As we near the hundred-day mark of U.S. President Donald Trump's presidency, many Canadians are concerned about a shift in Trudeau's government's foreign policy. Instead of keeping the promises made by Trudeau for constructive engagement and the return of Canada as a force for peace in the world, Canadians are seeing a government which is obediently following an increasingly unstable and bellicose U.S. administration. Perhaps no example of this unfortunate tendency is as salient as what happened earlier this month in Syria. Within 24 hours, our prime minister expressed two opposing views on Syria, following in lock-step the about-face of U.S. President Donald Trump on the matter. At first, Trudeau reacted in an admirably measured fashion to the gross and violent chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun in Syria; he called for an independent investigation while condemning the attack. However, less than 24 hours later he very publicly supported the rash and potentially disastrous military intervention of Donald Trump and called for regime change in Syria.

When Prime Minister Trudeau stated in 2015 that "Canada is back," many observers were hopeful that this would mean a Canadian foreign policy in which Canada took its historic place as an honest mediator. The hope was that Canada would help usher in an age of diplomatic solutions and peace: reducing conflict and standing up to tides of war. This path would not only be morally correct, but would also increase Canada's international reputation and influence. However, what we've seen since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump has put that hope in jeopardy. Trudeau has reshuffled his cabinet, pushing the well-respected and fiercely progressive Stéphane Dion out of the position of foreign affairs minister. He has placed election promises such as re-engagement with Iran on the back-burner, and we stand on the cusp of two years without engagement with Iran while Canadian allies in Europe and elsewhere reap the economic benefits of the Nuclear Deal. He has hinted at greater sanctions on Russia and most recently has supported President Trump's deeply controversial and possibly irresponsible missile attacks on Syria, strikes which may deepen the conflict in the area and cause even more loss of innocent life. This is in stark contrast to what the prime minister promised when he entered office. Canadians expect their country to chart an independent path in the world as an honest broker and a force for peace and stability in the world; they do not expect us to surrender our foreign policy to our larger neighbour to the south in the hopes of gains which are proving increasingly unlikely to materialize.