OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she will release Canada’s long-delayed Indo-Pacific strategy this year.
She says the strategy will be shaped by a major meeting the Chinese government is holding in two weeks.
The strategy will include co-operation on climate change, she said in an interview with the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, D.C.
Joly also revealed she will visit Peru next week for the Organization of American States summit.
In mid-October, she will head to Japan and South Korea.
Business leaders and former diplomats have been pushing the Trudeau government for months to outline Canada’s friends, foes and priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.
“I’ll be coming up with our Indo-Pacific and China policy before the end of the year,” Joly said in a Friday afternoon interview with the think tank.
“We haven’t defined ourselves as an Indo-Pacific country, since the beginning of our history. We’ve always invested a lot in the transatlantic relationship,” she said.
“We need to turn west.”
Joly said the strategy will be shaped in part by the Communist Party of China’s national Congress, a major, weeklong meeting that occurs every five years and will start Oct. 16.
President Xi Jinping is expected to outline the country’s economic focus, and whether a strict COVID-19 policy that has disrupted global supply chains will remain in place.
It’s because of those strict rules that Montreal is hosting a major UN summit on biodiversity in December, despite China’s role as its chair.
Joly said she is confident the U.S. will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions but needs more assurance from China, which is the world’s other major polluter.
“We will be leading the way and that’s why it’s important to bring China along,” she said.
“China needs to be at the table. That’s the only way we’ll be able to achieve our objectives. This is existential for us.”
Meanwhile, Joly said her looming visit to Peru will include discussions on how countries can send more fertilizer to Latin America to help offset the knock-on impact of sanctions on Russia.
She blamed Russia for anti-American disinformation in the region, but said governments need to address the grievances that allow disinformation to thrive.
“We have to show up and make sure we offer solutions for inflation, and for the economic challenges that Canadians are also going through,” she said.
“We need to make sure that government works, because following the pandemic, there are definitely frustrations.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 30, 2022.
Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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