Already, Canada has been hurt by its \u0027generalist\u0027 approach to foreign affairs and a lack of in\u002Ddepth expertise on the Middle East and China, the author says
recently published by veteran Canadian diplomat Ulric Shannon, a Middle East specialist fluent in Arabic whose most recent positing was as Canada’s ambassador to Iraq until 2021.Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails.
One of his most notable findings is how few of Canada’s diplomats have even “general” proficiency in local foreign languages of countries they’re posted in.Article contentGlobal Affairs Canada spends $41K on 'fancy' furniture for overseas offices The issue is longstanding. In 2007, an auditor general report lambasted GAC because barely 16 per cent of diplomats in posts with a foreign language requirement actually met the job’s proficiency requirement and the department lacked “basic information needed to plan for and manage its workforce.”
“On average over the last four years, only 55 percent of employees assigned to language-designated positions have had the benefit of their full training entitlement,” reads his report.
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