1/4 One of the biggest challenges new Foreign Minister Marc Garneau will face is building a coherent China policy out of the shattered fragments of PMJT's China "vision"

2/4 Canada is already being pulled, somewhat unwillingly, in the more assertive direction favored by our major allies, toward a much more thoughtful, coherent and carefully managed relationship with China. It's an unprecedented Public Service challenge in coordinating policy

3/4 This will require a sophisticated approach across government, something rarely achieved. But Trudeau's model has been to parachute in as ambassadors China promoters from outside. First, and disastrously, McCallum, and now Barton. People who shared his China naivete

4/4 Garneau has to work with the ambo he's got, at least for now. This will be an entirely new challenge for a China booster like Barton, and possibly not to his liking. If he doesn't rise to it, Garneau will have to go to his GAC bull pen. Better be thinking about that now