Trudeau kicked off his visit to the UN General Assembly today by taking part in the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit, timed to mark this year’s 100th birthday of the former South African president. UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is paying tribute to the late Nelson Mandela by urging world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly to follow his example and champion democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the world. He says while global threats like climate change, armed conflict and other “emerging threats” continue to test that commitment, the man known as “Madiba” would only see such challenges as evidence of work still to be done. Trudeau also has a number of bilateral meetings with world leaders on his summit itinerary, including one earlier today with the prime minister of Nepal, who thanked Canada for its humanitarian help following that country’s devastating earthquake in 2015. A major item on Canada’s to-do list at this week’s summit is to resume its stalled campaign for a coveted two-year temporary seat on the UN Security Council — an endeavour that has taken a back seat to the government’s efforts to rescue the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Source: thestar September 24, 2018 16:27 UTC