Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly is promising a plan by this fall for a foreign-service reboot in which diplomats will have a better grasp of the languages and topics relevant to their postings.
Joly said in a speech to Canadian ambassadors in Ottawa today that her government will spend more to ensure a better workplace culture and more knowledge in fields such as energy, critical minerals and cybertechnology.
Joly is releasing a 30-page report called the Future of Diplomacy, which notes Canada has a comparatively small presence at the United Nations and in what she calls “strategically important countries.”
The report follows an internal review and testimony to a Senate committee, which heard that Canada does not adequately prioritize diplomats specializing in a region, language or topic, and instead shuffles them between Ottawa and various capitals….