Amid the threat of an early federal election, the prime minister left Ottawa on Tuesday during a chaotic parliamentary sitting week to travel 27 hours to the other side of the world. 

Once he landed, Justin Trudeau spent a little less than 48 hours on the ground in the capital of Laos, meeting with world leaders and announcing a $128-million package to a bloc of 10 Southeast Asian countries.

It wasn’t the biggest prime ministerial announcement, but the dollar figure wasn’t the driving force behind the journey. 

Despite everything unfolding on Parliament Hill — including MPs mounting a new effort to oust Trudeau (a story that broke during the prime minister’s return flight to Ottawa) — senior government officials believed missing out on the ASEAN summit wasn’t an option.

Canada had its status with the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) elevated last year for the first time since becoming a dialogue partner back in 1977.

If Trudeau didn’t show up at this year’s summit, the federal government could have been accused of snubbing Southeast Asia. And senior government officials feared nine years of work trying to burnish Canada’s reputation as a reliable partner that wants to become a bigger player in the region could have gone out the window.

“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 kilometres away from Ottawa — to reassure Southeast Asian counterparts face-to-face that the federal government is serious about the strategic partnership that Canada and the ASEAN committed to advancing, she said.

Growing trade and security partnerships

Trudeau’s arrival in Vientiane marked the first visit of 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 made a point of repeating during his speech to world leaders, at a panel in front of business groups, and while addressing reporters at his news conference. 

He also emphasized Canada’s trade with the ASEAN has nearly doubled since he came into office in 2015. Ottawa launched an Indo-Pacific strategy and is aiming to ink free-trade deals with Indonesia this year and the ASEAN as a bloc next year, he said. 

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

But faced 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 at the prime minister’s closing news conference on Friday before he headed to the tarmac to fly back to Ottawa.

“It’s not about an ideological choice to say, ‘Oh, OK, let’s make nice with Southeast Asia,'” Trudeau said. 

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

That response could be seen as a sign that the Trudeau government believes the time it has spent making connections in the world’s fastest-growing economy is an investment that will continue to pay dividends beyond its own shelf life.

Vina Nadjibulla, VP of research and strategy for the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, said Trudeau needs to build on the momentum of the past few years for this strategy to work. 

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

“It’s actually at the moment to double down rather than to walk away.”

World’s fifth-largest economy 

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

With a population of almost 700 million people, the bloc of 10 countries is the world’s fifth-largest economy and Canada’s fourth-largest trading partner, with almost $40 billion in goods flowing between them every year. 

“You’re doing business with Canada, but you’re actually doing business with the rest of the world,” International Trade Minister Mary Ng said in a pitch to business leaders in Vientiane on Friday.

Ng sat down for an armchair discussion with Ian McKay, Canada’s ambassador to Japan and special envoy for the Indo-Pacific, and with Trudeau, who tried to sell Canada’s natural resources. 

“We have the mines with the critical minerals that are going to be the essential ingredients to the economies and the green transitions of the future,” Trudeau said.  

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

Kai Ostwald, chair in Asian research at the University of British Columbia, said ASEAN member nations want to maintain a neutral space between China and the U.S. — its largest trading partners. They don’t need another player pulling them on either side of the rivalry, he said.

“There is still some space to articulate more clearly what Canada’s role in the region is,” Ostwald said before the summit. 

One thing’s clear: Canada’s relationship with the region requires serious face time.

For some members of the ASEAN, such as the Philippines, Trudeau’s in-person appearance — even if it was brief — seemed to be paying off.

“The relationship between Canada and the Philippines has not been closer in our entire history,” said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday when he greeted Trudeau for a bilateral meeting.