Ban, Trudeau mark Canada's renewed engagement at UN

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday marked Ottawa's renewed engagement on the world stage, which should translate into a larger role on climate change and in peacekeeping missions.

Trudeau signaled ahead of Ban's arrival that he wanted to restore Canada's "voice and leadership role" at the United Nations, casting the first visit of a UN chief in years as recognition of the new Liberal government's commitment to working in concert with other nations.

Whereas his Conservative predecessor, Stephen Harper, sought distance from the UN in order to carve out an independent and assertive foreign policy, Trudeau signaled that he intends for Canada to play an important and increased role beyond its borders through the New York-based global body.

"Prime Minister Trudeau has declared Canada's recommitment to the United Nations. I am here to declare that the United Nations enthusiastically welcomes this commitment," Ban told a joint news conference.

Symbolically, Trudeau invited Ban to Canada on the 100th day of his new Liberal government in office, on the heels of commitments to tackle climate change and resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees by the end of February -- both of which Ban praised.

During the secretary-general's visit, the pair discussed boosting Canadian contributions to peacekeeping missions around the world, as well as climate issues, the conflict in Iraq and Syria and its impact on neighboring countries, and improving women and children's health in poorer nations.
Trudeau said Canada would also seek a seat on the Security Council, hoping to erase the humiliation of its first failed bid in 2010 that was seen as a rebuke of the previous Tory administration's foreign policy shift.

"We're looking at a number of windows in the coming years" to mount a bid, Trudeau said.

- Canadians wanted for peacekeeping -

On Monday, Trudeau announced the withdrawal of Canadian fighter jets conducting airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the US-led coalition pushing back the Islamic State group, while pledging to triple the number of special forces training Kurdish militia in northern Iraq to about 210.

Thirty-six Canadian soldiers are currently deployed on UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Jerusalem, South Sudan, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Korea, down from a reported 3,000 at its peak in 1993.
French speakers in the Canadian military, said Trudeau, are in demand in hotspots in some former French or Belgian colonies, including Haiti and the Central African Republic.

On the environmental front, Trudeau made a splash at climate talks in Paris last December, vowing strong measures to curb Canadian greenhouse gas emissions in order to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, but he left the meeting without announcing a firm target for cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

Trudeau is expected to begin hammering out details of a climate plan when he meets with his provincial counterparts on March 3. He must also, however, be mindful of the economic challenges facing oil producing regions, notably Alberta province where thousands have lost their jobs over the past year due to the plunge in oil prices.

Canada is the world's fifth largest oil producer.

Ban invited Trudeau to New York in April for the official signing of the climate accord reached in Paris.

Trudeau has also pledged to fight institutional discrimination against indigenous peoples, with plans to hold a public inquiry into 1,200 missing and murdered aboriginal women since 1980.

As part of an overall rapprochement with natives, he has said he would ratify and fully implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples -- again earning accolades from Ban.

Canada and three other countries -- Australia, New Zealand and the United States -- were the only nations to vote against the UN indigenous text in 2007.

Trudeau and Ban were expected to participate in a student assembly, visit a Syrian refugee welcoming center and dine at the Canadian Museum of History before the UN chief heads to Montreal, which is home to the UN aviation agency, for more talks Friday.
Source :AFP