Trudeau government expected to increase funding to the WHO to make up for the US

The EU and WHO expect Canada to play a key role in providing more financial relief to the global health organization, according to CP24, to make up for monies lost by the US defunding.

To that end, a fundraising conference for the World Health Organization has been planned by the European Union to help raise money after the United States has defunded the organization. The European Union's ambassador to Canada, Brice De Schietere, said that the fundraising event had already been planned prior to President Trump's decision to withdraw WHO's funding. De Schietere said that no one wants the upcoming event to be marred by politics and that the effort is strictly rooted in raising funds for vaccine research.

Prime Minister Trudeau said that Canada will, “always be there to support science and the work that is done internationally on keeping our planet and our citizens safe.”

The Canada-EU trade deal will likely play a significant part in helping the Canada's economic recovery after the pandemic is over, in addition to keeping supply chains of essential medical equipment open, said De Schietere.

The European Union's closest ally at the moment is Canada, according to De Schietere, who sited their transatlantic alliance as what will be responsible for strengthening multilateral trade to combat the pandemic.

De Schietere did not mention Trump directly at his press conference. Trump has been critical of the WHO due to its acquiescence to Chinese Communist Party coronavirus talking points, and of the G7, NATO nations for relying on US funding without contributing what he views as their fair share, as well as the World Trade Organization.

Trudeau was asked at a press conference on Saturday if he had any conditions for the funding they would pledge to the WHO in light of US concerns over the organization's lack of transparency.

“I think, like many countries, there are questions around how to ensure that we learn from this situation and we get better at dealing with these things with a level of transparency and rigor that I think citizens expect,” said Trudeau, without answering the question directly.

Organizations such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, the Wellcome Trust, the World Bank, Unitaid —a Swiss-based non-profit health organization—and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance are all expected to be in attendance at the pledging conference.

“It is precisely in times like these that we need to have more solidarity. Global co-operation is more critical than ever - and the responses we have had, notably from Canada, have always been very positive in this direction,” said De Schietere.

“At the present time, we are not in that state of mind of making any kind of finger-pointing or politicization of the issue. We have regretted, and this has been expressed on several occasions by EU leaders, the decision coming from the United States to suspend the funding to the WHO,” added De Schietere.

“For us, what's important is to have global co-operation and solidarity and we need the multilateral institutions to do it. It is the only effective and viable option we can take to win this battle.”

Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, said that she hopes world leaders would come together to raise approximately $11.4 billion (CAD equivalent).

Canada will continue to support its international partners, such as the WHO, according to Karina Gould, International Development Minister, “Global health is the largest area of investment for Canada's aid program. We are one of the recognized leaders in this space,” she said. “Canada is part of the global response to tackle COVID 19.”

It is not yet known if Trudeau will pledge additional funding to help replace the money lost by the US' withdrawal.