UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon coming to Montreal
UN chief to visit Montreal's anti-radicalization centre as part of day-long visit on Friday, Feb. 12
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is coming to Montreal on an official visit on Friday, Feb. 12.
Ban will meet Premier Philippe Couillard and Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre.
He also plans to visit Montreal's Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization – the first such centre in North America.
For Coderre, it will be a third meeting with the UN secretary general.
The Montreal mayor met Ban at the 70th anniversary celebrations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in Chicago in December 2014 and again at the UN climate change talks in Paris last December.
Address at McGill
Ban will deliver an address at McGill University, and he'll meet the secretary general and president of ICAO, the UN's civil aviation agency, which has its headquarters in Montreal.
Ban is scheduled to spend Feb. 11 in Ottawa, where he and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are to discuss a number of topics, including climate change and the Syrian refugee crisis.
Trudeau and the UN secretary general will also meet young Canadians to discuss the importance of building diverse societies to promote peace and broad economic growth.
"If we are to build a more peaceful and prosperous world – a world where our diversity is seen as a strength – then a strong United Nations is essential," Trudeau said in a statement.
Ban will also meet Governor General David Johnston, tour an unspecified Ottawa high school and meet Syrian refugees who have recently arrived in Canada.