Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Dion

stéphane dion u.s. secretary of state john kerry in brussels, belgium, december 1, 2015

on november 4, 2015, dion appointed minister of foreign affairs in justin trudeau s cabinet. dion named chair of cabinet s committee on environment , climate change. senior cabinet minister, dion third in order of succession after justin trudeau. 1 of first foreign policy statements included call diffuse sunni-shiite tensions in aftermath of nimr al-nimrs execution.

in march 2016 speech @ university of ottawa, dion used responsible conviction – term syncretized work of german sociologist max weber – describe trudeau government s foreign policy. dion sought re-engagement world, including authoritarian regimes such russia , iran , focus on multilateralism, climate change, , united nations. dion indicated canada oppose capital punishment canadians imprisoned abroad , change contribution fight against islamic state of iraq , levant providing airstrikes providing special forces trainers. dion tied concept of responsible conviction continuing policies of previous stephen harper government in modified manner, such continuing maternal , newborn health initiative new funding abortion , family planning. justified continuing $15 billion sale of light armored vehicles saudi arabia despite human rights abuses protect canadian jobs , preserve canada s credibility in signing major international deals, committed reassessing rules on canadian export permits future deals conform canadian interests such human rights promotion. dion ended speech rejecting concept of canada honest broker, because term had become associated moral relativism , lack of conviction, instead saying canada had fair-minded , determined peace builder.

on january 10, 2017, dion replaced minister of foreign affairs chrystia freeland in cabinet shuffle, move being seen in part response united states president-elect donald trump s incoming presidency.