UN Security Council Seat
 

Not so popular then...

https://www.macleans.ca/opinion/the-...s-at-the-back/

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

Trudeau or Paul Wells? I read the article, and all it really seemed to say was, "Hey, you shouldn't have expected to win the seat." I didn't, did you? Trudeau could eat babies on tv and still be more appealing than Harper, but his foreign policy is too much the same. Our laws protecting human rights lose us some votes from nations where same sex marriage is outlawed, and our alliance with the US loses the votes of those allied with the Russian Federation and China, and our support of Israel takes care of all the Arab votes, but even if it was an appointed temporary seat we probably wouldn't get it because of our stance on some UN resolutions. In 2014 the UN warned Israel that IDF soldiers might be committing war crimes in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu said he considered that they were just defending Israel. Barack Obama said he found the reports very concerning. Trudeau Harper said we support our ally Israel unconditionally. After Trudeau's election the next year he followed the same course of supporting Israel in the 2nd seige of Gaza. Why would they give us a seat on that council if we have no respect for their findings? Israel won't ratify membership in the ICC so IDF soldiers cannot be investigated in the Hague for war crimes. The USA won't ratify membership in the ICC so American soldiers can't be investigated in the Hague for war crimes. Canada has a full membership in the ICC so if the need arises, Canadian soldiers can be investigated in the Hague for war crimes. If we're going to take the high road we should demand the same of our allies.
Edit: Whoops, the election was in 2015, so Harper was the one; post edited to reflect proper villans.

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

The Liberals now find that the boot is on the other foot, after they described the loss of the 2010 vote under the Conservatives, "an embarrassing failure". :rofl:

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

Slap it right into him. I would love to think we might see some humility, and perhaps some substance from him, but I won't hold my breath.

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

Honestly, who cares if we do or don't have a seat on the UN Security Council?

Feels more like a politicians vanity project than anything that will make any difference to Canadians. Not wanting to be insular here, but really?

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

You'll have to explain to me why Norway's or Ireland's human rights laws are so different from Canada's.

Trudeau expended lots of capital into this and lost. He should accept that his criticism of Harper when he failed is just as applicable in this case too.

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

It's a legit question. As you know (being a fellow Canadian) our history with the creation of the organisation, human rights declaration, peacekeeping etc has continued since inception, and that probably means more to the older generation. Because the main UNSC players have veto power the temporary seat is sort of ornamental, and Canada's commitment to UN projects continues regardless of whether we occupy it or not. Harper lost it for the first time in 60 years, Trudeau failed to win it back, but Canada still supports and works within the UN. I suspect that if and when the time comes when we regain that temporary seat, this may be a nicer country.

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

Just about spat out my morning coffee, laughing at that one.

Not a huge fan of either, but a grudging admirer of the best moments of both.

But you've certainly pinpointed the difference between them!!

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

+1

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

This. It is indeed an embarrassing failure for Trudeau. As Caretaker said, it was naive to have expected to win a seat, especially give the other candidates and the lack of a positive differentiator for Canada. Too close to Israel for the Arabs; too close to the US for China, not as hot on the peacekeeping missions these days as Ireland, not quite as progressive as Norway, not really much in the Canadian bid for people to vote for.

Plus, of course, both Ireland and Norway had been quietly campaigning for about the last 10 years, whereas Canada only announced its intention to seek a seat, what, 18 months ago? 2 years, maybe... not nearly enough time to curry favour with those whose influence must be won (I was going to say must be bought & paid for, but no, that's not the UN way, surely?!)

I don't anticipate that there'll be much blowback, though. Trudeau may have failed, here, but the Parliamentary opposition is woefully ineffective, even for a minority government, and I don't see that either Jagmeet Singh or Andrew Scheer (or whoever replaces him, although MacKay would IMO be more likely than that buffoon O'Toole to land a scoring punch) will be troubling the PMO to provide difficult answers.

Re: UN Security Council Seat
 

I can't disagree with any of that. It will be interesting to see what happens when Parliament returns to proper sittings.