The establishment media and political class have long worked together to pull the veil over the eyes of the Canadian People.

They’ve tried to convince us that Canada has “stature” in the world and is ‘respected’ internationally.

They’ve talked about “soft-power,” and the strength of our ‘example’ to other countries.

They’ve even claimed that raw military strength and economic leverage no longer really mattered and that by taking a “progressive” position on every possible issue Canada would become a “moral superpower.”

It was all lies.

For some time, Canadians have been realizing how badly the foreign policy elites and political establishment has failed.

In the most recent election, Justin Trudeau even skipped the foreign policy debate, realizing that avoiding the issue altogether was far better for him than the risk of having the elitist consensus demolished on live television.

He managed to narrowly escape in the campaign, barely holding on to power.

And yet, Trudeau is unable to escape the consequences of his weakness, and the weakness of Canada’s foreign policy establishment.

Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor are still being held hostage by China.

Trudeau’s latest attempt to secure their release was to ask the United States to make the freedom of Kovrig and Spavor a condition of the Trump Administration signing a phase 1 trade deal with China.

Surely, if “soft-power” mattered and Canada was a “moral superpower,” then Trudeau’s request would be taken seriously, right?

Not so much.

China has openly mocked Trudeau, saying his request was “doomed to fail.” An advisor to China’s State Council said: “Frankly speaking, what Trudeau is saying is nonsense.”

China sees Trudeau and his request as a joke.

U.S. President Donald Trump recently Tweeted about the upcoming U.S.-China phase 1 deal, saying this:

“Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes [sic] of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!).”

Had a very good talk with President Xi of China concerning our giant Trade Deal. China has already started large scale purchaes of agricultural product & more. Formal signing being arranged. Also talked about North Korea, where we are working with China, & Hong Kong (progress!). — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019

At this point, it appears Trudeau’s request isn’t on the radar for the United States.

After being caught on tape mocking Trump at the recent NATO meeting, Trudeau likely has little leverage with the Trump Administration at this point in time.

The key problem here is that Justin Trudeau, many of Canada’s corporate elites, and the Canadian political class are in thrall to the conventional “wisdom” of the foreign policy establishment.

That establishment has decided to make weakness into a virtue, allowed our military power to evaporate, and seek endless compromise while selling out our national sovereignty.

As a result, our nation is left adrift in a world that has decisively rejected “soft-power,” leaving us as a weak, naïve, and frankly irrelevant presence to other nations who actually have real power.

The fact is that many countries around the world are run like ruthless criminal syndicates, and until Canada realizes that, and until our foreign policy establishment is replaced by people who actually understand ruthlessness and understand how dangerous the world is, Canada will continue to suffer the consequences.