Trudeau sets aggressive course on climate change

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spent the last five days quietly calling up allies in Europe and Asia as he seeks to forge ahead with climate change policies and international co-operation in a world of “America First.”

Following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement last week that the U.S. was pulling out of the Paris climate change agreement, Trudeau initiated phone calls with four of the other G7 leaders.

In the space of five days, he spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Excepting the call with May, which focused mainly on security threats following the recent attack in London, each conversation was about charting the path forward on climate change, international trade and sustainable development.

Trudeau also had dinner on Tuesday with Barack Obama after the former U.S. president’s speech in Montreal, which echoed many of the multilateral themes in an earlier foreign policy address by Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Canada’s pledge to be more independent on foreign policy, filling some of the void left by the U.S., is likely to be tested by its willingness to put more money on the table for defence, foreign aid and global climate finance. The government did make good on a promise to spend more on the military, announcing on Wednesday an increase in annual defence spending of $14 billion over the next 10 years.