Thread by @AtlanticCouncil

THREAD

Did you miss @JustinTrudeau and ministers @cafreeland and @HarjitSajjan, “Canada’s dream team,” as they were warmly welcomed by Karen Donfried of @gmfus at #NATOEngages?

𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙡𝙪𝙘𝙠! This thread recaps their panel from earlier this morning with video.

1/

PM @JustinTrudeau at #NATOEngages on why @NATO is as important today as when it was created:

“It’s about enhancing and protecting the democratic principles that we all hold as our core values. And that is something that continues to be as relevant as it ever has been.” 2/

On NATO deciding to take a significant new role in Iraq, Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau—“We are going to engage in Iraq as an alliance—capacity building, training…”

Canada will commit 250 troops, a number of helicopters, and is offering to command the mission for the first year. 3/

PM @JustinTrudeau “Canada knows that a peaceful world, a more resilient world, a more democratic world is good for Canada and its good for all of us. That’s why we believe so deeply in @NATO.”

#NATOEngages #StrongerWithAllies #WeAreNATO

Picking up from @JustinTrudeau at #NATOEngages, @cafreeland says “NATO is an alliance of all the citizens of all of our countries who are collectively pledged to support each other. NATO has to start at home if it’s going to be an alliance that has legitimacy going forward.” 5/

On the mandate PM @JustinTrudeau gave him to reevaluate Canada’s defense strategy, @HarjitSajjan says “There’s a reason why our defense policy now is called strong at home, secure in North America and engaged in the world.” #NATOEngages 6/

@JustinTrudeau @HarjitSajjan On Canadian-EU partnership, PM @JustinTrudeau: “I think the European Union matters significantly… Europe is a valuable and important partner not just to Canada but to the world.”

🇨🇦🤝🇪🇺

We are #StrongerWithAllies as #NATOEngages the public. 7/

On the strengths of NATO and the alliance, @cafreeland says “This was about creating an international rules based order with liberal democratic values that was not a closed club, that was open to membership for people and countries aspiring to share those values.” 8/ #NATOEngages

PM @JustinTrudeau: “As much as it’s nice to talk about values, and principles, unless we’re willing to step and stand up for them—that doesn’t mean a whole lot in the face of authoritarianism… Announcing inputs isn’t nearly as important as demonstrating outputs.” 9/ #NATOEngages

PM @JustinTrudeau says the focus on the 2% threshold misses @NATO allies’ ability to be ready and consistently step up when needed: “We are investing significantly in our military in very real and tangible ways so that we can continue to deploy around the world.” 10/ #NATOEngages

“You can try and be a bean counter, but the fundamental question is—is what you’re doing actually making a difference? Is it having a tangible deterrence or support or positive standing impact in a real way?” —Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau at #NATOEngages 11/

PM @JustinTrudeau: “Canadians are lucky to be where we are geographically in the world, and with that luck comes a responsibility to reach out and do what we can to make the world a better place.” #NATOEngages 12/

Canadian PM @JustinTrudeau: “Diversity is a source of strength, not a source of weakness. It’s about resilience…” 13/ #NATOEngages

More from PM @JustinTrudeau on diversity: “How do we get ordinary folks to understand that resilient diverse communities is a better outcome, that being there to support your neighbor makes you better and creates more opportunities for you as well?“ 14/ #NATOEngages

“The rise of populism, of aggressive nationalism, of polarization in our public discourse—in Canada and elsewhere—needs to be responded to with strong, confident, positive, rational messages about how we can solve these challenges together.” —@JustinTrudeau #NATOEngages 15/