Canada election could shift foreign policy back to multilateralism

By David Ljunggren
OTTAWA, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper
has dramatically changed Canada's position in the world, moving
away from multilateralism to a more muscular stance, but an
election could bring a new approach critics hope will win more
friends abroad.
The ruling Conservatives say they've taken the moral high
ground in their nine years in power, shunning messy diplomatic
compromises while resolutely backing allies such as Israel and
Ukraine and contributing to the fight against Islamic State.
But many diplomats and Canadian experts say Ottawa has
marginalized itself by a combination of extreme positions and
miscalculations.
"There is a real desperate plea from our allies for Canada
to get back in the game ... Canada does some things really well
and we just aren't doing them any more," said Paul Dewar,
foreign affairs spokesman for the New Democrats, referring to
peacekeeping missions, helping to enforce the Iran nuclear deal
and broader global arms control efforts.
Harper's Conservatives are in a tight three-way race with
the center-left New Democrats and Liberals ahead of an Oct 19
election. All three leaders are due to take part in a foreign
policy debate on Monday.
Since taking office in 2006, Harper has distanced Canada
from the United Nations - once the centerpiece of its diplomacy
- preferring what he calls a principled approach to the need to
"please every dictator with a vote".
Shifting Canada's focus from peacekeeping to the military,
Harper sent troops to Afghanistan and signed up for the mission
against Islamic State, commitments warmly welcomed by allies
such as Britain and the United States.
But Paul Heinbecker, a former Canadian ambassador to the
United Nations, says Harper hasn't advanced Canada's interests
by ignoring the world body.
Previous prime ministers, he said, understood that an
international system with respected rules "is vastly more in our
interest than a kind of a law of the jungle because ... we're
one of the smaller cats."
Under Harper, Canada failed to gain a seat on the U.N.
Security Council in 2010 - in part because of his unilateral
approach - and irritated many by pulling out of the Kyoto
climate change treaty in 2011.
Foreign Minister Rob Nicholson said Harper's steadfast
support for Israel and strong criticism of Russia over Ukraine
has won respect.
"I think people recognize that we stand for freedom,
democracy, human rights ... I'm invigorated by peoples' support
and admiration of Canada," he said in a phone interview.
But the pro-Israel stance has alienated some in the Middle
East and many voters. If Harper loses power, the mission against
Islamic State will be scaled down and possibly scrapped, since
the New Democrats and Liberals have major doubts about it.
Under Harper, trade ties have also been uneven. His cool
relationship with President Barack Obama and U.S. Ambassador to
Canada Bruce Heyman have not helped Ottawa's attempts to
persuade Washington to approve the Keystone XL pipeline, which
would take Alberta oil to U.S. refineries.
His ties with China have also been bumpy, after he first
shunned Beijing over human rights concerns and then - under
pressure from Canadian firms - sought to boost business.