Joly targets polarization in UN speech, urges liberals to reclaim the word ‘freedom’

OTTAWA — Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is asking members of the United Nations to counter growing political polarization.

Joly is addressing the UN General Assembly on behalf of Canada after the annual gathering of leaders and ministers in New York.

Joly says countries need to work together to uphold rules on sovereignty and human rights, or the world will slip into more crises like those in Haiti and Afghanistan.

She also says liberal democracies need to reclaim the word “freedom,” which she says is being used to spread hate speech and justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.