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Canadian PM meets with UN chief, stressing Canada's recommitment to UN

Xinhua, February 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in Ottawa, stressing his country's recommitment to the world body.

During the meeting, Trudeau and Ban discussed climate change, peacekeeping and the Syrian refugee crisis.

Under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper's government, Canada's relationship with the UN became frosty when the country was denied a Security Council seat in 2010. However, Trudeau's Liberals have promised to restore Canada's warm embrace of the world body forged by one of Trudeau's Liberal prime ministerial predecessors, Lester Pearson, whose UN peacekeeping proposal to resolve the 1956 Suez Crisis earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Trudeau said that Canada is looking to secure a Security Council seat as part of a desire to "re-engage robustly" with the UN. He told Ban his government is committed to strengthening the UN's ability to "maintain international peace and security, including by increasing support for peace operations and contributing more to mediation, conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction efforts."

"The weather here is quite cold, but the relationship between the United Nations and Canada [is] very, very warm," Ban told reporters at a news conference following a meeting with Trudeau and three of his Cabinet ministers. "Prime Minister Trudeau has declared Canada's recommitment to the United Nations, [and] I am here to declare that the United Nations enthusiastically welcomes this commitment."

Ban also suggested that Canada should do more.

As part of its Millennium Project goals, the UN has set a target for "rich countries," such as Canada, to contribute 0.7 percent of their gross national product toward assisting developing nations. Only five European countries have met or exceeded the target.

"I believe that Canada has resources," Ban said. "I know that the Prime Minister may have different priorities, but I'm sure that [he] and his government will pay more focus on this matter. I count on your leadership."

Ban praised Canada for its "compassionate leadership" in resettling 25,000 Syrian refugees -- a number the Trudeau government hopes to reach by the month's end.

The UN Secretary General also credited Trudeau's leadership in helping to secure a global agreement at the UN's climate change summit in Paris in December.

"Now we need Canada to put the agreement into action and help keep the rest of the world on track," said Ban, who added that he invited Trudeau to attend the signing ceremony for the historic Paris Agreement at the UN headquarters in New York on April 22, the international Earth Day. Endit