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In the case of Iran, the wholesale departure at issue is a matter of re-opening an embassy that was quietly shuttered by former foreign minister John Baird in 2012, due to unspecified safety concerns, even as the Great Powers continued to work relentlessly towards to the nuclear deal that now has Iran re-entering the global economy, chattering back and forth with the Iranian regime all the while. Canada intends to lift some sanctions. A junior attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa will no doubt note the address when the Canadian embassy in Tehran re-opens. Few others in global capitals will care. Britain restored diplomatic relations with Iran last year.

What about Vladimir Putin, then? Former prime minister Stephen Harper made a great show of trash-talking the Russian strongman, though he did not go so far as to “shirt-front” him, as former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott once promised to do. “I have only one thing to say to you,” Harper grimly told Putin when the two met in 2014, “you need to get out of Ukraine.” The Russian leader immediately ordered Russian forces out of Crimea and — oh no wait. He grinned and instantly forgot the conversation, which was breathlessly leaked to Canadian media by Harper’s aides. Canada under Harper offered modest support to Ukraine in its bid to push back Russian encroachment, but no weapons. Canada under Trudeau is poised to do the same.

Israel, then. Surely there’s a radical reversal afoot? Dion last November signalled his intention to return to Canada’s vaunted “honest-broker” status in the Middle East, in contrast with the dastardly hawkishness and intransigence of the Harper regime. So far this consists of restating Canada’s long-standing position, advocating a negotiated two-state solution and a halt to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, while upholding Israel’s absolute right to defend its citizens from attack. That’s right: Opposing the settlements was official Canadian policy under Harper. He declined to say so while en route to Israel once in 2014, causing sharp intakes of breath on the part of Canadian foreign-policy savants and yawns elsewhere.