Canada and the World
Current Events with a Canadian Perspective
Last update
19 November 2010
No Security Council Seat for Canada
About every ten years Canada is given a
Seat on the UN’s top body, but not this time
The Security Council of the United Nations (below) is the 
where major decisions of peace and war are taken. It has five permanent members – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
There are ten non-
The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Sichan Siv told The Globe and Mail
(October 11, 2010) that “The non-
Canada Wins Seat Once a Decade
CBC News reports (October 12, 2010) “Canada has been on the Security Council six times, roughly once a decade, since the 1940s. The country’s last term ended in 2000.”
To win a seat countries campaign just as candidates do in an election. Ambassadors
and high-
According to the CBC, Canada has been campaigning for nine years and “In the final days of Tuesday’s bid, Canada wined and dined diplomats, offering them gifts of Canadian beer and maple syrup.”
Every time in the past that Canada has put its name forward as a candidate for the Security Council it has won. But, in 2010, the vote went badly for Canada, which was competing with Germany and Portugal for one of two seats available for its geographic grouping.
On a second ballot Canada got 78 votes to Portugal’s 113; Germany won a seat in the
first ballot with more than the required two-
With its poor showing in the second ballot, Canada withdrew its candidacy.
Canada’s Changed Foreign Policy
The Calgary Herald (October 12, 2010) quotes former Canadian Ambassador to the UN Paul Heinbecker as saying “It’s a significant defeat.”
The Herald says “Heinbecker and other critics say the Harper government’s foreign policy has meant it has alienated many potential supporters of Canada, especially among Arab, Muslim, and African nations. He said Canada’s weak climate change policy had alienated European and small island nations…“
Canada has been cast as a villain in the climate change drama. The Climate Change Performance Index ranks the country as 59th among the world’s 60 richest countries in terms of its efforts to combat global warming. This cost it the votes of small island nations that will disappear under the waves as the ocean levels rise due to melting ice caps.
Globe and Mail letter writer Bryson Brown (October 14, 2010) points out that Canada’s
unquestioning support of Israel, including that country’s “disregard for civilian
lives in recent military actions...has damaged our reputation for even-
Doctoral thesis candidate Dan Herman at the Balsillie School of International Affairs,
Waterloo writes (Kitchener-
Many have also suggested that by withdrawing from peacekeeping in favour of a more aggressive military role Canada has seen its support slide.
Sources
“Cannon Blames Ignatieff for Canada Losing UN Vote.“ CBC News, October 12, 2010.
“UN Security Council: How to Join the World`s most Exclusive Club.“ Siri Agrell, Globe and Mail, October 11, 2010.
“Canada Quits Race for UN Security Council Seat.“ Steven Edwards, Postmedia News, October 12, 2010.
“Let’s Learn from UN Snub.” Dan Herman, KW Record, October 14, 2010.
© Canada and the World, October 2010
All rights reserved
VOX POPULI
A few comments made by citizens gleaned from Canadian news websites in the aftermath of the UN vote.
“There are dire politics in this world organization played by dictatorship countries for the benefit of themselves and not for the good of the world.”
Calgary Herald
“UN members are right to reject the candidacy of a government that obstructs international
action on global warming, that acts as a shill for Israel's illegal occupation and
settlement activities, and that has abandoned whatever slight independence Canada
previously showed in its foreign policy vis-
CBC News
“Our current government has hardly made us look like fools on the world stage. Despite some of the local gaffes Canada has stood strong on the international front.”
CTV News
“This is a defeat for Canada and a clear message our ‘independent’ foreign policy is seen as tied too close to the U.S. and the U.K. Pure and simple. Message to Harper: you are not George Bush north.”
Montreal Gazette
“Who cares about the UN? They are mostly a bunch of freeloaders from nations with little credibility.”
CBC News
“Canada’s loss of a United Nations Security Council seat is a humiliation to our country and sign of the great damage Mr. Harper has inflicted on this nation.”
Globe and Mail
The United Nations currently has about 100,000 people deployed on peacekeeping missions around the world.
Canada’s contribution to this is 64 military personnel and 157 police officers.
“The loss of the [Security Council] seat doesn’t matter very much. What does matter is that [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper and his foreign minister were so out of touch. So oblivious to the feelings and concerns of other UN members that they didn’t have a clue what was going on. It’s a sad comedown for a country that once was seen as a leader at the United Nations.”
Geoffrey Stevens, Kitchener-