CANADA DEBASES ITSELF IN THE QUEST FOR A UN SECURITY COUNCIL SEAT

In a world gone mad, it’s no surprise a standup nation like Canada is hustling for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

And Lord, is Justin Trudeau ever hustling.

In addition to his pre-coronavirus-era jaunts to countries such as Kuwait, Ethiopia and Senegal, Trudeau has burned up the phone lines pleading Canada’s case, making calls to 26 countries and/or regional UN groupings in the month of May alone. Under the cover of COVID-19, Trudeau is working his famous socks off to succeed where Stephen Harper failed.

And what Trudeau hasn’t been able to do, he has delegated to others, deputizing former prime minister Joe Clark for a round of canvassing with the leaders of model nations Algeria, Bahrain,

Qatar and Egypt. If hefty long-distance bills are the measure, then Canada is most definitely back.

But what if we’re chasing the wrong prize? And what if the ends don’t justify the means? Because a significant cost to Canada’s reputation has already been incurred.

In a sense, running for the Security Council is like bidding for the Olympics. To win, you’ve got to grease a lot of palms, many of them unsavoury.

And while no outright bribes are paid for the UNSC, the bills can be steep, especially in moral terms.

Note, for example, how Trudeau kept quiet when asked in Senegal about the country’s less-than-enlightened homosexuality laws. Or see how the readout of his call with noted homophobe Yoweri Museveni of Uganda elided the subject entirely.

Canada’s values either matter or they don’t; a principle can’t be a principle if it’s then abandoned for the UNSC’S sake. Is this really the game Trudeau feels he needs to play?

Looking back, Harper’s failed 2010 bid was doomed for several reasons: It started late, there was foot-dragging on climate change, and a significant re-profiling of Canada’s foreign aid (even though Harper led a successful initiative on maternal health as chair of the G8 and G20 in the midst of a global financial crisis). But it also failed because Harper was a rockribbed supporter of Israel, something that goes over like a cup of cold sick at the UN. Naturally, during Trudeau’s ring round to the Arab League countries, he forgot to mention Canada’s close partnership with Israel, a factoid celebrated in his call with Benjamin Netanyahu. And on it went down the call list.

Which takes us back to prizes. It would be one thing to situationally park Canada’s values if it meant keeping a rogue nation away from the big decisions affecting global peace and security. But we’re not.

Canada is in a race with Ireland and Norway, two like-minded nations who score just as highly (if not higher) on all the key metrics. Instead of deciding which values to erode in pursuit of the prize, Canada would do better agreeing on priorities and outcomes with the other contenders.

That’s if, of course, there are any outcomes to be had. Because the UNSC hasn’t been relevant to global peace and security in more than 15 years and shows no signs of reclaiming its Cold War throne.

This is perhaps why Trudeau has avoided saying much about what Canada would actually do should it win. Will it push to keep Hong Kong free? Will it defend Taiwan, should the need arise? Will it resist any further revanchism from Vladimir Putin? Then again, do any of these questions matter when China and Russia hold vetoes at the UNSC? Put differently, when was the last time a temporary member of the UNSC changed the course of history?

And yet, Trudeau soldiers on in the face of this futility, chatting with nations such as Tuvalu about COVID-19 (cases in Tuvalu: 0) in search of his ego stroke. Trudeau also helped the UN secretary general with his recent event on development financing during the coronavirus crisis, but this counts as something Canada should be doing anyway, not as a lure for a vote to a body that does nothing.

Win or lose, the cost hasn’t been worth it. And if it’s a loss, it will be Justin Trudeau’s to wear.

Andrew Macdougall is a London-based communications consultant and ex-director of communications to former prime minister Stephen Harper.