PM asks UN for ‘co-ordinated’ post-pandemic plan

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau led a united call for global co-operation at a major United Nations meeting Thursday aimed at mitigating the devastating social and economic effects of the pandemic.

The conference came with Canada competing for one of two non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council next month against Norway and Ireland.

Canada is running on a platform of trying to help rebuild the post-pandemic world.

Trudeau co-hosted the meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness and opened the hours-long video conference by affirming support for the international institutions that need to lead the recovery.

“For the global economy to recover and for our domestic economies to bounce back, we need a global, co-ordinated plan,” he said.

“Our citizens need to have confidence in international institutions that leave no one behind and are capable of overcoming global challenges.”

More than 50 heads of state and government officials participated, including Germany’s Angela Merkel, France’s

Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Boris Johnson, along with representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the private sector.

U.S. President Donald Trump did not take part. One by one, they thrashed Trump’s go-it-alone approach without mentioning his name, and defended the World Health Organization.