Allan Rock, a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, on Canada losing its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council.
Canada’s loss prompts calls for ‘stem-to-stern’ foreign policy review
We don’t have coherent foreign policy. It needs stem-to-stern review ... so let’s get serious about this and go back on the next rotation and try again. And next time, let’s make sure we have a more solid report card based on our performance.
Power. Influence. And popularity.
All were at play — and up for grabs — in Wednesday’s vote for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Yet under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada failed to scrape together enough votes to win a coveted two-year seat at the most powerful decisionmaking body of the UN, falling short by 20 votes.
That prompted calls from some experts and at least one former ambassador for Canada to conduct a complete foreign policy review.
“We don’t have a coherent foreign policy,” said Allan Rock, a former Canadian ambassador to the UN. “It needs a stem-tostern review.”
“We’re not generous enough with our international development assistance, we’re not active enough in the key discussions inside the United Nations so let’s get serious about this and go back on the next rotation and try again,” Rock said.
“And next time, let’s make sure we have a more solid report card based on our performance.”
Norway and Ireland won the two spots allotted to non-permanent members in a country grouping where Canada found itself uncomfortably competing against countries that Trudeau described as “friends.”
Their victories will see the two European countries take up seats at the table of 15, rubbing shoulders with the five permanent powerful security council players: the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France and China.
The defeat came 10 years after
Canada bailed out of the race under Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper after two ballot rounds in the face of a certain loss to Portugal.
That failed effort became political fodder for Trudeau in the 2015 election campaign, when he boldly declared “Canada’s back” after taking power and set his sights on winning the security council spot as proof.
After Wednesday’s loss, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer declared on Twitter that it was another “foreign affairs failure” for Trudeau. “Keeps the streak alive! He sold out Canada’s principles for a personal vanity project and still lost. What a waste,” Scheer tweeted.
Over more than four years, Trudeau’s government spent $2.4 million on its bid led by UN Ambassador Marc-André Blanchard, even though Norway and Ireland had a head start of several years.
After weeks of phone calls to dozens of leaders, Trudeau publicly made a last-ditch pitch for Canada’s “voice and values” to be endorsed while deflecting questions about whether the outcome would reflect on him personally.
Trudeau said it was “unfortunate” Canada had to compete against “friends” Ireland and Norway, but insisted his government had “stepped up on the world stage” since he declared in 2015 that he was going after the seat.
In a statement issued after the loss, Trudeau congratulated the winners and said his government would continue to pursue multilateral engagement at the UN and in other international organizations.
“Canada is large enough to make a difference, but we know we can’t do it alone. As we move forward, we remain committed to the goals and principles that we laid out during this campaign, and we will continue to play a vital role in advancing global co-operation and building a more peaceful, inclusive, and sustainable world.”
Canada’s efforts to win the spot at the influential decisionmaking table in New York had been stop-and-go.
Trudeau’s Liberal government raised expectations it would re-engage in UN peacekeeping operations only to provide a limited support mission to Mali, and its foreign policy for the better part of its first mandate was focused on trade talks with the United States, the European Union and the Trans-Pacific region, and lately on a high-profile split with China over the arrest of a Huawei executive.
Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne spearheaded a last-minute push to win favour with the 193 voting member states, driving to New York last weekend to appeal for votes and engaging with representatives of about 130 countries.
Champagne rejected suggestions that gender equity and climate change were not winning pitches with many other countries, saying “those are cornerstones of our foreign policy.” He also said he did not hear any complaints about Canada’s minimal participation in the international peacekeeping efforts.
“This is the toughest competition at the United Nations ... and Canada was very competitive, but we were also against two countries that had their strengths and also had something to offer,” Blanchard said.
Rock said Canada also “talked a better game than we actually played.”
“The ‘Canada is back’ thing raised expectations that we didn’t meet,” Rock said. “Our participation in peacekeeping, which the (prime minister) had promised, came late and was pretty feeble.”
He said Canada’s contribution to international development assistance is well behind Norway’s, which is also a big sponsor of international peace initiatives. “They’re good global citizens. They’ve got money, they’ve got good will, they’ve got great diplomats, they’re always working hard to try bring peace. So you’re not going to beat them.” However, he said it is “regrettable” Canada didn’t beat the Irish, “and if we want a seat at the table again we’ve got to seriously look at how we’re dealing with the world.”
As for Trudeau, Rock predicted that “the cynics will rake him over the coals — they’ll say he had overweening ambitions, that his actions didn’t measure up, that he overshot the mark, he underperformed in the campaign … so he’ll be in for a couple of days of drubbing.
“But as you saw with Stephen Harper in 2010, it’s certainly not a fatal blow,” he said, because “there as many people out there who say the UN is a waste of time as there are who say, ‘I wish Canada had won that election.’ ”
Canada needed 128 votes to win a seat, but ended up with just 108. Norway received 130 and Ireland got 128.