Amid rising geopolitical instability around the world, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is due to visit New York this week to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly and the Future Summit.
“Canada will play a leading role in making the world fairer and more prosperous,” Trudeau said in a news release last week. “I look forward to working with other leaders to accelerate progress on our shared priorities and build a better future for all.”
The prime minister will be in parliament in New York until Wednesday, when Trudeau’s government is expected to face its first test in the House of Commons since the NDP dissolved its supply and confidence agreement with the Liberals.
Conservative leader Pierre Poirievre will table a motion saying the House of Commons has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
The New Democrats and the Bloc Quebecois have indicated they intend to vote against the Conservatives, which would allow Trudeau to focus on international meetings rather than a potential federal election at home.
The Future Summit, announced for 2021 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, will take place on Sunday and Monday ahead of the start of the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
The goal is to reform the UN, revitalize multilateralism and agree on solutions to new challenges at a time when the UN has come under criticism for its response to 21st century problems such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
Secretary-General Guterres last week called on member states to compromise and approve the “future pact,” a blueprint for tackling a wide range of global challenges, but there has been pushback from Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries who oppose some of the language on issues such as climate change and reform of international financial institutions.
“Diplomacy is hard, and diplomacy for diplomacy’s sake is even harder, but we can handle hard things,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Wednesday.
“We can push ourselves to think beyond what has been done before and create systems that respond to this moment and the opportunities of the future.”
Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration supports changes to make the U.N. Security Council more inclusive, creating two permanent seats for African countries and new elected seats for small island developing states.
Canada has been active in the United Nations since its founding in 1945 and was instrumental in drafting the UN Charter.
Prime Minister Trudeau, who co-chairs the UN Advancing Sustainable Development Goals, will reaffirm Canada’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda, a 15-year international framework adopted in 2015 that aims to achieve a safer world, free of poverty and hunger, with equal education, universal health care and other ambitious goals.
Trudeau will also co-host talks with Haiti’s acting Prime Minister Garry Conilles on a “Haitian-led solution,” the press release said.
Canada is deeply involved in Haiti’s response to the ongoing humanitarian, security and political crisis. According to a United Nations report released in June, an increase in gang activity has forced about 580,000 people to flee the Caribbean nation since March.
During the meeting, Trudeau will co-host an event with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on climate change, carbon pricing and the decarbonization of industry.
Pressing geopolitical challenges and the Middle East conflict will cast a shadow over the Assembly and its difficult future plans.
Canada abstained last week on a closely watched UN vote calling for Israel to end its “unlawful presence” in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank within a year.
The State of Palestine introduced a non-binding motion, which passed 124 to 14. Canada was one of 43 countries that abstained. The United States voted against the resolution.
“We cannot support a resolution that holds only one party responsible for the conflict – the State of Israel,” Canadian U.N. Ambassador Bob Rae said at the U.N. General Assembly last Wednesday.
Thomas-Greenfield said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also scheduled to address a special session of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday about Russia’s ongoing aggression.
Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council and has been heavily criticized for its aggression against Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter.
“We’re going to keep up the pressure on Russia,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.
With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa and The Associated Press
