Without a hint of self awareness Trudeau speaks to the world of the unacceptable rise of authoritarianism and slippage of democracy.
So when Canadians and friends from around the world stand for Ukraine, we are standing for Ukraine. But we are also standing for ourselves for these values that have been undermined. Over the past years with the rise of authoritarianism, with attacks on the social cohesion because of excessive populism and over nationalism, we have an opportunity now as a world to stand for what is right, a growing distrust of governments and facts, a weakening of democratic institutions. Unfortunately, we’re seeing a rise in cynical populists who are trying to exploit these anxieties. They pretend to have easy solutions that play on people’s fears. Even in Canada, that forceful civic engagement is what makes us strong. And that democracy at its best, will always be stronger than authoritarianism.
But if we’re going to be honest, and we need to be honest in this place, we haven’t always been at our best. These past years, we’ve come to a moment that quite frankly, we’ve seen coming over the past years. And we’ve talked about it in in the news, not just about Ukraine, but about democracies around the world that we see a bit of a slippage in our democracies.
Countries turning towards slightly more authoritarian leaders, countries allowing increasing misinformation and disinformation to be shared on social media, turning people against the values and the principles of democracies that are so strong. And that slippage over the years, unfortunately, embolden Putin and made him think that he could get away with this, that he could get away with it in Ukraine. Canada, and our allies will defend democracy. We are taking these actions today to stand against authoritarianism. President Zelensky in the Ukrainian people who are demonstrating so much courage and resilience, they’re not only defending their country, they’re defending the democratic values that are so important to all of us. They’re standing up to authoritarianism. and Canada and Germany, stand with them. Because at its best, democracy is always stronger than authoritarianism. But if we’re going to be honest with each other, democracy hasn’t exactly been at its best these past few years.