changed under Harper,
partisanship was the main dividing line in terms of how this approach was perceived and
assessed.
Keywords
United States, Canada, foreign policy, Canada–USA relations, perception, partisanship,
Republicans, Democrats, Stephen Harper, Conservative Party
Over a period of almost ten years (2006–2015), the Conservative government of
Prime Minister Stephen Harper distanced itself somewhat from Canada’s inter-
nationalist past, which had been the dominant approach for over sixty years.
Through a series of adjustments in tone and policy, Harper brought Canada’s
foreign policy more in line with Conservative values.
1
His government was critical
of liberal internationalism on the grounds that it compromised Canada’s core
International Journal
2018, Vol. 73(2) 282–298
!The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702018783321
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Corresponding author:
Jonathan Paquin, Universite
´Laval – Political Science, 1030, av. des Sciences-Humaines, Pavillon Charles-De
Koninck, Que
´bec City, Que
´bec, G1V 0A6, Canada.
Email: jonathan.paquin@pol.ulaval.ca
1. Philippe Lagasse
´, Justin Massie, and Ste
´phane Roussel, ‘‘Le ne
´oconservatisme en politique e
´tran-
ge
`re et de de
´fense canadiennes,’’ in Julian Castro-Rea and Fre
´de
´ric Boily, eds., Le fe
´de
´ralisme selon
principles and values.
2
At the Conservative Party convention in 2011, the prime
minister declared, ‘‘In the world, we must also have a purpose and that purpose is
no longer just to go along and get along with everyone else’s agenda. It is no longer
to please every dictator with a vote at the United Nations[.]...Moral ambiguity,
moral equivalence are not options; they are dangerous illusions[.]...[W]e know
where our interests lie and who our friends are.’’
3
Moreover, contrary to his pre-
decessors, Harper portrayed Canada as a valiant fighter defending its interests and
values in places such as Afghanistan, Libya, and the Arctic. The intensity and
consistency of his support for the state of Israel was a departure from previous
governments. Harper’s unequivocal pro-Israel stance was part of a broader attempt
by the Conservatives to transform Canada’s foreign policy identity.
4
Finally,
Harper’s government did not hesitate to unilaterally withdraw from international
agreements when the latter were deemed to be contrary to the Conservatives’ def-
inition of Canada’s national interests. The unilateral withdrawal from the Kyoto
Protocol in 2011 and the withdrawal attempt from the Organization for Security
and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2012 were perfect illustrations of this.
These reorientations led observers to argue that the Conservative government had
initiated a break with the past.
5
Although this view was contested by some analysts,
6
it nonetheless led Justin Trudeau, on the day following his 2015 victory, to proclaim
in a message to Canada’s allies, ‘‘Many of you have worried that Canada has lost its
compassionate and constructive voice in the world over the past 10 years. Well, I
have a simple message for you: on behalf of 35 million Canadians, we’re back.’’
7
While Harper’s foreign policy sparked heated debates during his entire tenure as
prime minister, these debates were mainly confined to Canadian foreign policy
circles. Little attention was paid to the allies’ perceptions of these developments
Harper: la place du Que
´bec dans le Canada conservateur (Que
´bec: Les Presses de l’Universite
´Laval,
2014), 49–81.
2. Roland Paris, ‘‘Are Canadians still liberal internationalists? Foreign policy and public opinion in
the Harper era,’’ International Journal 69, no. 3 (2014): 274–307; John Ibbitson, ‘‘The big break: The
Conservative transformation of Canada’s foreign policy,’’ Centre for International Governance
Innovation Papers, no. 9, 2014; Joe Clark, How We Lead: Canada in a Century of Change, 3rd
ed. (Random House Canada, Toronto 2013); Kim Richard Nossal, ‘‘The Liberal past in the
Conservative present: Internationalism in the Harper era,’’ in Heather A. Smith and Claire
Turenne Sjolander, eds., Canada in the World: Internationalism in Canadian Foreign Policy (Don
Mills, ON: Oxford University Press, 2013) 21–35.
3. Colin Robertson,‘‘Harper’s world view,’’ PolicyOptions, October 2011, http://policyoptions.irpp.org/
magazines/the-new-normal-majority-government/harpers-world-view/ (accessed 22 May 2018).
4. Adam Chapnick, ‘‘Stephen Harper’s Israel policy,’’ in Adam Chapnick and Christopher J.
Kukucha, eds., The Harper Era in Canadian Foreign Policy, Parliament, Politics, and Canada’s
Global Posture (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2016), 105–120.
5. John Ibbitson, ‘‘How Harper transformed Canada’s foreign policy,’’ The Globe and Mail,31
January 2014, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/how-harper-transformed-canadas-
foreign-policy/article16626348/ (accessed 22 May 2018).
6. See Ian Brodie, ‘‘Canada disengaging from NATO, the UN and multilateralism? Not a chance.
Harper is an internationalist, albeit of a different kind,’’ Canadian International Council (CIC), 25
September 2014.
7. The Canadian Press, ‘‘‘We’re back,’ Justin Trudeau says in a message to Canada’s allies abroad,’’
National Post, 20 October 2015, http://nationalpost.com/news/politics/were-back-justin-trudeau-
says-in-message-to-canadas-allies-abroad (accessed 22 May 2018).
Paquin 283
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