Senior officials at the Canadian embassies in Brussels and Berlin appear to have had no idea how a thorny dual ambassadorial posting for then-Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion would work, and the announcement left staff in Canada and Europe scrambling to figure out what to do next.

iPolitics obtained nearly 100 pages of emails between diplomatic staff in Brussels, Berlin and Ottawa between January 31 and April 28 of this year through an access to information request. They paint a picture of mounting confusion and frustration as officials tried to sort out the political tangle over how the dual appointment would work.

It all began on January 31, the day Dion stood up in the House of Commons — after weeks of rumours about where he would go after being dumped as foreign affairs minister — and announced he had accepted a newly-created post as ambassador to both the European Union and Germany.

Reports began swirling shortly before that 3 p.m. announcement; a desk officer at the Canadian embassy in Russia sent to senior staff at the embassy in Brussels a copy of one tweet by a Canadian journalist that reported the pending dual appointment.

“No idea if true of how it would work,” responded one director-level official within Global Affairs Canada’s European relations division, who noted that someone had alluded to the possibility in a meeting just moments before.

Following the announcement, another official at the embassy in Brussels wrote that they “had some sense this was coming but are still very unclear about how this will work out.”

Two days later, embassy staff in Berlin were instructed to begin seeking agrément — formal acceptance of Dion’s appointment by the host country — but quickly ran into challenges.

An email sent one day later on February 3 by Marie Gervais-Vidricaire — who at the time was nearing the end of her term as Canada’s ambassador to Germany — outlines several concerns ahead of a trip by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Dion to Berlin later that same month.

Gervais-Vidricaire noted she had been informed “no more space is available” for Dion at the final ‘ceremony of credentials’ to be held by outgoing German president Joachim Guack on March 9, and that no other ceremonies would be scheduled until after a new president was named on March 22.

She also noted there could be complications if Dion travelled with the prime minister in his new capacity as designated ambassador.

“I have to return my diplomatic ID, diplomatic license plate, etc., at the latest the day before his arrival, irrespective of the date for the presentation of his credentials,” she wrote. “Since we understand Mr. Dion is supposed to accompany the PM for his trip to Berlin, I have to know what is intended. Assuming he is likely to receive agrément fairly quickly, it is possible he will have it when he arrives in Berlin. It is not clear what my situation would be if that is the case.”

Gervais-Vidricaire stressed the question needed to be answered quickly.

“We need to clarify this before I send the diplomatic note asking them to proceed with agrément on an urgent basis,” she continued. “I could find myself as having even less than two weeks to leave my post and not being able to act as ambassador during the PM’s visit.”

Agrément for Dion’s appointment to Germany was granted on February 21.

However, questions still lingered at that point about his role as ambassador to the EU. The emails track attempts by the diplomatic service to sort out exactly what his role would be; they included a concept note outlining various priority files.







On the day Gervais-Vidricaire sent her note, a second director-level official within Global Affairs Canada’s European relations division sent a note to Dan Costello, the incumbent ambassador to the European Union, asking him to clarify the process of getting a diplomat appointed to the bloc.

“This is not/not [sic] about M. Dion specifically but rather so senior management is clear on the process, particularly the reported need for all 28 MS to agree and what the process is for that,” the official wrote.

A series of emails back and forth were completely redacted, but the package of released emails then moves to an exchange between senior officials over a draft of a letter that was being prepared for Trudeau to send to Donald Tusk, president of the European Council.

An early April 20 draft of that letter directly addressed the recent surge in political nationalism and institutional distrust throughout Europe, but the final letter includes no mention of that.

Costello urged staff to drop one phrase which mentioned “public discontent and rising populism,” and the draft copy appears to have been changed to reference instead the way that “the very underpinnings of the post-WWII international economic and geopolitical political order are increasingly being called into question.”

The draft the emails say was approved by Dion on April 21 contains no reference to either of those phrases, however.





Shortly after, officials seem to have shifted gears to trying to coordinate a press release on Dion officially taking up his role as a “special envoy” with European counterparts.

“We have also suggested to the EU that they may wish to consider a (glowing) NR of their own on the same day we release ours,” writes the first director level official. “Ours may in fact be released early morning Brussels time to allow for that before the Cdn press are out of bed.”

Costello responds with a request for clarification, saying, “I’m confused on timing.”

“Join the confused club, Dan,” the official replies, noting that discussions to date with Assistant Deputy Minister Ken MacKillop had been “clear as mud.”

The exchange also appears to highlight a wish for the press release to be issued as soon as possible “to allow for it to blow over before Dion appears before a Commons [committee].”

But as the committee appearance neared, concerns were expressed that the necessary diplomatic letters might not be signed and exchanged in time.

Costello said on April 25 that he was being pressed by Tusk’s cabinet and warned that, with European officials heading into a long weekend, it might not be possible to get the letters signed and exchanged in time for Dion’s committee appearance on May 2 if they were not in by the end of the day.

The delay appears to have originated within the Prime Minister’s Office, with the emails describing a phone call with officials there ending with assurances that the letter would be signed soon.

One of the director-level officials expressed a hope that continued pressure from Costello and his team would get it sent over as soon as possible.

“Thanks for maintaining pressure, Dan,” the official wrote to Costello. “I am doing so at my level here too but this will help. I have also advised M. Dion to do so.”

On May 1, Trudeau officially announced that Dion had been appointed as special envoy to the EU and ambassador to Germany. The next day, Dion appeared before the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.

Correction: an earlier version of this story contained a draft of the letter prepared for Trudeau to send to Tusk that was not the version referenced in this article as having had two suggested phrases removed. The correct letter, which officials describe as being approved by Dion on April 21, is now included.