We have yet to put our money where our mouth is

A good post from The Ruxted Group, as summarized in this one excerpt:

It ought to be a no-brainer; Canada should have been – ever since the mid 1990s – rebuilding its diplomatic brains, its aid and development heart and its military muscle, creating a wise, generous and robust Canadian actor to play our part on the world’s stage. That, despite a generally robust economy, we have not done so, not under prime Minister Chrétien, not under Prime Minister Martin and not under Prime Minister Harper, tells us that political leaders, Liberals and Conservatives alike, have read the polls and have determined that Canadians may ‘want’ to be leaders but they are unwilling to pay the price to actually lead.

So, we Canadians have precisely the clout in the world that we're willing to pay for. Sounds about right to me.

The question is, who is working to change our minds, to make us willing to put our money where our mouth is? Who is taking the lead on that great endeavour?