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

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.

"My friends, we have faith that what we do today will have an impact tomorrow because if we sow the seeds of a brighter future, that better day will arrive. That's what Canadian soldiers believed when they landed on the beaches of Europe 80 years ago. It's what they believed as they fought their way to the Netherlands."

Trudeau had planned to be in Europe for the 75th anniversary of the Dutch liberation but COVID-19 derailed those ceremonies. More than 7,500 Canadian men and women died while freeing the Netherlands from Nazi rule in late 1944 and early 1945, before Germany's surrender.

Trudeau will travel with Princess Margriet — a member of the Dutch royal family who was born in Ottawa while in exile during the Second World War — to lay a wreath at the Bergen op Zoom Canadian war cemetery in the country's south.

He said Canada and the Netherlands must summon the sort of strength they showed during that military conflict to address rising global temperatures.

"As climate change threatens our world, aren't we once again called to step up and defend a bright tomorrow for our children?" Trudeau said. "Climate change is the test of our generation."

Trudeau is scheduled to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte later today to discuss bilateral issues and the upcoming G20 meeting in Rome and COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, events where the push to tackle rising greenhouse gas emissions will feature prominently.

Trudeau and Rutte — who leads the centrist People's Party for Freedom and Democracy — are ideologically aligned and have been at the forefront of convincing climate laggards to do more to help turn back rising global temperatures.

While at the Binnenhof, Trudeau took questions from some of the Dutch MPs gathered for his speech. He was challenged by Jesse Klaver, the leader of the Green-Left Party, to explain why Canada's greenhouse gas emissions-reduction targets are less than what the European Union has pitched. If Canada is so serious about climate, why doesn't its level of ambition match its European allies, Klaver asked.