The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, today issued the following statement: “Canada condemns in the strongest terms the deliberate attacks targeting civilians, schools, medical personnel and health-care facilities now occurring in Idlib, Syria. These ongoing attacks on innocent civilians by the Syrian regime, its supporters and foreign facilitators must end. The violence has had a disastrous impact on civilians, killing more than 298 since January 1, 2020, and displacing almost 950,000 since December 1, 2019.
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, will be in Latvia from March 2 to 3, 2020, before visiting Ukraine from March 4 to 6 and Poland on March 6.
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that the Honourable Pablo Rodríguez, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, will visit Uruguay from February 29 to March 2, 2020, and will be in Argentina from March 2 to March 4.
Today on World NGO Day, we are proud to showcase and celebrate the work of all non-governmental organizations that identify global problems and bring forward innovative solutions with compassion and determination.
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that he will host Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, in Ottawa, Ontario, on February 27, 2020.
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health, and the Honourable Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, today announced that the plane chartered by the Government of Canada to repatriate Canadians who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship has arrived in Canada from Tokyo, Japan.
CETA [Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement]—our free trade agreement with the European Union—had just entered into force, thanks to the foresight of Pierre-Marc Johnson, former premier of Quebec. We had also just signed the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. And today, as you know, we are finalizing the ratification of the new NAFTA.
On October 28, 2019, over 15,000 Georgian government websites and media outlets were taken offline and defaced in yet another attempt by Russia to destabilize Georgia and undermine its democratic institutions. According to our assessment, these actions were carried out by the Sandworm Team, who are sponsored by the cyber-units of Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.
Members of the Lima Group met in Gatineau, Quebec, to reiterate our unity and unwavering commitment to the return of democracy in Venezuela, based on our fundamental values, principles and positions expressed in our previous statements. This includes a strict adherence to the rule of law and respect for human rights.
