The invitation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the East Asia Summit, a key forum for regional and global security discussions, is a sign Canada's attempts to get more involved in the region have paid off, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Sunday.
Canada has been invited to the summit for the first time as an observer, and Trudeau will be privy to high-level talks, alongside the likes of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on the tenuous security situation in North Korea.
"Our government is acting on our pledge that 'Canada is back,' and the world is recognizing that," Freeland told reporters.
Canada will formally ask to join the summit — held every fall and coincides with the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' meeting — as a permanent member, remarkable as membership has only been expanded a handful of times since its creation. In 2011, the last year there were additions, the U.S. and Russia were invited to join. The summit's 18 members must reach a consensus on whether to lift a current membership moratorium and allow Canada to join.
