Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks about a Saskatchewan school shooting during a news conference in Davos, January 22, 2016.RUBEN SPRICH/Reuters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the tragic school shooting in La Loche, Saskatchewan is bringing the nation together.
"The tragedy we have been dealing with though the night is certainly something when you see Canadians pulling together," Mr. Trudeau told his Lebanese counterpart Tamman Salam during a bilateral meeting at the World Economic Forum on Saturday.
Mr. Salam said sadly more of these type of shootings are happening around the world to which Mr Trudeau responded:
"The question is always how we can respond to it, how can we prevent and how do we reach out," he said.
Mr. Trudeau said he was updated throughout the night on what had unfolded, and has spoken by phone with La Loche community leaders, Premier Brad Wall and local NDP MP Georgina Jolibois.
In a later readout from the bilateral session, the PMO said Mr. Trudeau "commended Lebanon for providing support to the Syrian refugees and thanked Prime Minister Salam for facilitating Canada's efforts to resettle refugees."
The Prime Minister, who returns to Canada Saturday after spending 4 days in Davos, also met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
His office released a readout of the meeting but it did not say if the two men discussed Mr. Trudeau's election pledge to pull out of the U.S.-led coalition air war against Islamic State. Nor did the readout say whether Trudeau shared information on what Canada's plans are to beef up its military training mission in Iraq.
"Prime Minister Trudeau reiterated Canada's strong commitment to NATO and its activities, including assurance measures that promote security and stability in Central and Eastern Europe," the readout said.
"Together, they also discussed preparations ahead of the NATO Summit that will take place in Warsaw, Poland in July 2016."
Before his departure from Zurich airport, Mr. Trudeau also met European Parliament President Martin Schulz to discuss ratification of the Canada-EU free trade pact, signed by the former Conservative government on August 2014.
The Europeans are pushing for compromises on a clause in the deal that allows companies to sue states to recover damages from government decisions.
Mr. Trudeau said he is confident the deal will be ratified in the fall. He has been working the phones to shore up the deal, speaking to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
Robert Fife