Nadia Theodore was appointed in August 2022 as Canada’s ambassador to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. She is the first woman to serve in this position. Prior to this, she served as consul general in Atlanta before spending two years as a senior vice president at Maple Leaf Foods.

Policy Associate Editor Lisa Van Dusen conducted this Q&A with Ambassador Theodore by email.

Lisa Van Dusen: Between post-lockdown supply chain kinks, the weaponization of trade under a certain former American president and the World Trade Organization’s evolution over the past two decades as a proxy battleground for geopolitical competition, trade has had some reputational issues lately. Having spent more than a decade immersed in trade policy, including on the negotiating teams for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union, and now as WTO ambassador, what’s your take on the state of trade from the front lines?

Ambassador Nadia Theodore: It’s funny because the examples you have provided, to me don’t speak to a diminishing relevance of trade but quite the opposite. They represent examples of how critical trade still is and is recognized as such. The fact that disruptions to, and diminution of, the ability of goods and services to flow across borders garners strong negative reaction is evidence of the fact that people understand global trade to be crucial — whether to the success of their business, big or small, or to the prosperity of their economies and communities. But what I will say is that international institutions and multilateralism in general are having some reputational issues lately as folks realize that some of the old ways of doing things and the siloed way that we used to approach much of global governance issues, including global economic governance, is no longer serving us and won’t get us the results we are looking to for the future. From the trade world, there is finally a mainstreaming of the various intersections of international trade and the most significant global challenges we face. From where I sit, the work on the role of trade in building not just better economies, but better societies and a better planet, is intensifying – and that is a good thing.

LVD: In broader diplomatic terms, there’s an impression emerging after years of Brexit-driven, Trump-driven, China-driven disruption that, with NATO unity in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine, with the US midterm results and with at least a greater understanding of what the threats to democracy and global stability are, some sanity is returning to international relations. Trade diplomacy being the vanguard of multilateralism, do you see that as too optimistic?

ANT: One can never be too optimistic! Seriously though, I don’t think that any one type of diplomacy has a monopoly on new ideas and a modern way of doing things. All disciplines have innovations that we can draw from and better yet, taking an integrated approach to public diplomacy and its various facets for me is the key to success. WTO Director General Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala understands this better than many. She has truly elevated the idea of looking at the role that trade can play to help solve global challenges and how international organizations and institutions can accomplish more if we work together. Her leadership at the WTO makes it easy to remain optimistic.

LVD: Where does Canada fit in this moment of flux?

ANT: Well, listen, I am a Canadian diplomat and a senior executive in the Canadian federal public service, so my answer is likely somewhat predictable! Canada is in an opportune position. We are in a sweet spot of expertise meeting opportunity and we are leveraging our expertise at a time when leadership is needed. This is true in a myriad of organizations and contexts, but at the WTO specifically, we are co-convenors to the Trade and Environmental Sustainability Structured Discussions; we are the convenors of the Ottawa Group, which focuses on WTO reform issues; we played an instrumental role in seeing the successful conclusion of the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies. And I could go on.

On almost any global issue, when bridges need to be built or when the conversations move into the solution sorting phase, Canada is called upon. We are known for our pragmatic, inclusive approach and that is no different in the WTO context. Canada believes that high, resilient and inclusive growth requires global systems and global cooperation and we are ready to roll up our sleeves and do the work required for success, both at home and on the global stage.

LVD: Your tenure as Canadian consul general in Atlanta seemed like both a long-overdue triumph of logic over the factors that had delayed a Black woman’s appointment to the posting and a powerful moment for Canadian representation. What did you learn while you were there?

ANT: I have thought a lot about my time in Atlanta. My biggest lessons from my time there and what has stayed with me the most is what I learned about successful policy making and successful diplomacy in today’s world. We live in a world where things are no longer linear. With any given issue or situation, there are a whole host of relevant factors, inputs and perhaps most importantly, a whole range of potential outcomes and usually, no one potential outcome is any more likely than another. It is messy and winding and the ability to predict and count on any one particular outcome based on historical context or dominant narratives is difficult if not impossible. The well-used phrase “the trend is your friend” no longer holds true.

The countries, businesses, institutions that will thrive in this heightened reality will be those that truly understand and pay attention to having people in policy making, relationship-building and decision making functions that have different ways of looking at the world, different ways of showing up in the world, different contexts in which the world looks at them and different ways of approaching problems.

That’s what I mean when I talk about having more people who look more like me and my ancestors than perhaps like you or your ancestors, around the decision making table, with real authority and decision-making power. It’s not just about what I look like – it’s about how what I look like and who I am shapes the way I look at the world, how I look at solving problems, what doors to rooms I may more easily be able to open and what I see when I get into those rooms that others might not see. When I look back at my time in Atlanta, the things that I am most proud of and the areas where I believe I had the most impact, materialized when I and the Department embraced what I brought to the table that was different and when we used that difference to open ourselves up to different possibilities and different solutions to problems. The more we can replicate that openness and innovation in diplomacy and feed it into our policy-making, the greater advantage Canada will enjoy on the global stage. The good news is that I believe that Canada gets it and is set up for success. 

LVD: You’ve been back in Geneva now for just over three months. Have you got a sense yet of what you want the next four years of your mandate to look like?

ANT: One of my favourite quotes is from Toni Morrison: as you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think. I actually have those words on a sticky note on my computer screen. I am trying very hard to take the first six months to listen, learn and execute on the fantastic foundations that have been set by the mission team and by my predecessors, in particular the immediate past ambassador, Stephen de Boer, who was an incredible leader in Geneva. Even though it is really hard for me not to jump in with my own unique priorities, I think that taking the time to dream a little at the front end serves leaders in spades if you can discipline yourself to do so. Having said that, I have started fleshing out what I want success to look like for me and my thinking is converging around: digging into Canada’s role around inclusion, reforming globalization or re-globalization as some are calling it, environment and digital. More to come!

Nadia Theodore is Canada’s Head of Canada’s Mission to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and other International Organizations in Geneva.

Policy Magazine Associate Editor Lisa Van Dusen was a senior writer at Maclean’s, Washington columnist for the Ottawa Citizen and Sun Media, international writer for Peter Jennings at ABC News and an editor at AP National in New York and UPI in Washington.