OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday called US President-elect Joe Biden to congratulate him on his election win, and discussed working together to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.
Trudeau, who was one of the first leaders to congratulate Biden on Saturday, less than an hour after US media called it, was also “the first international leader to speak with the president-elect,” Trudeau’s office said in a statement.
The two leaders “committed to work together” on energy, migration and global security, and “agreed on the importance of addressing anti-Black racism.”
Trudeau also raised China’s detention of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
Earlier, Trudeau said he was hopeful that Biden’s administration would keep up pressure on China to release the pair.
Beijing — in an act widely decried by Western capitals as retaliation — detained former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor on suspicions of espionage in December 2018, days after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wangzhou on a US warrant.
At a news conference, Trudeau commented that his government has “worked very closely” with Donald Trump’s administration and other allies to put pressure on Beijing to release the pair.
“I am extremely confident that the incoming American administration will continue to be a good partner… as we look to impress upon China that the approach they’re taking is simply not working,” he said.
Trudeau renewed his criticisms of what Ottawa has described as China’s “coercive diplomacy,” calling it “extremely preoccupying for democratic nations around the world.”
The tit-for-tat arrests plunged Canada-China relations into an unprecedented crisis.
While Meng fights extradition to the United States, where she is wanted on fraud charges linked to violations of US sanctions against Iran, Kovrig and Spavor disappeared into Beijing’s opaque judicial system.
At the Monday news conference, Trudeau also expressed confidence in the US election system while declining to comment on Trump’s refusal to concede defeat, saying he would continue to work with Trump on bilateral issues until Biden’s inauguration in late January.
Trudeau took a moment to “reflect on the historic milestone” in the US electing Kamala Harris as vice president.
“Seeing a woman, a Black and South Asian-American woman elected as the next Vice President of the United States is an inspiration,” he said.
And, he said, “It is a welcome sign that the new President-elect has indicated that climate change is a top priority of his.”
Biden has vowed to rejoin the UN’s Paris Agreement on climate change swiftly, after Trump abandoned it.
Trudeau added that he hoped with Biden to smooth out several trade irritants between Canada and the US, including softwood lumber trade.
© Agence France-Presse