OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is taking aim at conservative politicians in Canada, the U.S. and around the world on the eve of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and in advance of the G7 Summit in France.

In what aides billed as the major foreign policy speech Trudeau will make in advance of the fall election, the prime minister said the Conservative Party of Canada envisions “a world where Canada flirts with the forces of populism, whipping up fear and spreading misinformation.”

Trudeau did not name current Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer but made five references to Scheer’s predecessor, Stephen Harper, warning that under the Conservatives Canada would see “a return to the Harper era, where Canada does less and matters less.”

While he did not name U.S. President Donald Trump, Trudeau said his travels and conversations as prime minister have made clear that “the world has changed, and quickly.

“2019 looks very different than 2015,” he said.

That time frame saw Trump win the U.S. election and several other foreign leaders ushered out, including in the U.K. following a populist vote that supported Britain’s departure from the European Union.

In a written text of his speech to the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, Trudeau said countries are increasingly “turning inward, succumbing to the easy but dangerous lure of populism and nationalism.

“They choose to blame foreigners for their domestic challenges, and retreat within their borders.”

The result, Trudeau said, is “a more unpredictable and unstable world, where some have chosen to step away from the mantle of global leadership, even as others challenge the institutions and principles that have shaped the international order.”

Trudeau went on to contrast his Liberal government’s approach as an antidote to populism and highlighted his approach to the Trump administration.

While the two countries are longtime friends and allies, Trudeau said, “The change in the U.S. administration, their approach to America’s role in the world, and their threat to rip up NAFTA presented a novel and serious challenge.”

Trudeau’s remarks come ahead of a visit to Ottawa Thursday by Pompeo, and in advance of a weekend meeting in Biarritz, France of the G7 leaders, where he is certain to be seated at the same table as Trump and new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who champions “Brexit” with or without a deal with the EU.

In the Montreal speech, Trudeau said his government would continue to argue in favour of liberalized trade around the world that includes environmental, labour, gender and Indigenous rights protections to address inequality, and ensure the benefits of trade don’t flow only to special interests.

Trudeau underscored his government’s efforts to tackle global greenhouse gas emission reductions, its spending to boost the financial security and health of women and girls in developing economies, including easing access to abortion, and his investments in national defence, what he called “hard power.”

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In contrast, he said, the Conservatives have shown “wilful blindness to the threat of climate change,” a disdain for multilateral organizations like the United Nations, and would withdraw funding for reproductive health services abroad.

Scheer has said he would adopt a more active role on foreign policy issues if elected, including joining the U.S. on developing a ballistic missile defence system, moving Canada’s embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, challenging China’s blockade of Canadian canola products at the World Trade Organization, and killing Trudeau’s $250-million investment in the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment bank.

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