Canadian Prime Minister-elect Justin Trudeau told US President Barack Obama on Tuesday that he would withdraw Canadian fighter jets from the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, but gave no timeframe for doing so.

“About an hour ago I spoke with President Obama,” Trudeau said at a news conference.

While Canada remains “a strong member of the coalition against ISIS”, Trudeau said he made clear to the US head of state “the commitments I have made regarding the end of the combat mission”.

The American president “understands the commitments” made during the election campaign in the sense of “ending the combat mission”, declared the Canadian Liberal leader.

During the conversation, Obama and Trudeau “agreed on the importance of deepening the strong relationship between the United States and Canada,” White House officials said.

“Committed to working together to reach an ambitious and lasting agreement on climate change in December in Paris.” Obama also proposed “a meeting in the near future”.

canada is back
At a news conference, Trudeau said Canada “is back” on the international stage after a decade without diplomatic engagement.

“I want to say to friends of this country around the world, many of whom feared that Canada had lost its generosity and constructive voice over the past decade. I have a simple message for you on behalf of 35 million Canadians: We’re back!”

Under the Conservative government of current Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Canada changed its tradition as a peace-loving country by committing to send a contingent of soldiers to Afghanistan, to participate in air strikes in Libya and, more recently, to act in Syria and Iraq as part of an international coalition.

At the same time, he put an end to Canada’s traditional development assistance programs, intended in particular for Africa and Latin America.

One of the main goals of the future Prime Minister is to lead Canada towards the recovery of its struggling economy, in a country that suffered a contraction in the first half of this year.

Canada is the fifth largest oil producer in the world and has suffered greatly from the sharp drop in commodity prices.

Justin Trudeau has promised to revive activity with an infrastructure and job creation program.

In terms of environmental policies, Canada was the first country to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol, in 2011.

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that Canada will play a key role in ensuring the success of the upcoming World Climate Change Conference (COP21). The event takes place in Paris from November 30 to December 10.

During the Harper administration, several cabinet members openly questioned the veracity of climate change and dozens of federal scientists were fired.

Trudeau assured that he will seek to form “a government that plans policies, examines the facts and listens to the scientists”.

The future Canadian Prime Minister is the son of Pierre Trudeau, considered the father of modern Canada. Pierre died in 2000 and served as Prime Minister twice: from 1968 to 1976 and from 1980 to 1984.