CALGARY — The Canadian Embassy in Washington used its official Instagram account to celebrate former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s relationship with American singer Katy Perry as sensitive trade negotiations continued with the United States.“Kinda chic to date Katy Perry,” embassy staff wrote, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.The Department of Foreign Affairs offered no explanation for the post and embassy officials did not identify the manager who approved it.Trudeau, 54, legally separated from Sophie Grégoire Trudeau in 2023. He has repeatedly been photographed with Perry over the past year.The New York Times previously dubbed Trudeau “the celebrity statesman.”Canada’s embassy in Washington has 324 employees, but officials would not say who was responsible for posting the message to the government account.It is not the first time embassy staff have used Trudeau’s celebrity image for promotional purposes.Access to Information records released in 2016 showed employees enthusiastically discussing the purchase of life-sized cardboard cutouts of Trudeau for Canada Day celebrations..Perry and Trudeau take France — and win the unofficial PDA prize.Katherine Baird, then the embassy’s congressional liaison, questioned whether the display was appropriate.“I am of two minds, to be honest,” Baird wrote in a staff email. “I get the PR value but it just doesn’t seem very prime ministerial.”Other employees strongly supported the idea.“Can we PLEASE order this for July 1? We’re talk’n some serious selfie action,” wrote Anna Gibbs, the embassy’s senior events production manager.“I WANT ONE FOR OUR CANADA DAY EVENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Gibbs added. “That will be as popular as a Mountie selfie!!!”Gibbs and other embassy employees declined interview requests.“I 100% support this idea,” another employee wrote in records released by the foreign affairs department. “I think people will get a kick out of it.”Another department manager urged staff to place the order immediately.“Hi all!” the manager wrote. “We need to order this today to get it here in time for Canada Day. I think this will be a hoot and extremely popular and will go well with our snapchat filter.”The cutout was displayed during Canada Day celebrations in Washington in 2016. Diplomats at the Canadian Consulate in Atlanta ordered a similar decoration.Records showed embassy employees spent a week discussing the purchase in an email chain titled, “URGENT – Please order Trudeau cut-out NOW!”The six-foot cardboard Trudeau figures were purchased from Historical Cutouts Ltd., a Pennsylvania company that also offered life-sized cutouts of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and communist revolutionary Che Guevara.“All products are made in America,” the company wrote.
