I am speaking here for the first time as Canada’s Foreign Minister as we gather in the Assembly Hall on the traditional territory of the Lenape people.
The Secretary-General has said that we are in rough seas; that a winter of global discontent is on the horizon; that we have a duty to act. I agree with him. From Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine and the impacts around the world, to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, to climate change, to severe the conflicts and hardships that now affect billions of people, the challenges we are facing are immense. These crises and the way we choose to respond to them are testing our shared commitment to the United Nations.
That is why our decisions matter more than ever. We have a choice — either we respect and defend the rules that we, collectively, have developed for generations and that have given us the longest period of peace in modern history, or we accept that rules can be broken by the powerful, bringing us back to darker times of constant tensions and conflicts, with massive displacements, suffering and losses of human lives.
For Canada, the choice is clear. We are convinced that we need more multilateralism, not less. We need more of the United Nations, not less. We need a United Nations that is effective, efficient, relevant and accountable. Throughout its history, Canada has strived to act as an honest broker, ready to build bridges between nations and differing points of view. We have worked tirelessly over the years to conceive, develop and strengthen the international system that we now know. We will continue to do so, and we will do it with all United Nations Members.
Last week, the Canadian delegation, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, met with leaders and civil society members from around the world. Canada has been listening, and we hear them. Many described and condemned Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine as brutal, illegal and unjustified — as a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. We agree with them. Many described the uneven recovery from the global
COVID-19 pandemic not only as incompatible with simple fairness, but also as a danger to public health. Again, we agree with them. They shared profound concern that the that achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is at risk. And we agree we must address that head on. People from all corners of the globe clearly said that climate change is no longer on the horizon. It is here, and it is hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. That is undeniable.
The hearts of all Canadians go out to those affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan, as well as to our fellow citizens who found themselves in the destructive path of Hurricane Fiona.
Many conversations this week have focused on the harsh fact that more people are displaced by conflict and violence today than at any point in human history. I heard unmistakable appeals for accountability, including for the victims of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752 . Women and girls described their need to have control over their own futures and their own bodies, which is their right. Brave individuals shared deeply personal testimonies of their painful experiences of sexual violence in conflict. We believe them.
Such violence is unacceptable, and it must change. We must empower survivors in leading the path to their recovery and support them in the pursuit of meaningful justice, freedom of speech, disinformation and misinformation, the protection of minorities, the rule of law, and respect for science, facts and evidence. Powerful statements have been made on those issues this week. They speak to an erosion of civic space and democratic dialogue. Canada hears them. We do not come to these discussions with easy fixes. We have come to listen, to engage and to share our commitment to responding to this moment in a positive way, with purpose and in a spirit of global solidarity.
The world has heard horrible stories of Ukrainians losing loved ones to this outrageous, senseless war. The Assembly has spoken clearly and with conviction that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine violates the United Nations Charter. It strikes at the heart of the commitments we all made in building the Organization from the ashes of the Second World War. Rather than abide by the Assembly’s decisions and a legally binding order from the International Court of Justice, Russia has doubled down, including with a desperate effort to justify the unjustifiable. While the world gathered here in New York to pursue solutions for the greatest challenges of our time, President Putin informed us that he will conscript more young people into his war of choice. He threatened our collective security with reckless and dangerous nuclear rhetoric. For Putin, this is a war to the death. For Ukraine, this is a war for life.
Russia’s war machine has caused enormous civilian suffering and destruction in Ukraine. The mass graves discovered in Izyum are the latest demonstration of Putin’s utter disregard for human life. The impacts of this illegal war are profoundly felt around the world. We must address the global food security crisis and other consequences of the illegal invasion with imagination and determination. And those who break the law must be met with the force of the law. A permanent seat on the Security Council is not a license to kill or to silence anyone, and it should never guarantee impunity.
We are facing major crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, conflict. Crises that were once the exception are now the rule. These crises are putting a strain on our ability to meet the targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We need a strong push to change the course of things. An urgent, global rescue effort is needed. We must rally and work together for the common good. The only possible path for Canada and the world is through the implementation of our Sustainable Development Goals.
From an economic point of view, we still have a lot to do to achieve true equality between Member States. We have listened carefully to what our partners and friends in the countries of the South have told us. We hear their message very clearly — the international financial institutions must be reformed. They must be able to adapt to today’s crises. Canada has stepped up to the challenge. No country should be left behind. We will work hard with our partners for a fair and equitable reform of the international financial system. Equity is at stake, but so are peace and world stability.
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of nearly 6.5 million people around the world. Canada is committed to ending the pandemic and preventing others. Together, we will continue the fight against HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Last week, Prime Minister Trudeau pledged $1.2 billion to support these efforts.
