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Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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?????????????????????????????????????????????????Thursday, June 8, 2017
Freeland rejects Trump's nationalist policies, says Canada will step up to lead on world stage
Foreign affairs minister says U.S. is questioning its past 'mantle' of global leadership
By Kathleen Harris, CBC News Posted: Jun 06, 2017 11:31 AM ET
Canada will step up to play a leadership role on the world stage as the U.S. turns inward to focus on its own national interests, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a major policy speech today.
Canada will step up to play a leadership role on the world stage as the U.S. turns inward to focus on its own national interests, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a major policy speech today.
While never mentioning Donald Trump by name, Freeland rejected many of
the U.S. president's policies, including the withdrawal from the Paris
climate agreement, imposing protectionist trade policies, and closing
the nation's doors to refugees.
"The fact that our friend and ally has come to question the very worth
of its mantle of global leadership, puts into sharper focus the need for
the rest of us to set our own clear and sovereign course," she said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers a speech on Canada's foreign policy in the House of Commons Tuesday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
"For Canada, that course must be the renewal, indeed the strengthening, of the postwar multilateral order. We will follow this path, with open hands and open hearts extended to our American friends, seeking to make common cause as we have so often in the past."
In a lengthy foreign policy speech delivered in the House of Commons,
Freeland praised the U.S. for the "outsized role" it has played in the
world in past, and urged the country not to veer off that course.
"We seek and will continue to seek to persuade our friends that their
continued international leadership is very much in their national
interest — as well as that of the rest of the free world," she said.
Freeland praised the U.S. for being the "indispensable nation" for the
last 70 years, paying the "lion's share" in blood, treasure, strategic
vision and leadership in promoting peace and prosperity. But she said
many of the voters in the presidential election cast ballots "animated
in part by a desire to shrug off the burden of world leadership."
"To say this is not controversial. It is simply a fact," she said.
'Deep disappointment' with U.S.
Freeland expressed "deep disappointment" with the U.S. position on
fighting climate change, and also took at aim at American protectionist
policies, saying rising trade barriers will curb growth, stifle
innovation and kill employment.
Speaking to reporters later, Freeland said the only foreign minister she
briefed ahead of the speech was U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson,
whom she spoke to Monday.
Freeland's speech comes the day before Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan is
set to release a comprehensive roadmap for Canada's military. She said
Canada can't get a free ride from the U.S. simply because of our
geography, warning that Canada can't rely on its neighbour for military
power and protection.
"To rely solely on the U.S. security umbrella would make us a client
state. And although we have an incredibly good relationship with our
American friends and neighbours, such a dependence would not be in
Canada's interest," she said.
Hinting that tomorrow's defence plan will make significant investments
and make Canadians "justly proud," Freeland stressed the need for a
robust, well-funded professional military that is ready, trained and
equipped to go to battle when needed.
"To put it plainly: Canadian diplomacy and development sometimes require
the backing of hard power," she said. "Force is, of course, always a
last resort. But the principled use of force, together with our allies
and governed by international law, is part of our history and must be
part of our future. To have that capacity requires a substantial
investment, which this government is committed to making."
Conservative Foreign Affairs critic Peter Kent said the only meaningful
part of the minister's speech was her reference to a need for "hard
power." He said he hoped it will be followed up with significant
promises from Sajjan tomorrow.
He accused the Liberals of dragging Canada back on the world stage since
taking office, and criticized Freeland's speech in light of what he
called "erratic" foreign policy.
'Public relations device'
"It's really been a public relations device, a rather clumsy one, to
provide a Trojan horse motion that would give the minister a pulpit on
which to review — through what I would have to say is a myopic Liberal
lens — any number of historic truisms and future wishful thinking," he
said.
NDP Foreign Affairs critic Hélène Laverdière said the government must
take a stronger stand against Trump's policies, including immigration
and human rights, in all international forums.
"The message we have to give to the Trump administration is not only
through the House of Commons, but through our decisions and actions on
the international scene day after day," she said.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers major speech on foreign policy
Seeing Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean countries on the rise
with increased living standards is not a trend to be feared, but to be
embraced, she said.
"Let us recognize that the peace and prosperity we in the West have
enjoyed these past 70 years are desired by all, and increasingly within
reach of all. And, as Canadians, let us be agents of that change," she
said.
Embracing multiculturalism
Freeland also said Canadians embody a way of life that works, embracing multiculturalism and diversity.
"We can say this in all humility, but also without any false
self-effacement: Canadians know about living side by side with people of
diverse origins and beliefs, whose ancestors hail from the far corners
of the globe, in harmony and peace," she said.
Freeland said while it is not Canada's role to play the world's
policeman, it must take an active role in providing asylum to the
persecuted, and set a standard for treatment of women, gays and
lesbians, transgender people, and racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic
and religious minorities.
She also said the government is preparing to present its first
international feminist assistance policy that will boost women's rights
by improving access to abortion and empowering women.
"We will put Canada at the forefront of this global effort," she said.