Trudeau says Canada and Netherlands must join forces again to fight ‘extremism,’ climate threat

John Paul Tasker

Speaking in the Hague’s Binnenhof with dozens of Dutch parliamentarians in attendance, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Friday for a new era of partnership between Canada and the Netherlands as they both grapple with a “more unpredictable world.”

Citing Canada’s liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi rule during the Second World War, Trudeau said the two allies are uniquely qualified to work together to tackle some common challenges: rising online extremism, inequality and the existential threat of climate change.

“If our two countries are bound together, and I know that we are, it is not only by our shared history. It is by our common future,” Trudeau said in his 20-minute address, delivered in the 13th century Ridderzaal, a former castle that is used for official visits like this and the annual state opening of parliament.

“As friends, allies and partners across the Atlantic, Canada and the Netherlands share a commitment to the brighter tomorrow we want to see, and the progressive values that will get us there.”

Trudeau specifically identified conspiracy theorists, intolerance and “marginalized angry people online,” as urgent issues for the Western world that demand a robust response from like-minded countries.

“We are not on the front lines of a world war as our grandparents were. That does not mean, though, that we can sit back and just assume the work they started is done. My friends, our work is just beginning,” he said.

full story at https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-netherlands-address-to-parliamentarians-1.6229759