Canada's foreign minister delivered a remarkable rebuke of President Donald Trump's "America First" agenda during a speech to Canada's parliament on Tuesday, speaking at length about Canada's increased responsibility to maintain global order as a "middle power."
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Canada's foreign minister slams Trump's 'America First' agenda in remarkable speech before parliament
Canada's foreign minister spoke about increasing military spending and affirming support for international partnerships as Trump pulls back.
Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland delivers a speech on Canada's foreign policy in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada June 6, 2017.
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"Canada believes strongly that this stable, predictable international order has been deeply in our national interest," Chrystia Freeland, Canada's foreign minister and a close confidant of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said Tuesday morning. "Yet it would be naive or hypocritical to claim before this House that all Americans today agree."
"Many of the voters in last year's presidential election cast their ballots, animated in part by a desire to shrug off the burden of world leadership," Freeland said. "To say this is not controversial: it is simply a fact."
Freeland said that Canada must assume responsibility for the "renewal" of the "postwar multilateral order." She outlined three specific ways to do this.
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First, Freeland said, Canada should "robustly support the rules-based international order."
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Second, Freeland said she wants to increase military spending to "place the Canadian Armed Forces on a new footing."
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And third, Freeland underscored the importance of global trade pacts that "benefit all parties."
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As for the US's role in strengthening and maintaining global order in the future, Freeland didn't mince words.
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