Trudeau employs Bolloré to end spat with the Philippines
Justin Trudeau has moved to end a long simmering diplomatic spat with the Philippines.
Canada’s environment minister, Catherine McKenna, said yesterday that Canadian trash that has been rotting in the Philippines for nearly six years will be back on Canadian soil before the end of June.
Ottawa has awarded a contract to Bolloré Logistics Canada to return 69 containers filled with household waste and electronic garbage.
The trash was sent to the Philippines by a private Canadian company in 2013 and 2014 and was improperly labelled as plastics for recycling. The shipment has caused a rift between Manila and Ottawa with Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte even recalling his ambassador and consul generals from Canada over the issue.
Just prior to the Bollore contract news, Duterte yesterday said he had ordered his government to hire a private shipping company to send the containers back to Canada and leave them within its territorial waters if it refuses to accept the trash, spurring Trudeau into action.