Justin Trudeau short changed us. It was so obvious. The speech read by the governor general should have been for the United Nations (UN). It was dull and obvious but better suited to the world body as it lacked enthusiasm, adventure, inspiration or drive. It was boring and so much of it was just a rereading of promises of the past.
The attendees at the UN headquarters in New York last Friday got the gist of what a real throne speech should be. They could enjoy their speech. Presented on giant screens in the main hall, their speech had gravitas and credibility.
Mr. Trudeau delivered the speech to the UN and he put an effort into it. His words were important. His premise was that the pandemic has exposed the failures of humans to make the systems they had created for the UN to work. They are not working for the countries of the UN.
Trudeau might as well have said to Canadians that the systems to make the Canadian Federation work more that 150 years ago have also failed us. And it is our politicians who are to blame. They fear the need to modernize. They fear change.
The Canadian prime minister told the United Nations members that the world is in crisis. He did not admit that to Canadians two days earlier.
But facing facts, how many politicians do we know who will admit they do not have a clue on how to fix the world’s problems.
Mr. Trudeau called for a new way of thinking “on climate, inequality and health.”
He complained that “to often, concerted action is blocked—the needs of our citizens are denied.” He said this was because there are few consequences for countries that ignore international rules.
He made direct reference to countries that find few consequences when opposition figures are being poisoned “while cyber tools and disinformation are being used to destabilize democracies.”
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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