Cabinet committee mandates and membership

Committees: Who’s Who

Legislation to watch

Hot foreign policy issues

It has been a busy last few weeks for Foreign Minister John Baird and his staff.

Your foreign policy hot sheet

The economy will once again be the government's top priority during the next 16-week sitting of the House of Commons and 17-week Senate term, starting Jan. 30. Work will include an emphasis on the diversification of Canada's energy exports away from the United States, strengthening economic ties with China, and the completion of a free trade deal with the European Union.

Economy, new trade links, on lobbyists' watch list

New copyright bill, innovation top fall wish list.

Your foreign policy hot sheet

Prime Minister Stephen Harper set the tone for MPs' Sept. 19 return to Parliament (and Senators on Sept. 27), by talking almost exclusively about the economy, and jobs in particular, to his Conservative national caucus in Ottawa Sept. 8.

Majority gives Harper space to make proactive foreign policy: observers

'He can be ambitious, especially if he moves early,' says prof Daudelin.

The good, bad and stalled trade negotiations

In a speech to his Conservative caucus last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper explicitly noted diversification of trade as one of his priorities.

This session's burning foreign affairs issues

As the House returns and election talk heats up, the economy, budget freezes, stealth fighter jets and human smuggling will take centre stage.

Foreign policy priorities at times a moving target

When the Harper government first began getting its feet wet in 2006, it consistently emphasized three main foreign policy priorities: Canada needed a re-invigoration of relations with the United States; a restoration of its lost military pride; and the establishment of a more business-friendly economy that would attract foreign investment.

Parsing the principles

While analysts for years have been dismissing it as simply a rhetorical device, the Harper government's stated commitment to a "principled" foreign policy approach continues to endure five years on.

Tories on collision course with the charter?

On Dec. 1, Liberal MPs announced it would not support the government's controversial anti-human smuggling bill because some of the proposed measures would unfairly target refugees and violate their rights under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Foreign affairs issues to watch this season

The Vancouver Winter Olympics are an increasingly distant memory and G8 and G20 leaders have come and gone. While there are still four months left until 2011, Canada's year in the international spotlight has largely passed, and with it the country's ability to have a large role in defining the global agenda.

Middling ministerial grades after a year in the spotlight

Most of Canada's internationally-minded ministers have had a pretty busy year, be it full of accomplishments or gaffes. Embassy has examined the performance of the six ministers Stephen Harper has delegated to represent Canada's diverse interests abroad.

No guarantees with military procurement

A decade from now, if everything goes as planned, Canadians won't recognize their military.

Consultants, human trafficking to top immigration agenda

The House rose at the beginning of summer with the passing of the much-expected reform to Canada's refugee system—and the resuming of Parliament doesn't appear as if it will be a letdown either.

The good, the bad and the stalled negotiations

Of the dozen trade deals the government says Canada is pursuing, it's hard for the average Canadian to discern which of these have priority and which are stalled.

Expect few surprises as aid drops off the radar

For the first six months of the year, something unheard of happened in Canada: international development and aid policy figured prominently in the public and political consciousness.