December 29, 2011
- By Community Team
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in an interview Dec.20 that Canada will not try again in the coming years to get a seat on the United Nations Security Council. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)
Canada won't have a seat on the United Nations Security Council for at least another two years, according to Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
The Harper government will not campaign for one of the council's two-year, temporary placements in the coming years, according to the Canadian Press.
Canada lost to Portugal last year for the second of two non-veto-wielding seats on the UN's top body. It was the first time in the history of the UN that Canada failed to win a seat for which it made a bid.
The decision sparked criticism that the government's shifts in foreign policy under the Conservative government - including perceived tilts in policy toward Israel and unpopular positions on climate change - have diminished the country's support among the UN's 190-plus member countries.
Baird fired back in a Dec. 20 interview. "Maybe if we had shut up, and not talked about gay rights in Africa; maybe if we had shut up and been more quiet about our concerns about Sri Lanka; maybe if we hadn't been so vocally against the deplorable human rights record in Iran, maybe Iran might have voted for us," he said.
Baird said he is especially proud of his stand against Sri Lanka's government for not adequately investigating alleged atrocities by its military forces when they annihilated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009.
Critics say Baird and the Tories are playing what has been called "diaspora politics" by taking positions that may win them support in large blocs of newly-arrived Canadians. Tamils, for example, number in the hundreds of thousands in key Toronto-area ridings, the population's largest concentration outside Sri Lanka.
Do you think Canada should try to regain its seat on the UN Security Council? Are the foreign policy interests of Canadians at odds with those of the UN's member nations? Let us know in the comments section below.
