Thursday, June 12, 2025
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada on top of the world
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada on top of the world
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
        • Provincial COVID Misery Index
        • Beyond Lockdown
        • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
        • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Where is Canada? Australian perspectives on Ottawa’s absence at the Indo-Pacific table: Thomas Wilkins for Inside Policy

When just about every other significant power is proactively forging Indo-Pacific strategies, Canada’s effective absence at the table is sorely missed.

June 21, 2022
in Foreign Affairs, Inside Policy, Foreign Policy, Latest News, Columns, Indo-Pacific
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A

By Thomas Wilkins, June 21, 2022

If Canada has pretensions to being an Indo-Pacific power, then it has a difficult image problem to overcome – not in terms of its national reputation as a constructive and valued member of the international community, which are “a given,” but in terms of its “presence” and “engagement” with this pivotal region.

While it is not diplomatic for one country to cast aspersions over the correctness of another’s policy – even a close friend like Canada – it is probably fair to say that Australia’s strategic community views Ottawa’s low to non-existent profile in Indo-Pacific affairs as a cause for concern and disappointment. This feeling goes back quite a few years, but is notably heightened in the current context of instability and risk emerging in the Indo-Pacific at this time.

One anecdote might be employed to sum this up. Every year one of Australia’s premier foreign policy think tanks, the Lowy Institute for International Policy, produces a data-driven report called the Asia Power Index that seeks to capture a spectrum of metrics in order to rank relative power differentials.

Canada is omitted from the study and appears nowhere in the accompanying report.

While this of course may be an editorial choice by the authors, it speaks volumes that a significant middle power like Canada could be overlooked, whilst countries like Nepal, Laos and Brunei all feature in the index.

Canada and Australia are often mentioned is the same breath as archetypical “middle powers” that take proactive roles in multilateralism and coalition building, and are known for their all-round “good international citizenship.”

This is not to say that both countries are entirely symmetrical in their national and strategic cultures. – it is often quipped that “Australia is from Mars and Canada is from Venus” – and this might account for Canberra’s more “robust” and defence-oriented stance. But such differences are not sufficient to account for the apparent disparity in their regional engagement.

Contrast the dilatory fashion in which Ottawa has reluctantly approached the “Indo-Pacific” concept to frame its regional policy with Canberra’s avid embrace. For Australian policy-makers, the concept has been an active driver in the process of many of the most prominent institutions in the region – such as the Quad (Australia-US-Japan-India) and AUKUS (Australia-UK-US). Ottawa, once a champion of organizations such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), hovers on the margins, neither properly “in” nor “out.”  For example, Canada is a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, but not Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

While Australia has not promulgated a specific national “Indo-Pacific Strategy” like the US and other allies, including even European powers, the makings of an unofficial, but clearly-defined approach coalesce around solid support for the Japanese/American version and the Free and Open Indo Pacific (FOIP) vision; first enunciated by Tokyo and now serving as the unifying banner for the Quad. Canada has been tepid in its embrace of the Indo-Pacific and the FOIP policies of its allies and partners. Indeed, commentators in Canada have actively sought to influence public policy debates against Ottawa’s adhesion to the FOIP, while others have advocated for it.

There are some justifiable explanations for this.  Firstly, only a small portion of Canada as a whole faces the Pacific Ocean, whilst its greatest demographic and economic concentration is far away near the Atlantic seaboard. Contra wise, Australia is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and located at a vital pivot point to the south of the Asian continent. Secondly, Canada shelters behind and is overshadowed by its superpower neighbour to the south, with whom the vast bulk of its trade is conducted. Australia, which deeply relies on a distant United States for its national security, feels exposed by its geography even as its trade is dominated by Asia (principally China).

It may be fair to say that due to these factors a proactive approach on Canberra’s part is a matter of greater urgency than for Ottawa.  But nonetheless, given the significance of the Indo-Pacific region as the heart of the global economy and the acute tensions in the strategic environment, Canada cannot afford to take such a passive role, as a matter of national interest. Moreover, the reputational costs to Canada in not being more forthcoming in its support for allies and partners, where it is keenly anticipated and expected, including by Australia, is not a negligible consideration.

It is a near-certainty that Canberra would welcome a more proactive Canadian role in the Indo-Pacific region. At this point in time, when just about every other significant power, including the US, Japan, India, the UK, France, Germany, and even the Netherlands, is proactively forging Indo-Pacific strategies, Canada’s effective absence at the table is sorely missed.

Thomas Wilkins is a Senior Fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and Senior Lecturer in International Security at the University of Sydney. He is author of Security in Asia Pacific: The Dynamics of Alignment (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2019).

Related Posts

Mixed fleet of fighter jets not the answer for Canada’s Air Force: Alexander Lanoszka, Richard Shimooka and Balkan Devlen in the National Post
National Defence

Mixed fleet of fighter jets not the answer for Canada’s Air Force: Alexander Lanoszka, Richard Shimooka and Balkan Devlen in the National Post

June 11, 2025
The future of the Canadian Armed Forces under Carney: Andrew Leslie on The Hub Podcast
National Defence

The future of the Canadian Armed Forces under Carney: Andrew Leslie on The Hub Podcast

June 10, 2025
Carney’s military pledge — what it buys, and what it costs: Christian Leuprecht on The Line Podcast
National Defence

Carney’s military pledge — what it buys, and what it costs: Christian Leuprecht on The Line Podcast

June 10, 2025
Next Post
Bill C-11 critics are now Enemies of the People: Peter Menzies in the Line

Bill C-11 critics are now Enemies of the People: Peter Menzies in the Line

Newsletter Signup

  Thank you for Signing Up
  Please correct the marked field(s) below.
Email Address  *
1,true,6,Contact Email,2
First Name *
1,true,1,First Name,2
Last Name *
1,true,1,Last Name,2
*
*Required Fields

Follow us on

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

  • Inside Policy Magazine
  • Annual Reports
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy
      • Economic Policy
      • Justice
      • Rights and Freedoms
      • Assisted Suicide (MAID)
      • Health Care
      • COVID-19
      • Gender Identity
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • AI, Technology and Innovation
      • Media and Telecoms
      • Housing
      • Immigration
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Competition Policy
    • Energy Policy
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy
      • Israel-Hamas War
      • Ukraine
      • Taiwan
      • China
      • Europe and Russia
      • Indo-Pacific
      • Middle East and North Africa
      • North America
      • Foreign Interference
      • National Defence
      • National Security
      • Foreign Affairs
    • Indigenous Affairs
  • Projects
    • CNAPS (Center for North American Prosperity and Security)
    • The Promised Land
    • Voices that Inspire: The Macdonald-Laurier Vancouver Speaker Series
    • Dragon at the Door
    • Canada on top of the world
    • Justice Report Card
    • The Great Energy Crisis
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • Double Trouble
    • Digital Policy & Connectivity
    • Managing Indigenous Prosperity
    • Defending The Marketplace of Ideas
    • Reforming the University
    • Past Projects
      • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
      • The Transatlantic Program
      • COVID Misery Index
      • Speak for Ourselves
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
      • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
      • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
      • Straight Talk
      • Labour Market Report
      • Leading Economic Indicator
      • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Inside Policy
  • Libraries
    • Columns
    • Commentary
    • Papers
    • Books
    • Video

© 2023 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

Lightbox image placeholder

Previous Slide

Next Slide

Share

Facebook ShareTwitter ShareLinkedin SharePinterest ShareEmail Share

TwitterTwitter
Hide Tweet (admin)

Add this ID to the plugin's Hide Specific Tweets setting: