Top diplomat in U.K. says old allies relying on Canada in new ways in age of Brexit and Trump
Canadians helping to train British to negotiate their own trade deals, high commissioner says
Canada's former top public servant wasn't about to be drawn into a long conversation about the circumstances of her curt replacement a year ago.
Janice Charette, appointed clerk of the Privy Council by Stephen Harper, had held the post for less than two years when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office announced she would be replaced by her deputy. He, in turn, was immediately tasked with helping to find her permanent replacement.
That decision in January 2016 set Ottawa buzzing, with some accusing the Prime Minister's Office of an unnecessarily premature and clunky shuffle.
"People will draw their own conclusions," Charette said with a smile, in her first public comments on the matter.
"I completely respect and support the fact that Prime Minister Trudeau had to make that choice. And here I sit today as the high commissioner to the United Kingdom."
Big picture
Charette, whose office at Canada House looks over London's humming Trafalgar Square, is well-versed in seeing the big picture.
As clerk of the Privy Council that meant being up to date on just about everything that a prime minister — whether Harper or Trudeau — needed to know.
As high commissioner to the U.K. and one of Canada's top diplomats, the landscape she eyes isn't much narrower. And it's terrain that's become much more complex even in the few months she's held the job.
In the era of Brexit and Trump, old allies are leaning on Canada — and Canada House — in novel ways.
Canada's proximity and close relationship with the U.S., for example, is an even more valuable commodity these days.
"My counterparts here are interested in: 'So what is Canada thinking about what's happening in the United States? What are the important issues for us? How are we seeing the relationship?'" Charette said in an interview Monday, the same day Trudeau visited Washington for his first meeting with President Donald Trump.
Canada's perspective is "both well-informed and close," she said. "And so I think that's useful intelligence, no matter what."
Helping with Brexit
She said this is especially important to the U.K. as it reimagines its future outside the European Union following last June's Brexit vote.
Canada is actually lending a hand in the U.K.'s divorce from the European Union. Despite the fact the Canadian government has expressed a reluctance to see the U.K. leave, Charette said now that the U.K. has made its decision, it's in Canada's interest to ensure the breakup goes as smoothly as possible.
She said one way Canadians are doing so is by helping to train British officials in the art of making trade deals, a task that before Brexit was left to EU negotiators.
Experienced Canadian trade negotiators have given "a kind of master class" to their inexperienced counterparts, sharing skills honed in World Trade Organization negotiations as well as the recent Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which is expected to pass in the European parliament on Wednesday.
Asked about the big election votes coming on this side of the Atlantic in 2017, Charette acknowledged Europe is "already fraught with uncertainty" because of Brexit, the health of the economy and the migration crisis.
Diplomatically, she said she hopes what emerges is "a strong Europe that's continuing to be engaged in the world, that's focused on the strength of their economy but also the strength of their societies."
A big part of Charette's job, of course, is to constantly promote Canada, especially as she oversees planning for Canada's 150th birthday celebrations in the U.K.
To do so, and to keep her finger on the pulse in the U.K., she travels often, speaking to the likes of the Belfast Telegraph and the Manchester Evening News and fielding questions on everything from Bombardier to Brexit.
As a relatively recent arrival in the U.K., I'm spending almost all my time focused on issues here in the U.K. and trying to stick pretty close to my parish.- Janice Charette, Canada's high commissioner to the U.K.
But she's also pursuing more personal goals here.
Charette is a champion of women in leadership roles. She made her mark here even before her appointment, speaking to women about her experience starting in a civil service when only five per cent in the executive ranks were women (it's since increased to 46%).
Now she works in a country where many of the top posts are held by women, including that of prime minister, Scotland's first minister and the Queen.
The only one of those women she hasn't met is British Prime Minister Theresa May.
"Women bring a lot to leadership roles. But I also think that it's one dimension of diversity," she said. "Leadership teams that are diverse ... make better decisions."
Before becoming Canada's top bureaucrat — only the second woman to hold the Privy Council post — Charette's career catapulted her through eight federal departments, where she tackled everything from finance to justice to the Constitution.
Other issues she feels strongly about include immigration (a career specialty, plus she's the daughter of a Dutch immigrant) and mental health (her advocacy goes back to her civil service days).
But one too many questions about European elections, specifically the prospect of more populist governments and the challenges they could bring, and Charette bows out — diplomatically, of course.
"As a relatively recent arrival in the U.K., I'm spending almost all my time focused on issues here in the U.K. and trying to stick pretty close to my parish."
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