Canadian foreign ministry decided to shut down its Arctic center in Oslo and move it to home territory, National Post reported.
Two weeks after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly promised to increase Canada’s presence abroad, her department is shutting down the Canadian International Arctic Centre (CIAC) headquarters in Norway and relocating it to Ottawa, sparking controversy over the decision.
In a statement, the spokesperson for the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) department argued that the move back to Ottawa would “allow the team to better cooperate with other government departments and agencies, enhance our capacity to deliver on the department’s international Arctic mandate, and strengthen implementation of the International Chapter of the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework.”
But the decision appears in stark contrast to promises by Joly as well as the findings of Future of Diplomacy, the major overhaul of the department published in early June.
GAC’s review notably found that Canada’s presence, and thus influence, abroad has diminished over the years. The country spends considerably less on foreign affairs, trade and international assistance per capita than many of its allies, and it has diplomatic presence in fewer countries than all its G7 counterparts. The new move runs the risk of exacerbating these concerns.
“This decision truly makes no sense,” former Canadian ambassador to Norway Artur Wilczynski said in an interview. “It runs so counter the process announced by the minister.”
