OTTAWA—Dominic Barton, a corporate leader and special economic adviser to the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, has been named Canada’s new ambassador to China ahead of a fall federal election at a time when Ottawa-Beijing relations are at their worst in 50 years.Barton, a senior partner and former global managing director of the international consulting firm McKinsey and Company, has corporate connections and experience in Asia that could be helpful. But his Liberal ties may not stand up if the Conservative party, which vows a tougher approach to China, is elected to form government on Oct. 21. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was not consulted in advance of the announcement, and his foreign affairs critic Erin O’Toole expressed surprise and dismay at the Liberal move on the eve of an election.O’Toole said China is one of Trudeau’s foreign policy failures that the Conservatives will address “and we will certainly not be making any commitments on who or how we do it.”In an interview, he said that Barton is an “accomplished” and “impressive” business leader, “but he is the wrong person” for the job when the Canada-China relationship is a “shambles” and does not need “another Liberal insider” to conduct sensitive diplomacy.Instead, O’Toole said what is needed is knowledge of the cultural, linguistic and protocol requirements for the job, preferably someone with past diplomatic — not business — experience in China. Among the massive consular challenges ahead, he pointed to the democracy protests in Hong Kong.“If there were ever a time for an experienced, adept, diplomatically savvy Global Affairs person, this would be it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a time for someone that knows Asian business very well and is close to the prime minister and some of his closest ministers. We’re not hiring him to run a tra ...
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