Trudeau to mark centenary of First World War armistice at Vimy Ridge, Paris

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will commemoratethe 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the First World War at events in France this weekendthefirst leg of a lengthy globe-circling journey that includes two major Asia-Pacific summits next week.

The prime minister is expected toarrive early Saturday morning in northern France, heading immediately to the Canadian National Vimy Memorialnear the city ofArras.

Veterans Affairs Minister Seamus O'Reganwill join Trudeau and representatives of veterans organizations for a ceremony honouring Canada's war dead.

More than 650,000 Canadians served in the First World War between 1914-18, a significant contribution from a country with a population of only about8 million at the time. Of those Canadians who fought, roughly one in ten, or 66,000, died.

Following the battlefield commemoration Saturday morning, Trudeau will continue on to Paris, where French President Emmanuel Macron ishosting a group ofworld leaders for a private dinner at the Muse d'Orsay.

On Sunday morning, exactly 100 years after the armistice that ended the war, Paris is hosting an international ceremony at theArc de Triompheon the Champs-Elyses.

More than 60 heads of state and other foreign dignitaries are expected to attend, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The media will be monitoring interactions between Trump and Putin at the event, although American officials have said the two leaders have no plans for an official bilateral meeting during their time in Paris.

PM toutingpress freedom at forum

Following the armisticecommemorations, Macron is expected to lead an anticipated 120 foreign dignitaries representing countries that fought in the war to theinaugural session of the Paris Peace Forum.

Organizers intend the forum to be an"annual meeting for projects, ideas and initiatives which effectively contribute to better international cooperation on key global issues, fairer and more equitable globalization and a more effective and legitimate multilateral system."

Macron, Merkel and UN Secretary GeneralAntonio Guterreswill speak to kick off the event. Later, Trudeau will be among other leaders headliningforum eventsSunday afternoon.

Trudeau will speakatan event organized by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), voicinghis government's support for its recent international declaration on information and democracy, a six-page document that sets out "democratic guarantees for the freedom, independence, pluralism and reliability of information at a time when the public space has been globalized, digitalized and destabilized."

During an event hosted by CBC's The National Thursday evening, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said that press freedom was something that she and Trudeau had been reflecting on recently.

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Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland discussed the recent NAFTA negotiations with The National's Rosemary Barton, Adrienne Arsenault, Keith Boag and two top Washington Post journalists

"It is important for political leaders, and in particular political leaders of democracies, to speak out for journalists, and for your right ...to do your job ... to ask questions," she told CBC and Washington Post journalists featured at the event.

Freeland's comments came after a confrontation between Trump and CNN reporter Jim Acosta at a White House press conference following the U.S. midterm elections earlier this week: the president refused to answer questions he did not like and repeated his claim that "fake news" outlets are "the enemy of the people."

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The White House suspended CNN reporter Jim Acosta's press pass after accusing him of "placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern" during an exchange with Trump.

Acosta's press credentials were revoked later that day, deepeningthe acrimony between Trump's White House and the Washington press corps.

"I think a lot of us have been thinking a lot about what makes democracies democracies," Freelandtold the Toronto audience at the CBCevent. "It's about a set of institutions and a set of behaviours that hold those elected leaders to account and keep them in check.

"A free press is absolutely essential to a healthy and functioning democracy."

ASEAN, APECsummits follow

On Monday morning, Trudeau will join Macron at another of the forum's side events: theGovTech Summit, a "gathering of European leaders and innovators" focused on using new technologies to improve public services.

The two leaders also are expected to meet privately on the sidelines of this event.

After his time in Paris, Trudeau is scheduledto attend two major economic summits next week.

First, he'll travel to Singapore, where the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is holding its annual summit.Canada is not a member of ASEAN but participates in some of its activities as a "dialogue partner."

Trudeau will be part of a Canada-China dialogue event in Singapore with Chinese PremierLi Keqiang.

The following weekend, the 21 countries in theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum are holding their annual leaders meeting in Papua New Guinea.