Bloggers Note : with Transcript
....
and gentlemen
it is a privilege to be here in Brussels
with you all
I first addressed the EU parliament in
Strasbourg in 2017.
it was the first time a Canadian Prime
Minister addressed your Parliament
back then this Parliament saw me as
someone new on the world stage
we could see that something was lurking
off on the horizon something shadowy
something that was threatening
we didn't look close enough
when I spoke to this Parliament five
years ago I spoke about making
multilateralism work for the middle
class and those working hard to join him
so that economic frustrations don't
become fertile ground for populism
nativism
protectionism and the polarization
towards more extreme political views
well today
we are staring these forces in the face
as they threaten the peace Justice truth
democracy and stability of our world
and we have a choice
about what we do next
people
have a real and deep sense of
uncertainty about what the future holds
these are anxious times and people are
looking for leadership
and solutions
unfortunately we're seeing a rise in
cynical populists who are trying to
exploit these anxieties
they pretend
to have easy solutions
that play on people's fears
even in Canada where ninety percent of
people are vaccinated and our motto as a
country is peace order and good
government
we saw anti-vaccine and anti-government
protests devolve into illegal
occupations of our communities and
blockades of our borders
the leaders of those convoys were
effective in turning citizens with real
anxieties against the system best suited
to allay those concerns
but democracy isn't a game
and there just aren't easy solutions to
the big complex problems we are all
facing
so I speak to you today
no longer is someone quite so new
in fact I may now be one of the longest
serving longer serving Progressive
leaders around
and I'm certainly not going to pretend
to have all the answers
but what I do know
is that there is work that lies before
us as thoughtful leaders
as people focused on the short and
long-term well-being of all our citizens
as people committed to democracy and the
values that underpin them
and that work is more important than
ever
Putin thought democracy was weak
he saw our disagreements and debates as
weakness
but what he has never understood is that
the rigors of debate
that forceful Civic engagement
is what makes us strong
and that democracy
at its best will always
be stronger than authoritarianism
but if we're going to be honest
and we need to be honest in this place
we haven't always been at our best these
past years European democratic values
that underpin all of our actions I
worked in Syria and Pakistan for many
years as a diplomat and therefore value
democracy very highly
now click
invitation to Canadian PM just
introduced it's an invitation to someone
who's been trembling on Democratic
rights who's been cracking down on
people who protested against a
disproportionate Corona measures coming
under criticism so clearly the values of
democracy being
despised that by this individual let us
not give someone like this any speaking
time in this house of democracy doubt
that it would have been more appropriate
for Mr Trudeau prime minister of Canada
to address this house according to
article 144 an article which was
specifically designed to debate
violations of human rights democracy and
the rule of law which is clearly the
case with Mr Trudeau then again a prime
minister who openly admires the Chinese
basic dictatorship who tramples on
fundamental rights by persecuting and
criminalizing his own citizens as to
terrorists just because they dared to
stand up to his perverted concept of
democracy should not be allowed to speak
in this house at all Mr Trudeau you are
a disgrace for any democracy please
spare us your presence thank you
