Trudeau to attend United Nations General Assembly amid turbulence around the world
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to be in New York this week for the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and the Summit of the Future amid increasing geopolitical instability around the world.
"Canada will have 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 everyone."
While the prime minister is attending the assembly in New York until Wednesday, the Trudeau government is expected to face its first test in the House of Commons since the NDP ended its supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre plans to table a motion stating the House has no confidence in the government or the prime minister.
The New Democrats and Bloc Québécois have said they intend to vote against the Conservatives. Their votes will give Trudeau space to focus on the international gathering instead of a possible snap election at home.
The Summit of the Future, announced by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in 2021, is happening on Sunday and Monday ahead of the start of the annual meetings at the General Assembly.
Its goal is to reform the UN, reinvigorate multilateralism, and agree on solutions to new challenges at a time when the global institution has faced criticism for its handling of 21st century issues, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
Guterres urged member nations last week to compromise and approve the "Pact of the Future," a blueprint to address a wide range of global challenges. But there's been pushback from Russia, Saudi Arabia and other countries who object to some of the language around things like climate change and reforming international financial institutions.
"While diplomacy is hard and diplomacy about diplomacy is even harder, we can do hard things," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, on Wednesday.
"We can think beyond what has been, push ourselves to create a system that meets this moment and the opportunities of the future."
Thomas-Greenfield said the Biden administration supports changes to the makeup of the UN Security Council to make it more inclusive by creating two permanent seats for Africans and a new elected seat for small island developing states.
Canada has been active at the UN since it was created in 1945 and helped draft the UN Charter.
Trudeau, who is co-chair of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Advocates group, will reaffirm Canada's commitment to its 2030 Agenda, a 15-year global framework adopted in 2015 that envisions a secure world free of poverty and hunger, with equal education and universal health coverage as well as other lofty goals.
Trudeau will also co-host a discussion with Haiti's acting prime minister, Garry Conille, about "solutions that are Haitian-led," the news release said.
Canada is closely invested in Haiti's response to the ongoing humanitarian, security and political crises. A UN report released in June said surging gang activity had displaced nearly 580,000 people in the Caribbean country since March.
While at the assembly, Trudeau will also co-host an event with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen about climate change, carbon pricing and industrial decarbonization.
Pressing geopolitical challenges and the conflict in the Middle East will cast a shadow over the assembly and its formidable future plans.
Canada abstained last week from a high-profile UN vote demanding that Israel end its "unlawful presence" in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank within a year.
The State of Palestine brought the non-binding motion, which passed 124-14; Canada was among 43 abstentions. The United States voted against it.
"We cannot support a resolution where one party, the State of Israel, is held solely responsible for the conflict," Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, told the General Assembly last Wednesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also set to address a special meeting of the UN Security Council on Tuesday about Russia's ongoing invasion, Thomas-Greenfield said.
Russia has a permanent seat on the Security Council and it has been resoundingly criticized over its aggression in Ukraine being a violation of the UN Charter.
"We intend to keep the pressure on Russia," said Thomas-Greenfield.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2024.
With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa and The Associated Press
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
An explosion at a coal mine in eastern Iran kills at least 33 workers
An explosion in a coal mine in eastern Iran killed at least 33 workers and injured 17 others, officials said Sunday, marking one of the worst mining disasters in the country's history as others remained missing hours after the blast.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Myths busted and lessons learned: John Vennavally-Rao on his surgery to reverse his ostomy
Twenty-seven year Â鶹´«Ã½ reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I’m grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
Coffee could be more than a morning pick-me-up, according to new research
A morning cup of coffee may do more than just perk you up, according to new research.
4 killed and multiple people wounded in Birmingham late night shooting, Alabama police say
Four people have died and more than 20 were wounded in a shooting in a nightlife area in Birmingham, Alabama, according to police and news reports.
The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.
Luck of the draw: N.L. ads to be featured in match against football giants Chelsea
Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
International zoo conference focuses on conservation: Experts say more needs to be done globally
More than 2,200 zoo professionals from 23 different countries have gathered in Calgary for the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference.
A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.