OTTAWA — Canada will get to send a message to Beijing when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau names a successor to Ambassador Dominic Barton, said Fen Hampson, a Carleton University international-affairs expert.

“The symbolism is going to be important,” Hampson told The Logic, hours after Barton announced he would quit at the end of the month. If Trudeau appoints another high-profile business figure like Barton (a former global managing partner of McKinsey, with years of experience in China), or a politician like his predecessor John McCallum, “that’s sending a signal to the Chinese that you want to turn the page.”

If the next ambassador is a career diplomat, like Canada’s ambassador in Washington Kirsten Hillman, it means: “Hunker down, turn down the temperature, see what develops.”

What Barton has done: Hampson’s new co-written book on the two Canadians whom Barton helped free from China’s custody, The Two Michaels, details months of work arranging the release of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor at the same time as the United States’ withdrawal of an extradition request that allowed Canada to free Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou.

That took much longer than anyone expected, Hampson said, and “I think he’s probably had enough.”

Sarah Kutulakos, executive director of the Canada China Business Council, praised Barton for helping resolve the No. 1 problem in the two countries’ relations. “He really understood China well, because he had lived there,” she said.

The “people-to-people ties” formed through business, education and culture exchanges give Canadians opportunities to advance their values in China, she said, and Barton understood that.

What remains: A lot. “The relationship is still very much in the deep freeze,” Kutulakos said. China is still obstructing Canadian canola shipments, for instance.

Contrary to the CCBC’s pro-engagement philosophy, critics argue for a harder line. China’s persecution of Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang region, its suppression of liberties in Hong Kong, and its recent regulatory crackdowns are all demerits.

Either way, Hampson said, rebuilding economic ties will be an uphill battle—especially if Ottawa is more willing to fight Beijing now that Kovrig and Spavor are out.

The federal government is working on an “Indo-Pacific” strategy, whose very name emphasizes countries that can counterbalance China.

Canada is also dealing with a U.S. effort at “decoupling key supply chains” from Chinese production, and has to work out how Canada fits in, Hampson said.

What’s coming up: Besides naming a new ambassador, Trudeau’s government is promising an imminent decision on whether Huawei can sell 5G gear in Canada.

In February, China is hosting the Winter Olympics, which the U.S. is to partly boycott—sending athletes but no dignitaries. Trudeau has said Canada is discussing that.

Beijing scoffs, but Hampson said China’s government will not like anything that smacks of an insult from Canada, especially after the Kovrig-Spavor–Meng affair.

“Anything we do to snub the Chinese will be magnified,” Hampson said.