Canada’s position on United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reform, reaffirmed in internal government documents recently obtained by Global News, could harm the country’s chances of winning a seat on that council, according to one of the country’s top analysts of UN politics.
Since 2005, Canada has been part of a 12-nation group called Uniting for Consensus (UfC), which has advocated for increasing the number of UNSC members from 15 to 25. But Canada and the other UfC caucus countries oppose adding any new veto-holding permanent members.
“By having this position and being a leader in Uniting for Consensus, we’re asking for trouble from India, Brazil and potentially also from Germany, Japan and Africa,” said Adam Chapnick, professor of defence studies at Royal Military College and author of two books about Canada and the United Nations, including 2019’s Canada on the United Nations Security Council: A Small Power on a Large Stage.
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Brazil and India have long wanted to join the so-called P-5 at the UNSC — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China and Russia — each of which has a veto and permanent membership status in the world’s most powerful and exclusive club. Many African countries have also argued that one veto-holding position on the UNSC should be reserved for a representative from their continent.
But Canada has long believed that veto power at the UNSC — which has been used 248 times since 1945 — has “undermined the ability of the UNSC to fulfill its mandate,” then-foreign affairs deputy minister Ian Shugart wrote in a 2018 memo prepared for then-foreign affairs minister Chrystia Freeland. Freeland was succeeded by François-Philippe Champagne after last year’s election.
Shugart, who is now the clerk of the Privy Council, wrote that Canada believes the ability of one of the P-5 to block UNSC action has been the reason “the UNSC is often seen as failing to effectively respond to pressing international crises. Recent examples include the inadequate response to the conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar and Ukraine.”
Shugart’s assessment was made in a nine-page memo titled “United Nations Security Council Reform.” A heavily redacted version of that memo, marked “Secret — Canadian Eyes Only,” was recently released to Global News as a result of an access-to-information request that took 10 months to process.
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Chapnick says Canada’s opposition to new veto-holding members on the UNSC almost certainly was a contributing factor to Canada’s failure to win a UNSC seat in 2010, the last time the country contested a seat.
“[When] we decided to continue to advocate against [that], those who really want permanent seats, particularly Brazil and India, were extremely upset about that, and they held it against us in the 2010 election. It’s also possible that some of the Africans held it against us, too,” said Chapnick, who is also the deputy director of education at Canadian Forces College in Toronto.
“Countries that directly oppose them have trouble negotiating with them on just about anything, including trade, where we’ve had a lot of trouble trying to make progress with India.”
In addition to Canada, the UfC caucus that opposes new veto-holding UNSC members includes Italy, Colombia, Pakistan, Argentina, Costa Rica, Malta, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, San Marino, Spain and Turkey.
After losing the 2010 bid for a UNSC seat, the Harper government came under heavy criticism by the opposition, including the Liberals who, in the 2015 election, vowed to win a seat in this year’s vote.
In addition to the five permanent seats on the UNSC, there are 10 non-permanent seats allocated on a regional basis. Canada is part of an allocation group that includes western European countries, and in the vote that will happen in about six months to fill a vacant seat, Canada is facing stiff competition from Ireland and Norway.
“Despite conventional wisdom in Ottawa, we are not out of the race,” said Colin Robertson, a former diplomat and vice-president of the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, on Thursday. “I’d rank Norway in the lead, but we are competitive with Ireland.”
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But Champagne, whose ministerial mandate letter specifically directs him to secure a UNSC seat, could make his job easier by modifying Canada’s position on UNSC reform, most easily by quitting the UfC caucus.
“You can continue to say: ‘We don’t think there should be additional vetoes’ without yelling it from from the rooftops. That’s where I think we should be,” Chapnick said. “I don’t think we need to take a leadership role on a reform debate that I don’t think is going anywhere.”
Indeed, Shugart, in his 2018 memo to Freeland, as much as admitted that reform of the UNSC was unlikely. Simply negotiating the text of a resolution calling for reform “could be expected to last many years,” Shugart wrote.
Champagne was not available for an interview on Thursday, and his department was unable to respond to questions about Canada’s position.
“We don’t need to be front and centre on the stage telling the Brazilians and the Indians and the Africans something that they really don’t want to hear,” Chapnick said. “I don’t see any purpose to that when I don’t think the reform effort is really going anywhere anyway.”
Until losing its bid for a seat on the UNSC in 2010, Canada had held a UNSC seat about once every decade since the organization was created in 1945. Canada has held a Security Council seat for a total of 12 years, most recently from 1999 to 2000.
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Certain kinds of decisions taken by the UNSC create binding obligations in international law on member countries. That, Shugart noted in 2008, makes the UNSC “unique among intergovernmental/multilateral security organizations” and among the reasons Canada considers it important for its own interests to occasionally hold a seat on that body.
“Canada’s interests in the UNSC and its reform lie in our desire to strengthen the rules-based international order and maintain international peace and security for the benefit of Canadians,” he wrote.
Montreal Alouettes wide receiver Tyson Philpot has announced he will be out for the rest of the CFL season.
The Delta, B.C., native posted the news on his Instagram page Thursday.
“To Be Continued. Shoutout my team, the fans of the CFL and the whole city of Montreal! I can’t wait to be back healthy and write this next chapter in 2025,” the statement read.
Philpot, 24, injured his foot in a 33-23 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Aug. 10 and was placed on the six-game injured list the next week.
The six-foot-one, 195-pound receiver had 58 receptions, 779 yards and five touchdowns in nine games for the league-leading Alouettes in his third season.
Philpot scored the game-winning touchdown in Montreal’s Grey Cup win last season to punctuate a six-reception, 63-yard performance.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.
Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.
After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.
“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”
Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.
“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”
Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.
Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.
Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.
Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.
Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.
Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.
Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.
That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.
“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”
Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.
Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open.
The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Stakusic faced a 0-4 deficit in the third and final set before marching back into the match.
The 19-year-old won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where Stakusic took complete control to win the match.
Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.
However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
