Former Foreign Minister Marc Garneau said that Canada has lost its standing in the world during the tenure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whom he criticizes as an unprepared leader who prioritizes politics and makes grand statements without any follow-through.

In Garneau's autobiography, "A Journey More Than Extraordinary: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream," which is set to be published in October by Penguin Random House, he writes, "I believe Justin Trudeau has overestimated Canada’s influence abroad."

While most of the book is a journey through memory recounting Garneau's professional career before politics in the military and as an astronaut, the last third is dedicated to his time as a Member of Parliament.

Garneau, now 75 years old, was first elected in 2008 as the Liberal MP for Westmount—Ville-Marie in Montreal, a riding that later became Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount after boundary changes in 2015.

He made a failed attempt to lead the party in 2013, ultimately withdrawing from the race and supporting Trudeau, who would go on to win a landslide victory.

After the Liberals came to power in 2015, Garneau served in Trudeau's government for six years, more than five of which he spent as Minister of Transportation. He spent the last nine months as Foreign Minister until Trudeau removed him from government entirely after the 2021 election.

In his book, Garneau admits that he was "shocked" by the decision, which he says Trudeau never explained.

He wrote that Trudeau offered him the position of ambassador to France during a phone call regarding the decision, but Garneau declined, saying he would prefer to be ambassador to Washington, D.C. Trudeau thought about it and ultimately said no.

Garneau clarifies that there was not much in common between him and Trudeau beyond their "liberal values," and that they were not close.

Another point he makes is that he believes Trudeau did not appreciate the importance of the Foreign Minister position and is not good at international relations.

Garneau wrote, "Unfortunately, Canada’s standing in the world has declined, partly because our statements are not always matched by the capacity to act or actions that clearly demonstrate we mean what we say. We are losing credibility."

He describes Trudeau's visits to China in 2016 and 2017, and to India in 2018, prior to taking over as Foreign Minister, as "unsuccessful."

Both trips to China failed to launch free trade talks with China, and Trudeau was criticized at the time for attempting to raise non-commercial issues at the negotiating table with the Chinese government. This included pushing for human rights, which was not well received in Beijing.

The failures of the India trip were well documented, including the embarrassment of inadvertently inviting a man convicted of attempting to assassinate an Indian minister in Canada in 1986.

Garneau said of the three foreign visits, "We were not properly prepared."

"At a basic level, we did not understand who we were meeting. We thought we could charm them and were surprised that it did not go that way. The straightforward approach of a Prime Minister like Jean Chrétien, who always knew who he was dealing with and formed practical alliances with global powers, has ended."

Garneau also criticizes Trudeau for delaying the issuance of new national strategies to deal with China and to expand Canada’s relationship in the Indo-Pacific region.

He wrote that the China strategy was delayed in large part because Trudeau and his "entourage" were hesitant to disclose anything regarding it while Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were still detained in China.

"I think this was a clear and simple mistake."

Similarly, he says he could not present a new strategy for the Indo-Pacific region to the Cabinet, which was not actually released until November 2022—over a year after it was ready and a year after Garneau was removed from the ministry.

Garneau declined an interview request regarding the book.

Trudeau's office did not respond to a request for comment on its contents.

The former astronaut is not the first former minister in Trudeau's government to write a memoir criticizing the Prime Minister. In 2023, former Finance Minister Bill Morneau released his own memoir, in which he criticized Trudeau for making mostly unilateral decisions and putting politics before policy.

Both describe the concentration of power in the Prime Minister’s Office that has not improved despite Trudeau’s promises of decentralization when he took office in 2015.

Garneau wrote that when he was responsible for transport, Trudeau did not seem to have a great deal of interest in the file at all. And when he moved to foreign affairs, he hoped the Prime Minister would be more interested in seeking his input on the issues.

But Garneau says he did not.

He wrote that Trudeau only called him once to seek advice, during a meeting with then-Ambassador to China Dominic Barton, in a discussion about the ongoing plight of the Michaels.

Garneau recounts: "The Prime Minister’s isolation led me to conclude that he did not consider my advice useful enough that he wanted to hear from me directly, relying instead on his staff."

He added, "I found that disappointing, to say the least. It was expected that communication between him and me would go through (the Prime Minister's Office), so I never knew what information reached him, if any."

Garneau asserts that Trudeau’s government in general is highly reactive and unprepared.

He wrote, "Caring only when concerns arise is something this government has grown accustomed to."

Garneau clarified that he found the fact that Canada has gone through many different Foreign Ministers undermined its credibility in this role and left the impression that Trudeau and Canada do not value the file or prioritize it.

Garneau was the fourth of five people to lead Canadian foreign policy over the eight and a half years Trudeau has been Prime Minister.

He wrote: "Our allies can reasonably wonder if Canada places enough importance on this portfolio, and they have done so."

During every pre-call he had with his counterparts, he said he was told they hoped he would last longer than his predecessors, which he described as "not a very accurate message."

That did not happen.

Garneau lasted only nine months, the shortest of the five.

Chrystia Freeland, the second appointee to the role, has held the position for nearly three years, while current Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly is nearing 33 months in the role.

Stefan Dion was the first, holding the title for 18 months, while François-Philippe Champagne, the third Foreign Minister, was in his position for 14 months.