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January 15th, 2018

NDP Statement on the Vancouver Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Security and Stability on the Korean Peninsula

NDP Critic for Foreign Affairs, Helene Laverdière, released the following statement:

“Tomorrow, Canada will host a meeting in Vancouver to discuss the way forward regarding the situation in North Korea. Despite the absence of some key countries from this meeting, the Liberal government must make abundantly clear that diplomacy is the best course of action in the face of a nuclear North Korea.

In light of dangerously bellicose rhetoric from the Trump administration that threatens international peace and security, it is more important than ever for the Canadian government to chart a very different course, and assert to governments around the world that diplomacy is paramount, even when economic sanctions are underway.

In 2017, Canada refused to attend negotiations on the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, which has the support of 122 countries, many of the world's major faith groups, and hundreds of members of the Order of Canada. The International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons was awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its’ role in achieving the treaty, and a Canadian survivor of Hiroshima, Setsuko Thurlow, accepted this award on behalf of ICAN in December. Yet Canada's Liberal government continues its shameful boycott of the treaty, which is the world's greatest hope for disarmament. It is time for the government to finally change course and sign this treaty.”