Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a media availability at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald in Edmonton, Alta., on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Codie McLachlan
October 21, 2017 - 2:30 PM
EDMONTON - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is joining widespread condemnation of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's appointment as a good will ambassador for the World Health Organization.
Trudeau told reporters in Edmonton on Saturday when he first heard of the appointment he thought it was a "bad April Fool's joke."
Trudeau says the appointment is unacceptable and Canadian officials are making Canada's dismay known to the international community.
Mugabe has been long criticized for human rights violations.
He has also come under fire for going overseas for medical treatment, costing the impoverished African nation millions of dollars.
Trudeau joins the United States and a host of other countries, health and human rights leaders in condemning the appointment.
WHO director-general Tedros Ghebreyesus tweeted on Saturday that he is rethinking the decision.
The 93-year-old Mugabe has led Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017