OTTAWA: Canadian foreign policy is swinging to the right under a new government that wants to pay more attention to the United States and pursue a less ambitious overseas role, experts and officials say.

This could spell big changes to the self-image of a country that tends to pride itself on being a model international citizen that keeps a certain distance from Washington.

Since taking power in February, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives have pushed Canada closer to both the United States and Israel, at the same time expressing concern about Chinese spying and cracking down on Belarus and the Palestinian government.

Ottawa is openly casting doubts on the Kyoto climate change accord, which the United States has abandoned.

The previous Liberal government backed multilateral diplomacy, helped create a treaty to ban land mines and pushed for closer relations and coperations with Beijing.

“(Harper’s path) is much more of a realistic policy, less idealistic, less driven by the platitudes of multilateralism. It’s driven by a sense that Canada has to look to its natural interests as opposed to its ideals,” said Fen Hampson, international relations professor at Carleton University.

Critics said the Liberals needlessly antagonized Washington for fear of compromising Canada’s ability to act in an even-handed manner abroad, when, in reality, Ottawa was too lightweight to achieve anything significant by itself.—Reuters