By Canadian Press

Trudeau bats away WHO questions, says Canada focused on fighting COVID-19

Apr 15, 2020 | 1:09 PM

WASHINGTON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refused Wednesday to join the escalating global debate about the World Health Organization’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, insisting Canada remains focused on working with experts around the world to combat the pandemic.

Trudeau repeatedly batted back questions about Donald Trump’s plan to halt funding to the UN agency and review what the U.S. president says was a failure to properly assess the threat posed by the novel coronavirus back in January.

“My priority and the priority of our government right now is to do everything we can to protect Canadians and ensure the health and safety of people right across the country,” the prime minister said during his daily briefing outside his Rideau Cottage residence.

 “That means working with experts here in Canada and around the world, and we will continue to do that important work for Canadians.”

In the U.S., which has been hit hardest by COVID-19 and is the WHO’s single largest financial supporter, Trump is accusing the UN agency of botching its initial response to the outbreak and covering up the extent of the threat as it emerged from China.  

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Pending the results of a review, Trump says, the U.S. will halt funding for the WHO, which depends on the country for nearly a quarter of its annual global assessments, along with hundreds of millions more in voluntary contributions that fluctuate from year to year. Canada’s annual support, by contrast, is in the “tens of millions,” Trudeau said.  

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, last week urged the world to resist the temptation to politicize the pandemic. He defended his organization’s work at a news conference Wednesday in Geneva.

 “When we are divided, the virus exploits the cracks between us,” Tedros said, expressing “regret” at Trump’s decision.

“No doubt, areas for improvement will be identified and there will be lessons for all of us to learn. But for now, our focus — my focus — is on stopping this virus and saving lives.”

Tedros also thanked those countries that have expressed support for the organization and promised to maintain their financial commitments. “Solidarity,” he said, “is the rule of the game in defeating COVID-19.”

The debate about the World Health Organization has not, however, been confined to international soil.

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer has raised red flags about the organization’s handling of the crisis, the accuracy of its data and the extent of its ties to China, where the outbreak originated in December. And he assailed the decision to drop Bruce Aylward, a Canadian epidemiologist who headed a WHO mission in China earlier this year, from the witness list for Tuesday’s House of Commons health committee meeting.

Scheer said the government is basing its decisions on fighting the COVID-19 outbreak on information from the WHO, so it needs to hear how those decisions are being made.

Trudeau acknowledged those concerns — but said now is not the time to deal with them.

“In the coming months and years, there will be many reflections on various institutions and systems both domestically and internationally, on how we can improve our response, how we can learn from things we could have done better in this process,” he said. 

“These are things that will come in the coming times. Right now, our focus needs to be on doing the best we can right now to protect Canadians.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2020.

— Follow James McCarten on Twitter @CdnPressStyle

James McCarten, The Canadian Press