Count Roland posted:

I thought the ambassador was just playing the good cop. Honestly I thought it was a smart move-- tone down the rhetoric a bit, give the Chinese something to latch on to, and remind everyone that Canada is (technically) just a bystander in this.

Nothing I heard him say seemed to be "political interference", so I guess they just canned him because his statements weren't approved. It is a bit surprising that a diplomat wouldn't ask somehow before doing something like that, but what do I know.