Canada loses UN Security Council bid
Second straight defeat stands as reminder of diminishing influence
OTTAWA—Canada was humbled on the world stage Wednesday when it failed to secure a seat on the United Nations Security Council, losing to Norway and Ireland on the first ballot.
The loss was Canada’s second consecutive defeat in a bid for a seat on the world’s most powerful body, and stood as stark reminder of the country’s diminishing influence. The defeat of the Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau followed the loss by the former Conservative government of Stephen Harper in 2010.
Prior to that, Canada had won six times in a row, roughly each decade since the creation of the UN, although it lost its first bid in 1946 just months after it contributed to the construction of the organization out of the ashes of the Second World War.
“This must act as a wake-up call to the Liberal government and a message to Canadians: Canada is not doing enough,” said Jack Harris, the NDP’s foreign affairs critic.
“Prime Minister Trudeau announced in 2015 that ‘Canada is back!’ but there is little to show for it.”
Harris cited low spending on international development assistance and the decline of Canadian contributions to UN peacekeeping missions to historic lows — two criteria that were widely seen as essential in winning a seat on the council.
Canada’s latest loss came in the first round of voting Wednesday in a secret ballot of 192 member states of the United Nations General Assembly for two available seats on the council for a two-year term starting next year.
Canada needed 128 seats — or two-thirds of the voting members of the assembly. Norway passed the threshold with 130 and Ireland garnered 128 votes.
Canada fell short with 108 votes.
Earlier Wednesday, Trudeau said even if Canada lost, it would continue its international efforts to fight against climate change, economic inequity and preserving the world’s increasingly fragile institutions.
Norway and Ireland had an advance start in campaigning because Trudeau only announced Canada’s intention to seek a seat in 2015 after the Liberals were elected.
Trudeau dismissed suggestions that a loss for Canada would be a political failure for him personally, given the capital he has invested in the bid — starting with his “Canada is back” declaration the day after he won the October 2015 federal election.
Bessma Momani, an international affairs expert at the University of Waterloo, said it is not fair to see the loss as an indictment of Trudeau’s global popularity.
But it “should be seen as an indictment on our lack of spending, attention, and engagement with the world,” she said.
“That said, this will be used by Trudeau’s detractors at home to remind him that the world certainly doesn’t think ‘Canada is back’ and that ‘the world needs more Canada.’”
So it was. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called the loss “another foreign affairs failure” for Trudeau, while Leona Alleslev, the party’s deputy leader, launched her own attack in the House of Commons reiterating her party’s criticism of what is sees as failed policies towards China and India and in its trade relationship with the United States.
“He sold out Canada’s principles for a personal vanity project and still lost,” Scheer said in a statement.