Korean crisis rattles Canadian bid for UN Security Council seat
OTTAWA — The unfolding Korean nuclear crisis is exposing the Canadian government to international criticism that it is too soft on nuclear disarmament — and too close to the sabre-rattling Trump administration.
International anti-nuclear activists call it a development that could have ominous implications for the government’s bid to win a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2019.
Trudeau called on the Security Council to take “decisive action” against North Korea following Sunday’s report of a nuclear detonation by Pyongyang — the latest in a summer of provocations on the Korean Peninsula.
However, Canada has not supported a broader effort by the full UN General Assembly to create a treaty that would outlaw nuclear weapons, a document that opens for signing when world leaders meet in New York this month.
More than 120 countries support the treaty, and with Canada seeking a temporary seat on the UN Security Council in 2019, two international anti-nuclear groups say Canada’s stance could hurt its ability to win a seat. Countries vying for a seat on the UN’s most powerful body need the support of at least 128 countries in the General Assembly.
The treaty has no support among the countries that have nuclear weapons, including the United States and its military allies, including NATO and Canada.
“While we’ve seen a lot of nice words come out of the Trudeau government, policies haven’t really followed — not on nuclear weapons, and not on other weapons issues that Canada has traditionally led on,” Beatrice Fihn, the head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said Tuesday.
“Even if you’re in a military alliance, your military alliance can’t be based on having to support Donald Trump’s threats to use weapons of mass destruction.”
Having a strong position on disarmament that is distinct from the five permanent members of the Security Council — all of which have nuclear weapons — can play an important role in campaigning for a temporary two-year seat on the body, she said.
“Having a solid reputation as a not-apuppet-of-the-U.S. is obviously going to be something to your advantage in a Security Council campaign.”
The federal government is in the same tight spot as all of its fellow non-nuclear NATO countries: nuclear weapons are at the core of the alliance’s defence policy, said Alyn Ware, the founder of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.
Adam Austen, a spokesman for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, said Canada supports “concrete” and “meaningful” steps toward disarmament.