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PM Justin Trudeau and President Yoweri Museveni speak about Canada-Uganda bilateral relations. #UNGA pic.twitter.com/OtTFzVOMiD — CanadianPM (@CanadianPM) September 21, 2017

Briefing material and talking points prepared for the meeting, obtained by the National Post through the Access to Information Act, contains scant mention of the dire situation faced by LGBTQ minorities in Uganda.

Asked directly in April whether Trudeau brought up LGBTQ rights, a spokesperson with the prime minister’s office refused to answer, instead providing just the one-sentence read-out of the meeting. When pressed again this week, the spokesperson insisted the talking points prepared for the meeting were not exhaustive, and highlighted public speeches given by Trudeau regarding LGBTQ rights, insisting he “never shies away” from raising the issue, but again refused to comment on what was discussed at the meeting.

Trudeau’s apparent silence in the meeting represents a significant departure from the approach taken by his predecessor, Stephen Harper.

In 2014, Museveni signed legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by life imprisonment despite stern warnings from the West. An earlier version of the bill had included the possibility of capital punishment. Under Harper, Canada was one of the most vocal critics of the legislation, with then-foreign affairs minister John Baird urging Uganda to back down on its plans and echoing a warning from U.S. President Barack Obama that aid to the east African country would be contingent on them doing so. Ottawa even funded local LGBTQ activism and legal training in Uganda to fight the legislation.