OTTAWA, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Stephane Dion, named Canada's new
Liberal foreign minister on Wednesday, is a former party leader
and political heavyweight tasked with repairing foreign ties
that frayed under the outgoing Conservatives.
Under former prime minister Stephen Harper, Canada shunned
its traditional focus on multilateral diplomacy and took a more
muscular tone. Some diplomats from traditional allies such as
the European Union and the United States had privately
complained about this approach.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, who ousted Harper's
government by winning an Oct. 19 election, had promised the
world that Canada would be back after almost a decade of
Conservative rule.
Dion, 60, gained international experience when he served as
environment minister in a former Liberal government, chairing a
United Nations conference on climate change in Montreal in 2005.
Among the immediate challenges are Trudeau's promise to end
a combat mission against Islamic State militants despite
pressure from Washington to stay involved in the region.
Dion will also be involved in improving overall relations
with the United States. Harper irritated Washington by
pressuring U.S. authorities approve TransCanada Corp 's TRP.TO
proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Trudeau also backs the project.
Dion's green credentials served him less well after he was
elected Liberal leader in late 2006, when the party was in
opposition. He went into an October 2008 election vowing to
impose a carbon tax and stuck to his plans despite a rapidly
spreading economic crisis.
The party lost badly to the Conservatives and Dion resigned
shortly afterwards, although he stayed on as a legislator from a
constituency in Montreal, in his home province of Quebec.
Dion, a university professor, first came to political
prominence in the mid-1990s with a series of attacks on those
pressing for Quebec independence. He was named to cabinet in
1996 and pushed through legislation making it harder for
provinces to break away from the rest of Canada.
(Editing by Alan Crosby)