Getty Biden: The world needs Canada 'very, very badly' right now

Vice President Joe Biden said on Thursday night that the world needs Canada “very, very badly” and that the world will look to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to several media outlets.

“The world is going to spend a lot of time looking to you Mr. Prime Minister. Viva la Canada because we need you very, very badly,” Biden said during a Canadian state dinner held in his honor.


Biden hailed Trudeau and German Chancellor Angela Merkel as genuine leaders in a time when they are in short supply. He also said that there are more challenges to the international liberal order now than there have ever been since the Second World War.

The vice president reflected that he’s never seen self-doubt so widespread among European leaders. “There are periods when the number of genuine leaders on a continent are in short supply and when they are in heavy supply,” Biden said. “We’re going to get through this period because we are Americans and Canadians.”

Biden and Trudeau will meet again Friday, along with Canada’s 10 premiers, to discuss climate change, an issue both men consider a serious threat.

U.S. lawmakers spent two hours paying tribute to Biden on Wednesday, during a ceremony held in his honor. Trudeau also reciprocated the vice president’s praise.

Trudeau reportedly got emotional when Biden spoke of his father, late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. “You’re a successful father when your children turn out better than you,” Biden said.

Biden urged Trudeau, and leaders like Merkel, to step up to the world stage and lead in facing challenges. "The progress is going to be made but it's going to take men like you Mr. Prime Minister, who understand it has to fit within the context of a liberal economic order, a liberal international order, where there's basic rules of the road,” he said.

President Barack Obama hosted the Canadian prime minister for a state dinner in March. The president also visited Canada in June and gave a speech at Parliament.