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Veteran NDP MP Jack Harris, now happily back in the chamber after losing in 2015, said the Conservative motion was precisely the kind of collaboration Canadians voted for in the fall election. “The Canadian public in its wisdom said that the Liberals should not have a majority. They felt that there should be a better balance and an opportunity to co-operate – that the Liberals should have to listen to the other side and work collaboratively,” he said.

This was a very deft move by the Conservatives, a sign of what my colleague Stuart Thomson called “strategic reasonableness.” The Liberals, and Justin Trudeau in particular, are vulnerable on China, after performing erratically on the file in their first term. Polls suggest that two-thirds of Canadians have an unfavourable view of China and a majority think Trudeau’s handling has been poor or very poor.

Conservative foreign affairs critic, Erin O’Toole, made an effective case that an all-party, multi-disciplinary committee focused on the most important foreign policy challenge facing this country could yield better policy.

Quite what the foreign policy establishment thinks of this, one can guess. Global Affairs is not overly keen for Cabinet to pursue its own foreign policy, far less lowly members of parliament. The country might end up with three foreign policies.