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While Stephen Harper boasts that he’s made Canada strong, foreign policy practitioners from all around the world have begged to differ again and again and again.

On human rights, Canada looks increasingly weak: inconsistent and passive-aggressive.

“A European ambassador from a longstanding ally, earlier this year … asked if I could help his government figure out what Canada stood for on the world stage when it comes to human rights,” says Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International Canada. “‘Sometimes a champion, often an obstacle, most frequently a puzzle and never predictably a partner,’ is how [the ambassador] described it. I think that sums things up very well.”

Neve adds that foreign diplomats find some Canadian positions on human rights “unfathomable” and “to put it mildly, a deep embarrassment.”

On international criminal justice, Canada looks increasingly weak: neglectful and foot-dragging.

“I can honestly say, in about seven years working on this, I have never heard a glowing comment about Canada’s leadership on international justice issues in The Hague. It has always been a mixture of concern or disappointment,” says Mark Kersten of the Munk School of Global Affairs.

“I’ve been at meetings in The Hague or had chats in the halls of the leading courts for international criminal justice, and had people dedicated to ending global impunity ask variations of: ‘You’re Canadian? What happened to Canada? You used to be leaders on these issues…’; ‘I can’t believe how quickly the Canadian government has turned its back on issues it used to lead on’; and simply, ‘There’s little point in talking about what Canada’s doing on international justice. It’s just frustrating.’”