[LINK] "John Baird named Canada's foreign minister"

[rfmcdonald]

John Baird will certainly defend Canada's interests abroad as Foreign Minister, as Agence France-Presse's Michel Comte notes. I just think that, with his reputation acquired as parliamentary whip of someone who yells a lot, he's going to be--let's say--very assertive abroad. Can he continue reinforcing his diplomatic skills? One hopes.

John Baird, a trusted lieutenant of the prime minister known for aggressively defending Conservative policies, was named Canada's foreign minister Wednesday as the nation struggles to boost its profile abroad.

Baird's appointment was among only a handful of changes to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet following elections on May 2 that handed the Tories their first majority government since 1988.

[. . .]

Baird, 41, previously held several portfolios in Harper's two prior governments formed in 2006 and 2008, including Treasury Board president and environment minister, earning himself the nickname "The Pitbull" for his witty and aggressive style in deflecting opposition criticism in parliament.

Before that, he spent a decade as a member of Ontario's provincial legislature.

Baird replaces Lawrence Cannon as foreign affairs minister after Cannon lost his seat in the recent election, and he becomes Canada's fourth chief diplomat in five years.

[. . .]

Baird also will be expected to refresh Canada's image after its humiliating defeat last year in its bid for a rotating seat on the UN Security Council.

The five seats on the council went to India, South Africa, Germany, Portugal and Colombia. Canada had been in contention with Portugal for the last of the two seats available for Western Europe.

Pundits said the vote result was in protest of Harper's radical change in Canadian foreign policy since coming to power in 2006, from intermediary to asserting itself on the world stage by "taking self-interested positions."