By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Ont. (AA) – The so-called Three Amigos Summit in Canada on Wednesday included a moment of silence for the victims of the Istanbul airport attack.
It was held just prior to U.S. President Barack Obama’s address to the Canadian parliament.
“We will destroy the terrorist group ISIL,” U.S. Obama said during a speech that was carried live on Canadian television stations. He also said it was important to work together with Muslim communities and countries as he urged “tolerance” and “respect for the dignity of all people.”
While not mentioning him by name, Obama was clearly taking aim at the intolerance and economic isolationism being espoused by Republican presumptive presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, among other controversial remarks.
The summit among the three leaders of North America – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, and Obama – tackled a wide range of issues, including climate change, trade, economics, human rights and North American border concerns and security.
The leaders pledged to produce 50 percent of electricity in their countries with clean energy by 2025, as well as to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas by as much as 45 percent by the same date.
Trade deals and immigration between countries are contentious, but the three leaders agreed it is wrong for countries to fear immigration, something that may have played a role in the recent vote by Britons to leave the European Union.
But for the most part they avoided trade issues. They did, however, mention the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and pledged to “continue to work diligently to complete our respective domestic processes.”
The three countries must ratify the 12-country TPP by 2018, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
The leaders also agreed to work together on cybersecurity and called for an industry summit in Washington to share expertise, the CBC reported.
Regarding continental security, Canada agreed to help train Mexican forces as peacekeepers.