‘Canada does not retreat’ as crises shake multilateralism, Anand tells United Nations

OTTAWA — Canada will not step away from the challenges of an increasingly complex world, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand told the United Nations General Assembly on Monday.

“When multilateral institutions are under threat, Canada will not turn inward,” Anand said in a speech that melded humanitarian and security concerns with Ottawa’s quest to secure foreign investment.

“We will work toward a world where prosperity is shared, security is collective, and peace is lasting. This is Canada’s pledge in this era of geopolitical challenge and change.”

Anand also said Canada wants to be part of creating a lasting peace between Israel and Palestine.

“We support partners in the region who continue their efforts to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible, and to contribute to the political processes that must follow,” she said. “Canada will participate in these processes in every way that we can.”

Anand’s speech came just ahead of news that U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a plan to end the Israel-Hamas war and had presented the deal to Hamas.

In an interview with The Canadian Press following her speech, Anand said Canada could try selling a plan for peace to its peers.

“I have had several conversations with (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio over the past week, about the way in which Canada can play a role in contributing to the peace process,” she said.

“Secretary Rubio specifically asked me to help lead in bringing more and more countries on side.”

Anand’s comments come a week after Prime Minister Mark Carney acknowledged that some are looking to Canada to be part of a force to help secure Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war ends.

“There are many proposals … from a variety of Arab states, a combination of Arab states and European states, to which Canada would be party if they were to come to pass, for multinational forces to be deployed in Palestine, to enforce a peace,” Carney said on Sept. 22.

Anand spoke at the UN on behalf of Canada instead of Carney, who was originally scheduled to take to the green marble podium a few days earlier. Carney was listed in the July drafted schedule, but was later removed.

Federal officials told reporters this month that this was because Carney had events at New York scheduled at the start of the annual high-level week, and it would have required him to leave then return to New York to give Canada’s speech.

In her speech, Anand said Ottawa has three priories in its foreign policy, with the first being strengthening defence through Norad and NATO.

The second priority is economic resilience, with diversified supply chains and making Canada “an attractive destination for international capital.”

She said the trade deals Canada has signed in recent years — both in multi-country blocs and directly with countries like Indonesia — are meant to shore up a rules-based global trading system that is under attack.

Anand did not name Washington or Beijing as having a role in eroding these systems.

“These are not just trade agreements. These are bridges of resilience, engines of prosperity, and commitments to the rules-based system that benefits us all through multilateralism,” she said.

The third priority involves balancing the other priorities with core values involving human rights, gender equality, environmental protection and Indigenous rights, particularly in the Arctic.

“We face a changed reality (of) rising unilateralism and protectionism, weakened multilateral institutions and the rule of law — the very bedrock of the postwar order,” she said.

“In the face of these stark realities, retreat is not an option. Canada will not turn inward.”

Anand defended international agreements, including the 1951 Refugee Convention that Washington wants to reform to have much more restrictive rules around who can claim asylum.

She also mentioned the Ottawa Treaty, which banned landmines in most countries but which multiple European countries bordering Russia are now seeking to exit, over concerns Moscow will seek more territory.

Her speech comes at a time when the UN faces serious cutbacks, largely due to the U.S. drawing down its financial support, just as developing countries call for more sway over agencies dominated by western powers.

“Canada will work to reform and strengthen multilateral institutions such as the United Nations so that they are more resilient and more effective in meeting the challenges of today and tomorrow,” Anand said.

She said this requires showing results to citizens that international institutions can deliver.

In the post-speech interview, Anand said her comments about the Refugee Convention were drafted before the U.S. publicly started pushing to overhaul global asylum rules.

“We are not retreating from multilateralism. Far from it, we are doubling down,” she said.

“Our priority is to ensure that we’re working with coalitions of countries, countries where we can contribute to peace, to the resolution of conflict, to the importance of our core values, or our defence and security, or our economic resilience,” she said, touching on the three themes of her speech.

She said that includes working with Rubio on shared concerns, such as ending Haiti’s gang crisis, ensuring lasting peace in Ukraine and “ensuring that Hamas has no role in the future, governance of Palestine.”

Anand also said in her speech that Canada remains resolute in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s full-scale invasion, saying it speaks to the core ideas behind the UN Charter.

“Ukraine is not backing down, nor will its friends, including Canada,” she said.

“We are not only defending a nation, we are defending the fundamental principles, of sovereignty, of dignity and of peace,” she added, in French.

Anand also paid tribute at the podium to outgoing UN ambassador Bob Rae “who has provided a lifetime of dedicated service to our country (and) helped to build these multilateral institutions,” prompting an applause from the chamber.

Rae will step down in mid-November after five years in the role. He is being replaced by former justice minister David Lametti, who most recently served as Carney’s principal secretary.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2025.

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press