The union representing staff at Global Affairs Canada says the foreign service is laying off dozens of its highest-skilled diplomats. The cuts come as Global Affairs Canada sets out its plans to meet budget belt-tightening requirements laid out by Prime Minister Mark Carney last year. The layoffs are causing an uproar among former diplomats and international relations experts, who say the government’s cuts are odds with Ottawa trying to gain influence at a time of geopolitical calamity.
“It’s a structural mismatch to be saying we’re going to be active and engaged in this ambitious foreign policy — G7 presidency legacy, Indo-Pacific stuff, Africa stuff, Ukraine stuff, climate finance, now all kinds of Arctic stuff, co-operation with the Nordics,” said Pam Isfeld, a career diplomat and president of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers. “You just cut the entire cadre of most experienced, most specialized people.”
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