Protest greets PM in London
Activists met Trudeau on Wednesday with calls to kill pipeline projects
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined counterparts from Britain, Australia and New Zealand on Wednesday to present a united global front against the most pressing security challenges facing their countries and the international order.
Top of the list: cyberattacks, particularly those conducted by Russia.
The call to arms came as the four leaders, who together represent — along with the U.S. — the tight-knit security and intelligence partnership known as the Five Eyes, gathered for a top-secret intelligence briefing in London.
The meeting coincided with a warning from the U.S. and U.K. this week that Russia has been involved in an unprecedented level of cyber-infiltration and attacks, which includes targeting the routers that many people use at home.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who convened the briefing, wasted no time turning her guns on Russia, which she accused of “using cyber as part of a wider effort to attack and undermine the international system.” Those attacks have been stepped up, she added, alongside a concerted disinformation campaign following last month’s poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury.
Meanwhile, environmental activists in Britain greeted Trudeau on Wednesday with calls to kill the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
The demonstration marked the first time the pipeline has reared its head during what has otherwise been a relatively smooth foreign trip for Trudeau.
The prime minister, however, appeared unmoved as he left the high commission. He first thanked the activists for coming and later reasserted the importance of selling Canadian oil now to pay for cleaner energy over the long term.
There are people who “think there’s still a choice to be made between what’s good for the economy or what’s good for the environment,” Trudeau said in an interview.
“We’re going to stay in doing both together, because we know that growing the economy is the only way to pay for the transition towards the clean future that we all need.”
Trudeau also had an audience with the Queen before the Five Eyes security briefing.