‘We cannot waste any time’: Anand promises ‘action’ and reform in foreign affairs

OTTAWA — Faced with escalating conflict in the Middle East, a collapsing global trade system and a department struggling to reform itself, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says she relishes the job of helping Canada navigate a turbulent world.

In a wide-ranging interview Thursday with The Canadian Press, Anand said her experiences in both politics and academia can help her streamline Canada’s approach to global issues, allowing it to pursue its interests without losing sight of its values.

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“How do you ensure, when you have these large departments, that you’re actually able to execute? That is the heart of government. It’s the hardest thing to do,” Anand said.

“I enjoy difficult responsibilities.”

She cited her time as defence minister, when she pushed the Canadian Armed Forces to address sexual misconduct and organized donations of military supplies to Ukraine’s front line.

Previously, as procurement minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, she pushed one of Ottawa’s largest and most unwieldy departments to deliver vaccines across the country within days.

Anand spoke of “how hard it was to say, like, we gotta buy this stuff today.”

“That’s kind of the same frame that I’m bringing to foreign affairs and it’s super exciting,” she added.

Anand said her job involves listening closely to what the foreign service says, even if she doesn’t always follow its guidance.

“You have to think independently, taking into account the advice that you receive, but also ensuring that you’re discharging your obligations to the Canadian public,” she said.

“I welcome the advice that my officials provide, but at the end of the day, the decisions that I make are based on an independent judgment about what is best for our country in terms of our diplomatic relationships and our foreign policy.”

Much of her job, she said, involves supporting Prime Minister Mark Carney’s quest to make Canada less dependent on the U.S. for trade and defence.

“We are considering every option to strengthen our collaboration with reliable trading partners and allies around the world,” she said.

“My role as foreign minister is to stand up for Canada in that process and to ensure that we are also standing up for peace, the safety of civilians and the respect for international law.”

Carney has set the tone for much of Canada’s foreign policy and Anand is accompanying the prime minister on a diplomatic trip to Europe next week.

Canada will sign an agreement Monday in Brussels with the European Union that largely focuses on defence procurement. Carney and Anand will then head to the NATO summit in the Netherlands, where they hope to use new spending pledges from Canada and allies to keep the United States committed to collective defence.

Carney’s approach to foreign policy features a major tilt toward Europe and might include more outreach in Asia and Africa ahead of summits he is set to attend this fall on both continents.

While his government is heeding allies’ calls for a steep increase in defence spending, it’s also bucking an international trend by promising not to cut foreign aid.

“We are deeply committed to multilateralism over unilateralism, to global co-operation over increased protectionism,” Anand said.

“We must showcase Canada’s values in terms of peace, safety of civilians, and respect for international law. But we’re at a time where we also need to strategically advance our economic interests here at home, and to ensure that we have defence and security arrangements in place for the protection of our own country.”

She said her ministerial background in defence, procurement, transport and the Treasury Board — which oversees all other departments’ spending — gives her a unique perspective on how governments can actually follow through on their promises.

At the recent G7 summit in Alberta, she had a front-row seat as Canada’s closest peers drafted statements on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to transnational repression.

The summit allowed her to meet face-to-face with both representatives of Ottawa’s traditional allies and officials from emerging nations with increasing clout — including her Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

The Carney government is moving to restore diplomatic relations with India — a controversial move, given the recent history between Ottawa and New Delhi.

In 2023 and 2024, former prime minister Justin Trudeau and the RCMP said there was evidence linking agents of the Indian government to the murder of Canadian Sikh separatist activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, B.C., in June 2023.

Last October, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme said the police force had evidence linking Indian government officials to other crimes in Canada, including extortion, coercion and homicide.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service identified India as one of the main drivers of foreign interference in a report it released this week.

Anand said Ottawa is trying to restore parts of “a long-standing relationship that has been put on hold for the last couple of years,” while respecting the law and institutions like the RCMP.

“The global strategic environment is very volatile and we need to carefully ensure that we are respecting the foundations of our democracy,” she said.

Anand was born and raised in Nova Scotia by parents who immigrated from India. As a lawyer and professor in Toronto, she focused on the field of corporate governance — on how companies can reform the way they operate.

Global Affairs Canada itself is under heavy pressure to change the way it works. The department launched a reform plan in February 2024 that included an admission that it can be “slow to react or not focused enough” when major crises erupt, and that its staffing policies aren’t keeping up with its growing responsibilities and tighter budgets.

Things have only grown more complex since then, with Washington cutting back on foreign aid and moving closer to a revanchist Russia, while China pitches more trade with Canada and other countries.

Canada has meanwhile promised to appoint new ambassadors across Africa and to open new embassies in Fiji and Benin, while somehow containing spending across government.

Canada’s critics have a history of claiming it’s all talk when it comes to international relations. Trudeau was frequently criticized for raising human rights issues and inserting environmental policies in trade deals while failing to meet his government’s defence spending targets or supply allies with liquefied natural gas.

Foreign diplomats and departmental staff describe Anand as cautious, attentive and focused on results. While she’s taking some time to get thoroughly briefed, she wants to deliver a lot — and soon.

“We have so much work to do and we cannot waste any time doing it,” she said.

“I am action-oriented myself and the prime minister knows this about me. And that’s why we will make a good team on the foreign affairs front.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 20, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press