Prime Minister Mark Carney will not be giving a major speech on foreign policy to the United Nations General Assembly when he visits New York next week.
Instead, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand will address global leaders on the government’s behalf from the green marble podium.
On July 11, the UN issued a provisional speakers list which had Carney slated to speak the morning of Sept. 27. An updated list issued Sept. 5 says Anand is Canada’s delegate and will address the General Assembly on Sept. 29.
Carney’s office said he will be in New York from Sunday to Wednesday.
In a Friday news release, Carney’s office said the prime minister will take part in events at the UN about “efforts to stabilize the dire situation in Haiti,” the work Canada is doing to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and the conflict in the Middle East.He will also attend a summit on reforming financing for development projects as governments cut foreign aid and funding for climate adaptation.
According to the news release, “Canada is strengthening our international partnerships in a more dangerous and divided global landscape to build prosperity and advance shared solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.” “Recognition can only be binary. You either recognize or you do not,” Anand told reporters in Mexico City. “Normalization is a process, and the process of normalization involves increases in diplomatic relationships. It entails opening diplomatic missions. Anand said that while the process of normalizing ties with the Palestinian Authority will take place at Canada’s discretion, recognition must come now because various players in the region have made it harder to make Palestinian statehood a reality.
The government claims that Hamas violence and the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, as well as its policies toward the Palestinian territories it occupies, have destabilized the region. Anand stated, “Given what is happening in Gaza, recognition now is extremely important and necessary because the viability of a two-state solution is eroding.” On Friday, NDP MP Jenny Kwan introduced a private member’s bill to close a “loophole” that allows the United States to purchase some Canadian arms and send them abroad without going through some of Canada’s vetting procedures. The bill, which is targeted mainly at preventing certain arms from reaching Israel, would also apply to some arms shipments bound for Saudi Arabia, she said.
“That loophole has become a back door to Canadian weapons, components and technologies. At a press conference on Parliament Hill on Friday, Kwan stated, “They cross the border unimpeded with no permits, no oversight, and no reporting.”
Carney to attend UN events but won’t address General Assembly