Let us now talk about climate change. We must act with the same sense of urgency demonstrated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Science tells us that we need to do more, faster. Hurricane Fiona, which hit several islands in the West Indies and eastern Canada, is just the latest example. From the Arctic to small island States, climate change poses an existential threat, and we experience its effects every day.
Canada is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 to 45 per cent by 2030, and then to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. We have a credible plan for get there. Canada will be participating in the twenty-seventh Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt, and we look forward to welcoming the world to my home in Montreal for the fifteenth Meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, under the chairmanship of China. Our priority is to ensure the success of the Conference, where we will work together to reverse the alarming loss of animal and plant species. Our own survival is at stake.
There are no simple solutions to the challenges we face, but it is obvious that to isolate oneself, to disregard the rule of law and to silence people is the opposite of progress. And yet some countries restrict civil liberties, violate human rights and massively monitor their populations. That tendency towards authoritarianism is most worrying. That phenomenon is particularly visible in the region of the Xinjiang, China. To that end, the publication of the United Nations report on human rights is an essential step. Its findings reflect credible accounts of abuses constituting crimes against humanity.
Canada is concerned about the repression of human rights that we have witnessed in several countries. The universality of human rights is well known. These human rights are universal in nature. We cannot therefore hide behind pretexts of national sovereignty in order to violate them. There are limits to defending the indefensible. We believe that democracy, although imperfect, remains the best system for protecting human rights and advancing sustainable development. All of our democracies face challenges. At home as elsewhere, we have to deal with apathy, anxiety and distrust of our institutions.
Canada is also committed to combating systemic racism and we continue to take concrete steps to pursue the path of reconciliation with indigenous peoples. In 2017, Prime Minister Trudeau gave a speech to the Assembly and spoke of our own legacy of colonialism in Canada (see A/72/PV.12). We are working tirelessly to remedy that dark chapter in our history, and we know that the full participation of indigenous peoples is fundamental to building a more just world.
The equality of women and girls in all their diversity is critical to peace, justice and prosperity. Like many countries, Canada is proud to have a feminist foreign policy. Together, we are building a global coalition in support of equality. That is how we will repel the growing attacks on women’s rights and freedoms.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban prevents women and girls from going to school. In Myanmar, courageous women who loudly demand the return of the democratic system are imprisoned by the military junta, tortured and subjected to horrific acts of sexual violence.
In Iran, women protesting the death of Mahsa Amini are met with arrest and bullets. We salute their courage and join them in sending a strong message that women’s rights are human rights. Today our Prime Minister announced that we will sanction those responsible, including Iran’s so-called morality police and its leadership.
From the Sudan to Haiti to Canada, women peacebuilders, human rights defenders and activists are being targeted. We must continue to speak up for the rights of women and girls and to support, protect, recognize and include women peacebuilders. We must also relentlessly pursue accountability for sexual violence. We will continue to push for justice for Rohingya women. And we will not rest until those responsible for sexual violence committed in Ukraine are held to account.
The Charter of the United Nations enshrines “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women”. Yet we are seeing increasing violence, the widening crackdown on rights and freedoms, and the exclusion of women and girls from the negotiating table, the boardroom and the classroom. The sexual and reproductive health rights of women and girls are being rolled back or denied into too many countries. None of that by accident. These are deliberate choices.
To all the women in this Hall and around the world, I say: We hear you and Canada will always stand up for your right to choose. We will fight your full, equal, and meaningful participation in all walks of life. We will speak up for your rights and dignity. No Government, no politician, no judge and no one can take that away from you.
I have said that more than ever, the world needs more multilateralism; more of the United Nations, not less. To that end, we must restore trust among Member States. The crises we are facing have shown both the strengths and weaknesses of the structures we built nearly 80 years ago. We have been able to respond to the most serious hardships with compassion and effectiveness, but we can do better.
Political paralysis and the abuse of the veto are undermining the Security Council. We encourage efforts to reduce the power of the veto, to expand membership and to ensure that the voices of all are heard and responded to across the whole United Nations system.
United Nations peace operations also demand our efforts. Today peacekeeping faces immense challenges. Canada has long contributed to United Nations efforts to reduce conflict, and we will continue to do so. Engagement with the United Nations is a core commitment of Canadians. We were there at the United Nations creation, and today we are more engaged than ever. We will always engage with candour and directness, because we do not equate diplomacy with deception or global politics with global platitudes.
The United Nations Charter begins with the words, “We the peoples of the world”. We must remember that the fate of billions of people alive today and of those yet to be born is at stake in the work we do. We owe them our best efforts of heart, mind and soul. We can meet the test that time and circumstance have placed before us with hope, with courage and with a commitment to acting for our citizens today and for future generations to follow.