When Justin Trudeau’s government took office, one of the Prime Minister’s messages overseas was “Canada’s back,” which referred to Canada’s perceived lack of leadership on the world stage under the previous, Conservative, government.

Now that the Liberals are halfway through their mandate, it’s a good time to reflect on whether the government is living up to its rhetoric on international development assistance.

Our podcast host, journalist and McGill University law student Ryan Hicks, spoke to economist and policy analyst Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka, Bangladesh, about Canada’s performance in this area.

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Photo: Economist Debapriya Bhattacharya, a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (middle), speaks at a Canadian Council for International Cooperation conference, with Aga Khan Foundation CEO Khalil Shariff and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva. Photo by Cynthia Munster.