A Palestinian girl walks past the rubble of houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the war, in Khan Younis on Saturday.HASEEB ALWAZEER/Reuters
Canada will not be paying a reported US$1-billion membership fee to participate in Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said Tuesday in comments that suggest Ottawa is still weighing whether to join.
Mr. Champagne, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, would not say whether the fact that Mr. Trump had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to join the “Board of Peace” would affect Canada’s position.
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday said he had agreed in principle to accept a Trump invitation to sit on the board, but Mr. Champagne told reporters a final decision on Canada’s membership has yet to be made.
“As you know, we’re still early days in what’s going to be the terms of reference of that board, how it’s going to operate,” the finance minister said.
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“The Prime Minister will have to make the final decision when all the facts are known and all the details have been hammered out,” he said.
The “Board of Peace,” first introduced alongside the Trump-brokered peace plan for Gaza, was authorized by the United Nations Security Council through 2027, with a mandate solely focused on the Gaza conflict.
But according to a copy of an invitation letter and draft charter for the board, the organization would be chaired for life by Mr. Trump and would start by addressing the Gaza conflict and then be expanded to deal with other conflicts.
The board’s focus on resolving conflicts globally has raised concerns that it could undermine the UN.
With reports from Reuters