This column is an opinion by John Kirk, a professor of Latin American studies at Dalhousie University and author or co-editor of 18 books on Latin America, and Stephen Kimber, a professor of journalism at the University of King’s College and author of nine books, including the award-winning What Lies Across the Water: The Real Story of the Cuban Five. For more information about CBC’s Opinion section, please see the FAQ.
“Many of you have worried Canada has lost its compassionate and constructive voice in the world,” Justin Trudeau told a boisterous, celebratory rally in the immediate aftermath of his 2015 federal election victory. “Well, I have a simple message for you … we’re back.”
But five years on, Canada is not back.
Why not? Because in foreign policy — as in much else with this Liberal government — the focus has been on style rather than substance.
Consider Canada’s current bid for a UN Security Council seat, which goes to a vote later this month.
Why does Canada want the seat? Mostly, it seems, to show the world Justin Trudeau can do what Stephen Harper could not. In 2010, Harper tried to win a Security Council seat and his failure to do so was considered a major political embarrassment for the Tories.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explains what Canada can do with a seat on the United Nations Security Council. 0:48
But Trudeau’s own campaign for one of the Security Council’s 10 rotating, elected seats — which he launched in February 2016 with a promise that Canada was back in the UN peacekeeping business — has floundered from the beginning.
In February of this year, Trudeau made his first visit to Africa. While Masai Ujiri, the high-profile Nigerian-born president of the Toronto Raptors, played wingman, Trudeau courted some of the world’s most controversial leaders during the annual meeting of the African Union.
Africa claims 54 votes in the UN, and Canada will need at least 129 to win one of the two council seats up for grabs when the ballots are counted.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced questions about addressing human rights issues with his international counterparts during a visit to Senegal. 1:50
Which may also explain our leadership of the 14-nation Lima Group in its scheme to bring about regime change in Venezuela. Many of the nations in that group are led by extremely undemocratic Latin American rulers whose governments show little respect for human rights. But they all have votes at the UN.
While we flatter and lobby and make quiet promises of development assistance in exchange for votes, our much smaller competitors for the seat — Ireland (population 4.9 million) and Norway (5.4 million) — boast far better credentials for the two-year position.
Ireland has long been a voice for island nations and small states, emphasizing its decades-long support for multilateralism, and for Palestinian statehood and human rights. It is the only country among the candidates to have had a continuous presence on UN peace operations since 1958.
In April of this year there were 474 Irish peacekeepers on UN missions, and 65 from Norway. Canada has just 35 — the lowest number since the creation of the first peacekeeping force in 1956.
To make matters worse, this is a far cry from the up to 600 troops and 150 police that Canada, with a population of 37.6 million, promised to provide in 2016. Meanwhile, Canada does have several hundred members of the Armed Forces in Latvia — apparently the Trudeau government feels supporting NATO military initiatives is more important than UN peacekeeping missions.
A Canadian Armed Forces soldier provides security in Gao, Mali, on Dec. 22, 2018. The United Nations formally asked Canada to extend its mission in Mali, but Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland declined. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Norway and Ireland have also provide a far greater percentage of their national income (0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively) to overseas development assistance than Canada (0.26 per cent).
Canada’s questionable role in international affairs isn’t helping our cause.
In foreign policy we have consistently supported U.S. goals, not the best way to win hearts and minds in the Global South.
Compare all of that with our successful bid for a Security Council seat back in 1988. Back then Canada was a major contributor to peacekeeping forces, led an international campaign to ban landmines, helped to establish the International Criminal Court, and played an active role in multilateral institutions.
Canadian soft power garnered enormous respect around the globe, and we obtained sweeping support for our application.
Canadian officials are hoping to showcase the country’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of their ongoing pitch for a seat on the UN Security Council. 2:02
It would be wonderful if Canada really were “back,” but sadly it is not. The use of traditional Canadian integrity and soft power is desperately needed — and would be welcomed — on the world stage.
The Trudeau government needs to step back from empty platitudes and photo ops in developing countries, and begin a serious analysis of where our foreign policy is and where it should be — a review we haven’t undertaken for decades.
Put simply, Canada doesn’t deserve one of the seats on the UN Security Council, since in terms of commitment to the goals of the United Nations, Norway and Ireland have a far better moral claim. Hopefully this election process will force us to do some real soul-searching about our place in the world. It is about time.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
