Why Trudeau flew to the other side of the world to spend less than 48 hours in Southeast Asia

Facing the threat of a snap federal election, the prime minister left Ottawa on Tuesday during a chaotic week of parliamentary sessions to travel 27 hours to the other side of the world.

After landing, Justin Trudeau spent just under 48 hours in the Laotian capital, meeting with world leaders and announcing a $128 million package for the bloc of 10 Southeast Asian countries.

It wasn't the prime minister's biggest announcement, but the dollar figure wasn't the driving force behind the trip.

Despite everything that was happening on Parliament Hill – including MPs making a new attempt to oust Trudeau (a story that broke on the prime minister's flight back to Ottawa) – senior government officials believed that skipping the ASEAN summit was not an option.

Last year, for the first time since becoming a dialogue partner in 1977, Canada gained elevated status in the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN).

If Trudeau had not attended this year's summit, the federal government could have been accused of neglecting Southeast Asia. Senior government officials feared that nine years of work to cement Canada's reputation as a reliable partner looking to become a bigger player in the region may have been wasted.

“It is important for Canada to be an active participant,” said Julie Nguyen, chair of Canada-ASEAN initiatives at York University in Toronto.

That means flying to Vientiane, Laos – 12,956 kilometers from Ottawa – to personally assure Southeast Asian partners that the federal government is serious about the strategic partnership that Canada and ASEAN have committed to developing, she said.

Growing trade and security partnerships

Trudeau's arrival in Vientiane was the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to Laos, a small landlocked country north of Thailand.

It was also Trudeau's third consecutive year at the ASEAN summit – a detail he repeated repeatedly in speeches to world leaders, on a panel before business groups and when he addressed reporters at a news conference.

He also highlighted that Canada's trade with ASEAN has almost doubled since he took office in 2015. Ottawa has launched an Indo-Pacific strategy and intends to sign free trade agreements with Indonesia this year and with ASEAN as a bloc next year, he said .

Trudeau wants to keep that momentum going. He announced that his government was launching new trade missions to Thailand and Cambodia. He also unveiled $128 million for a range of ASEAN initiatives, including security, promoting women's rights and fighting climate change.

But with the possibility of hitting the campaign trail at any moment, will Trudeau's work survive his government?

It was one of the first questions asked Friday at the prime minister's closing news conference before he hit the tarmac to fly back to Ottawa.

“It's not an ideological choice to say, 'Oh, OK, let's come to terms with Southeast Asia,'” Trudeau said.

“It's about understanding that this part of the world offers a huge opportunity for Canada, but also an opportunity for ASEAN as Canada engages.”

The reaction can be seen as a signal that the Trudeau government believes that time spent creating connections in the world's fastest-growing economy is an investment that will continue to pay off beyond its own shelf life.

Vina Nadjibulla, vice-president of research and strategy at the Asia-Pacific Foundation of Canada, said Trudeau needs to build on the momentum of the last few years to make this strategy work.

“We can't just say, 'OK, it's done. We are a strategic partner…we can stop paying attention to it,'” Nadjibulla said.

“In fact, at this point we would rather redouble our efforts than walk away.”

The world's fifth largest economy

ASEAN consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The 10-nation bloc of nearly 700 million people is the world's fifth-largest economy and Canada's fourth-largest trading partner, with almost $40 billion worth of goods flowing between them each year.

“You do business with Canada, but you are really doing business with the rest of the world,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said on Friday during a call with business leaders in Vientiane.

Ng sat down for an armchair conversation with Ian McKay, Canada's ambassador to Japan and special envoy for the Indo-Pacific region, and with Trudeau, who was trying to sell Canadian natural resources.

“We have mines containing key minerals that will be essential components of the future economy and green transition,” Trudeau said.

No matter what happens after the next federal election, it is unclear what Canada's position in Southeast Asia will be.

Kai Ostwald, head of Asian studies at the University of British Columbia, said ASEAN member countries want to maintain a neutral space between China and the United States, their largest trading partners. They don't need another player to carry them on either side of the competition, he said.

“There is still some room to more clearly define Canada's role in the region,” Ostwald said ahead of the summit.

One thing is clear: Canada's relationship with the region requires a serious conversation.

For some ASEAN members, such as the Philippines, Trudeau's personal appearance – even if it was brief – seemed to pay off.

“The relationship between Canada and the Philippines has never been closer in our history,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Thursday as he welcomed Trudeau during a bilateral meeting.