OTTAWA—When Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland outlined the Liberal government’s new vision for foreign policy, it was received both as a shift in Ottawa’s approach to international relations and as a direct response to the political climate in the United States.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Freeland reaffirmed the Canadian government’s commitment to multilateral institutions and to free trade and delivered the Liberals’ most direct words on U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration to date.

“Many of the voters in last year’s presidential election cast their ballots, animated in part by a desire to shrug off the burden of world leadership. To say this is not controversial. It is simply fact,” Freeland’s prepared remarks read.

“The fact that our friend and ally has come to question the very worth of its mantle of global leadership puts into sharper focus the need for the rest of us to set our own clear and sovereign course.”

But documents obtained by the Star show that, while obviously in part directed at recent developments in the U.S., Freeland’s speech addressed questions Ottawa had been grappling with since long before the Liberals came to power in 2015.

In September 2015, during the height of the federal election campaign, Global Affairs prepared a report for a meeting of the most senior public servants in Ottawa.

The documents, obtained under access to information law and stamped “secret,” outline “strategic questions” for Canada’s foreign policy, grouped loosely under international partnerships and global governance, security, the global economy and “values.”

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While these questions may have taken on a new light with the Trump administration, they were clearly on the minds of Foreign Affairs bureaucrats for some time.

“Despite Canada’s reputation as an active player on the world stage, by many measures, its relative influence has declined or is under threat,” one document reads.

“In the context of relative decline and limited resources, what are the strategic choices and investments required to protect our core interests and maintain an optimal degree of influence in the world?”

Freeland’s response: “strongly support” multilateral institutions such as the G7, NATO and the UN that enforce “rules-based international order.”

Freeland’s speech had few details about what form that support will take, and the Liberals’ biggest promise on this front — a significant contribution to a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Africa — has yet to materialize.

But Canada is “striving” for leadership positions in these institutions and vocally campaigning for a two-year term on the UN Security Council.

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International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau also announced on Friday that the government is repurposing $150 million in foreign aid money to support women’s groups in 30 countries — touted as a feminist development policy — but the Liberals will not increase aid spending at this time.

The 2015 documents note that global challenges are becoming “increasingly complex to manage” and “emerging powers are seeking to reshape global governance.”

Freeland’s speech mentioned some of those emerging regions by name — saying countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia “are on the ascendant.”

But the most important countries listed by Global Affairs in 2015 have long-standing relationships with Canada — the United States, Mexico and China. China, in particular, has been a focus for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

Still, one option pondered by deputy ministers was to “diversify away” from North America — a region that accounts for the vast majority of Canada’s trade.

Roland Paris, a University of Ottawa professor and former foreign affairs adviser to Trudeau, said that it’s not an either-or choice.

“I think that the government’s top foreign policy priority is to manage the relationship with the United States in a way that works for Canada. That’s not going to change,” Paris said Friday.

“The question is what else are you going to do in addition to that? … We can walk and chew gum at the same time.”

One aspect that was missing from the 2015 documents but played a prominent role in Freeland’s speech was the notion of “hard power” — committing resources to maintain Canada’s military.

In advance of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan’s announcement that the federal government will commit $62.3 billion in new money, over the next 20 years, to defence, Freeland said that Canadian diplomacy occasionally needs the backing of force.

“To rely solely on the U.S. security umbrella would make us a client state … such a dependence would not be in Canada’s interest,” Freeland’s address read.

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