{"id":14785,"date":"2025-01-29T13:20:48","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T13:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/29\/carolyn-bennetts-ambassadorship-to-denmark-was-expedited-emails-national\/"},"modified":"2025-01-29T13:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T13:20:48","slug":"carolyn-bennetts-ambassadorship-to-denmark-was-expedited-emails-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/29\/carolyn-bennetts-ambassadorship-to-denmark-was-expedited-emails-national\/","title":{"rendered":"Carolyn Bennett\u2019s ambassadorship to Denmark was expedited: emails – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Bureaucrats working for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had diplomats push Denmark<\/a> to speed up the appointment of former cabinet minister Carolyn Bennett<\/a> as ambassador to that country \u2014 a change most embassy staff learned of through a media leak.<\/p>\n

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The government has not offered a rationale for asking Denmark to expedite its approval of Bennett\u2019s appointment, which came a week before her resignation as MP. In a major upset, the Liberals lost Bennett\u2019s former seat of Toronto-St. Paul\u2019s in a byelection last year.<\/p>\n

The Canadian Press obtained emails through an access-to-information request showing the Privy Council had Global Affairs push Canadian diplomats multiple times to have Bennett accepted by Denmark and installed months ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n

Bennett announced in July 2023 that she would not seek re-election. She was shuffled out of cabinet days later.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 25, 2023, Global Affairs Canada\u2019s head of diplomatic assignments emailed the then-ambassador to Denmark, Denis Robert, requesting a phone call.<\/p>\n

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Three weeks later, Denmark\u2019s foreign ministry received a request to approve Bennett\u2019s installation as ambassador on Nov. 16, 2023.<\/p>\n

Within four days, Robert met with Denmark\u2019s chief of protocol to ask when the country would move on accepting his replacement. The Danish official said it would take three to four months, through a process formally called agr\u00e9ment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI stressed the importance we attach to this request and that we would appreciate approval as quickly as possible,\u201d Robert wrote in French to his colleagues in Ottawa on Nov. 20, 2023.<\/p>\n

Two weeks later, GAC staff noted in a Dec. 8, 2023 email that the Privy Council Office, which supports the prime minister, is \u201cmanaging very specific timelines in this specific case.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On Dec. 11, 2023, Robert relayed in an email that Denmark\u2019s chief of protocol said \u201cit would be a matter of weeks and not months.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Copenhagen ended up approving Bennett in the first few days of 2024, ahead of the timeline it originally outlined. Robert passed along the official notice in a Jan. 8, 2024 email.<\/p>\n

In that email, he also seemed to ask whether Bennett could start in the spring. \u201cTo my knowledge, there is no serious imperative of national interest or for the people concerned that warrants an early transition,\u201d Robert added in French. Another paragraph was largely redacted.<\/p>\n

An official at GAC responded with an email that was also largely redacted. In it, the official told Robert in French that \u201cthe government has indicated an interest in getting the posting started as soon as possible, so waiting until the end of the fiscal year is not realistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Privy Council would not say why the Liberal government wanted the process expedited. Global Affairs Canada declined a request for an interview with Bennett.<\/p>\n

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Bennett is among a handful of former ministers Trudeau\u2019s government has assigned to foreign postings.<\/p>\n

Ralph Goodale, Canada\u2019s high commissioner to the U.K., started in the role in 2021 after holding multiple cabinet roles and losing his seat in the 2019 election. Former immigration minister John McCallum was appointed Canadian ambassador to China in 2017.<\/p>\n

Former foreign minister St\u00e9phane Dion has held various senior postings in Europe since 2017. Former fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan was tapped to be Canada\u2019s consul general in Boston in 2023, replacing former MP Rodger Cuzner.<\/p>\n

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