Prime Minister Trudeau Embraces the United Nations

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited United Nations headquarters in New York today and declared Canada's commitment to fully supporting the United Nations agenda, including the Paris climate change agreement, human rights (particularly the rights of refugees) and UN peacekeeping. "It is time for Canada to step up once again," he said. To that end, Prime Minister Trudeau announced Canada's candidacy for election to the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member for a two year term that begins in 2021. It is not unusual for member states to begin their campaigning for a an elective seat years before the term is to commence. The prime minister introduced several members of his "gender balanced" cabinet and reaffirmed several times his government's commitment to "feminism." He emphasized his support for increased numbers of refugees from Syria to enter Canada and become, in his words, "new Canadians." If he had any security concerns that might arise from a large influx of refugees, he did not show it.

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Prime Minister Trudeau was trying to make clear his intention to turn the page from the previous, more conservative government, much as President Obama had done with respect to the Bush administration. However, in response to a question, he said his government would not cancel any existing arm agreements between Canada and Saudi Arabia negotiated by the previous administration, despite Saudi Arabia's violation of human rights such as the killing of civilians in the course of its airstrikes in Yemen. To remove the sting from this statement, Prime Minister Trudeau said that "moving forward, we will be committed to transparency, rigor and openness," without specifying how those principles would be applied to the negotiation of future arms contracts with countries that have bad human rights records. When asked his opinion of the political rise of the alleged "misogynist" Donald Trump, Prime Minister Trudeau contrasted his own "feminist principles," and said that he had tremendous faith in "the better angels" of the American people. I asked Prime Minister Trudeau how he believes the human rights values of individual dignity and freedom of expression should be balanced in dealing with denigration of any religion under Canadian law. The prime minister avoided directly answering the question. Instead, he spoke in general terms about the importance of upholding all human rights. He said that we all "need to live together" and "respect" one another. He talked about "diversity" as "the reality of the 21st century" and called for the "building of shared communities in which freedoms are allowed to thrive." Overall, aside from his announcement regarding Canada's candidacy for a future seat on the Security Council and refusal to cancel existing arms agreements with Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Trudeau indulged in generalities, platitudes and effusive praise of the United Nations. He hit the left's favorite buzzwords, particularly extolling the importance of feminism and diversity. It was a presentation of which President Obama would have been most proud.