Its a common trap for minor functionaries of minor polities too assume they are big fish simply because the current system of international order gives senior officials of "Independent" countries the benefits of equal sovreign majesty. Even if their country is a shithole like Nauru. You still get a seat at the UN, you still get invited too all the Galas, and you get a really cool desk with your name and a flag on it.
Canada is just one of the more egregious examples in that it is coasting on past glory and the fact that it is lodged firmly in the crotch of the current global Hegemon that 75% of the time forgets its even there, and the other 25% of the time just shrugs its shoulders about it. Because the Governor of Texas, a single sub polity, 1 among 50 others of the USA, is responsible for more people and a larger GDP then all of Canada.
Canada is in that weird spot of being a "big" country, but its actually a small one. Unfortunately the men and women who make up its government act like its one of the great powers. From its immigration policy, too its foreign policy. It is nothing but, and everyone knows that ultimately its entire existence is based on sufferance. If the "American Elephant" as Trudeau's step father monikered Canada's southern AND Northern neighbor decided to turn over in its sleep and scratch its ass, Canada would be in a serious world of pain.
Such a geopolitical position should be viewed with temperate servility by the officials of such a State. Not towing the line per se, but not going out of their way too antagonize either. Unfortunately the current international order aggrandizes their ego's and makes them think they are somehow unassailable.