Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he raised concerns with his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, during a meeting in Toronto on Friday about reports that democracy and LGBTQ+ rights are under threat in Poland.
This visit is part of an unprecedented economic and military collaboration between the two countries.
“I certainly raised our concerns about some of the information coming out of Poland regarding LGBTQ rights, democracy, and we had a frank conversation, as it should,” Trudeau told reporters on Friday. .
His comments come amid growing concerns about free speech and free elections due to policies adopted by Mr Morawiecki’s government.
Criticism has been leveled at the Government of Canada for its silence on what is seen as Poland’s democratic backsliding.
“There is too much silence, and I think we are at the limit in Poland, according to Marcin Gabrys, political scientist at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. How can you have a shared commitment to democracy when there is a clear threat to the Polish electoral process? »
Professor Gabrys, who specializes in Canadian studies, said Canada and Poland have embarked on unprecedented collaboration since the ruling Law and Justice party, known locally as PiS, took power in 2015. However, the party has a strong gap with the values of the Trudeau government, according to him.
For example, a new law in Poland will create a commission to investigate allegations of Russian interference in the country. Academics and civil rights groups say the mandate is so vague that the panel of mostly government MPs will be used to attack opposition parties.
“This threatens, for sure, not only the electoral process, but also academic freedom, because the commission has such extensive powers to question academics,” according to Professor Gabrys’ analysis.
On Monday, the US State Department said it was concerned about a new law “that could be misused to interfere with free and fair elections in Poland”. However, Marcin Gabrys was surprised to find that on the same day, Mr. Trudeau announced the visit of Prime Minister Morawiecki by praising “a shared commitment to NATO and democracy”.
On Tuesday, a Polish MP from the far-right Confederation Party blocked University of Ottawa professor Jan Grabowski from giving a lecture in Warsaw that allegedly addressed Polish complicity in crimes during the Holocaust. This topic is a sore point for the PiS, which in 2018 banned claims that some Poles were complicit in Nazi war crimes.
Separately, two years ago, the Morawiecki government announced that it was limiting abortions to cases where a pregnancy resulted from a criminal act or posed a serious health risk. The party called the rights of LGBTQ communities an attack on family and children and turned a blind eye to municipalities and regions that declared themselves “LGBTQ-free zones.”
Marcin Gabrys believes that “for Canada, economic interests and security interests are often more important. And sometimes that means Ottawa refrained from saying what it needed to say. »
Canada and Poland have intensified their military collaboration since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. This topic was also high on the official agenda of Mr. Trudeau’s discussions on the visit of Mateusz Morawiecki.
Poland has been among the strongest European countries in urging military allies to provide equipment to Ukraine. This is explained, according to Marcin Gabrys, by the belief that a victorious Russia would feel emboldened to then target Poland and the three Baltic countries.
Professor Gabrys points out that it is possible that Poland will make a request for Canadians to train European soldiers in specialized equipment or in winter conditions, or to station more Canadian soldiers in the region. He expects Prime Minister Morawiecki to praise Canada for welcoming Ukrainians who fled to Poland last year and for funding projects to help integrate those who remain in Poland.
Trade between Canada and Poland is booming; it grew by 52% in the five years since the Canada-European Union (EU) trade agreement came into force, although Warsaw has not fully ratified the agreement.
Poland has recovered from the 2008 global recession, the European debt crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic faster than many other countries. It looks to Canada for expertise in carbon capture technology and the emerging nuclear field of small modular reactors.
According to Marcin Gabrys, his country seems open to Canadian hydrogen, uranium and liquefied natural gas and Poland is trying to become a hub for electric vehicle battery factories.
He also notes that Poland’s ambassador to Canada, Witold Dzielski, is close to the PiS leadership and has a better understanding of Canada than most ambassadors. This has led to an unprecedented series of visits, such as that of the Polish Minister of Health, Adam Niedzielski, who came to Canada in March to provide an update on medical support for Ukrainians and to examine possible collaboration in life sciences. the life.
Professor Gabrys sees a new chapter, a new energy in relations between Poland and Canada.