Jean Chrétien's Canada in the World: How Reliable this Partner Was? How Relaible this Partner Will Be?

Jean Chrétien came to power, in 1993, after a campaign during which he advocated that his foreign policy would be quite different from Brian Mulroney’s. Indeed, under Chrétien’s leadership, Canada’s role and influence declined sharply as tensions between Ottawa and Washington grew. When asked to support President Bush’s war against Iraq, Canada turned down the invitation although it had accepted to be involved in the solving of the Kosovo crisis. Why did the Chrétien government offer two different answers to these two international challenges? What role did the domestic values play in the framing of each of the answers given? What weight did international factors play? Was the government simply inconsistent or were the two answers reflecting a same logic that was applied to sharply different situations? Through the analysis of official responses given by key government spokespersons (Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Minister of Foreign Affairs) we will be able to determine what were the key factors evoked and establish if Canadian foreign policy is based on continuity or if it is crafted on an ad hoc basis to answer each case it faces. The answer this research provides will help us predict if Canada is a reliable partner or if its stance varies to answer domestic political pressures. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]