The United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, will visit Ottawa and Montreal from February 11 to 13, the Prime Minister’s Office announced Friday morning.
Ban and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are scheduled to discuss a number of topics, including climate change and the Syrian refugee crisis.
“The Prime Minister will highlight Canadian engagement on a number of key global issues, including: climate change and climate finance; the situation in Syria, Iraq, and surrounding countries; refugee resettlement; and the health of women and children around the world,” said the statement by the PMO.
The meeting is seen as another step in Trudeau’s effort to re-engage with the world body, in contrast to the policy of his Conservative predecessor Stephen Harper who scaled down Canada’s participation in the UN and was seen as generally sceptical of the organization’s role in global politics.
“Canada is proud of the part it has played in the UN’s successes, from protecting human rights to peacekeeping,” Trudeau said. “I want to restore Canada’s voice and leadership role at the UN.”
Prof Paul Heinbecker, a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations and chief foreign policy advisor to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, said Ban’s visit will allow the government to build further on its relationship with the United Nations.
Canadian governments with the exception of the Harper government have always believed that a strong engagement with the world body was in Canada’s interest, Heinbecker said.
“It’s not just a boy scout wish to be helpful to others – there is some altruism in it – but fundamentally a country the size of Canada needs and prospers from a rules-based international environment,” Heinbecker said. “If it’s left to the law of the jungle, if the biggest countries do whatever they feel like doing and the others suffer what they must, Canada is not going to be in a very strong position to prevail.”
(click to listen to the interview with Paul Heinbecker)
ListenTrudeau and the secretary general will also meet with young Canadians to discuss the importance of building diverse societies to promote peace and broad economic growth.
“If we are to build a more peaceful and prosperous world – a world where our diversity is seen as a strength– then a strong United Nations is essential,” Trudeau said in a statement.
Ban will also meet with Governor General David Johnston and Syrian refugees who have recently arrived in Canada, prior to his visit to Montreal on February 12, UN officials said in a statement.
In Montreal, the secretary general will meet with Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre. He also plans to visit the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization, in Montreal, the first such centre in North America.
Ban will deliver an address at McGill University, and meet with the Secretary General and President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the UN’s civil aviation agency based in Montreal.
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