Liberals to launch Indo-Pacific strategy this year, shaped by looming China assembly
![Melanie Joly Minister for Foreign Affairs of Canada Melanie Joly addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Monday, Sept. 26, 2022, at the U.N. headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)](/content/dam/ctvnews/en/images/2022/9/26/melanie-joly-1-6085174-1664228874508.jpg)
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly says she will release Canada's long-delayed Indo-Pacific strategy this year.
She says the strategy will be shaped by a major meeting the Chinese government is holding in two weeks.
The strategy will include co-operation on climate change, she said in an interview with the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington, D.C.
Joly also revealed she will visit Peru next week for the Organization of American States summit.
In mid-October, she will head to Japan and South Korea.
Business leaders and former diplomats have been pushing the Trudeau government for months to outline Canada's friends, foes and priorities in the Indo-Pacific region.
"I'll be coming up with our Indo-Pacific and China policy before the end of the year," Joly said in a Friday afternoon interview with the think tank.
"We haven't defined ourselves as an Indo-Pacific country, since the beginning of our history. We've always invested a lot in the transatlantic relationship," she said.
"We need to turn west."
Joly said the strategy will be shaped in part by the Communist Party of China's national Congress, a major, weeklong meeting that occurs every five years and will start Oct. 16.
President Xi Jinping is expected to outline the country's economic focus, and whether a strict COVID-19 policy that has disrupted global supply chains will remain in place.
It's because of those strict rules that Montreal is hosting a major UN summit on biodiversity in December, despite China's role as its chair.
Joly said she is confident the U.S. will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions but needs more assurance from China, which is the world's other major polluter.
"We will be leading the way and that's why it's important to bring China along," she said.
"China needs to be at the table. That's the only way we'll be able to achieve our objectives. This is existential for us."
Meanwhile, Joly said her looming visit to Peru will include discussions on how countries can send more fertilizer to Latin America to help offset the knock-on impact of sanctions on Russia.
She blamed Russia for anti-American disinformation in the region, but said governments need to address the grievances that allow disinformation to thrive.
"We have to show up and make sure we offer solutions for inflation, and for the economic challenges that Canadians are also going through," she said.
"We need to make sure that government works, because following the pandemic, there are definitely frustrations."
IN DEPTH
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6922467.1718138898!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6850735.1713368648!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6975797.1721835642!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Bank of Canada cuts interest rate, signals more to come if inflation keeps dropping
The Bank of Canada has decreased its policy interest rate for the second consecutive time and signalled more cuts are coming if inflation continues to ease.
Wildfire north of Calgary prompts evacuation alert, highway closures
A wildfire is prompting evacuations and highway closures north of Calgary.
2 Canadians being 'sent home immediately,' removed from Olympic team after drone incident
An analyst and an assistant coach with Canada Soccer are being removed from the Canadian Olympic Team and 'sent home immediately,' according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Russian man is among those arrested in plots targeting Paris Olympics
French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the 2024 Olympics, including arresting a Russian man in one of them, officials said Wednesday, just days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Paris.
EXCLUSIVE Canadian company at the centre of alleged international pyramid scheme: authorities
Foreign governments say hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka lost savings to a company headquartered in Canada. This investigation from the IJF and CTV News shines a new light on how Canadian shell companies and registries were used to pull off the scheme.
Wildfire evacuees ordered to leave Jasper find relief after long journey to safety
Some wildfire evacuees who were trapped in traffic for hours while leaving Jasper National Park say they are feeling relieved to have found safety.
Pennsylvania state police commissioner reveals stunning details about Trump shooting
A local law enforcement commissioner revealed during a House Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday stunning new details about the security failures that led to the near assassination of Donald Trump, raising more questions for the embattled U.S. Secret Service.
Host city revealed for 2034 Winter Olympic Games
Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympic Games on Wednesday following a vote of the International Olympic Committee.
Plane crashes just after takeoff from Nepal's capital, killing 18 people. Pilot is lone survivor
A plane crashed Wednesday just after taking off from Nepal’s capital, killing 18 people and injuring a pilot who was the lone survivor.
Local Spotlight
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6974237.1721746558!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
Ottawa Humane Society reunites Montreal family with cat missing for 8 years
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
Waterloo, Ont. woman out thousands after car totalled in hit-and-run
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
'It looks scary, but they're harmless': Bees removed from Winnipeg street light
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
'Powerful symbol of the progress we have made': Land being returned to Manitoba Métis Federation
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Cape Breton moose hunting suspended for 3 years due to 'significant' drop in population
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.
Social media prank could lead to charges after teens allegedly damage homes
A well-known childhood prank known as 'nicky nicky nine doors,' or 'ding dong ditch,' has escalated into a more serious game that could lead to charges for some Surrey, B.C. teens.
Benefit concert to be held for N.B. teen badly injured in 'freak accident'
It's been more than a month since their good friend was seriously hurt in an accident and two teens from Riverview, N.B., are still having a hard time dealing with it.
Here's what happens to rejected Halifax bridge coins
Halifax bridges have collected thousands of coins from around the world.
Video shows B.C. grizzly basking in clawfoot tub
A donated clawfoot bathtub has become the preferred lounging spot for a pair of B.C. grizzly bears, who have been taking turns relaxing and reclining in it – with minimal sibling squabbling – for the past year.