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Had I asked the National Security Adviser, during my time, to do the same for me, he would have replied with three words, including “go” and “yourself.” I’ll leave it to you to pencil in the word that fits in the middle.

I usually had the opposite problem: getting the public service to say anything on foreign soil. Think what you will of the supposed neutrality of the public service, but they do know how to stay in their lanes. I lost count of the number of times I did trip briefings in the presence of “senior officials” where said officials didn’t say a word because the questions being chucked at me were mostly political. And when I did turn to them for a deeper explanation of policy, they answered as economically as possible.

Which isn’t to say I didn’t send out bureaucrats to deliver government messages. But they were government messages. What made Mr. Jean’s foray so unusual is that there was no confirmation of his message from the political side.

Unfortunately for Trudeau, the Indian government isn’t treating the matter lightly. Indeed, one wonders what Trudeau will say now that the Indian government has responded to his exchange in the House with a statement that is worth quoting in full:

“We have seen the recent exchange in the Parliament of Canada regarding two invitations issued to Jaspal Atwal by the Canadian High Commissioner, for functions hosted in honour of the Canadian Prime Minister in India.

“Let me categorically state that the Government of India, including the security agencies, had nothing to do with the presence of Jaspal Atwal at the event hosted by the Canadian High Commissioner in Mumbai or the invitation issued to him for the Canadian High Commissioner’s reception in New Delhi. Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless and unacceptable.”

“Baseless” and “unacceptable.” Guess that free trade deal ain’t happening anytime soon. Heckuva job there, Prime Minister. But nice photos, eh?

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Andrew MacDougall is a London-based communications consultant and ex-director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper.