Canada’s delayed ban of Huawei equipment has highlighted the country’s lack of an Indo-Pacific strategy. It is also putting pressure on the country to implement a promised Indo-Pacific strategy that follows the U.S., U.K., and Australia, which have already signed an Indo-Pacific security pact.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said that Canada does not need to be part of the security pact, and that another trade deal in Asia is unnecessary for him because Canada is part of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership.
A source familiar with the matter said that the Canadian government is working on “a way forward” on its Indo-Pacific strategy, which aims to engage China on trade issues and issues such as combating climate change, while competing and confronting China on other issues such as critical minerals.
After Huawei, “the Canadian government is much more mindful of the vulnerabilities created by dependence on China for critical materials in supply chains,” said Roland Paris, a former foreign policy adviser to Trudeau and professor of international affairs at the University of Ottawa.