The Hamilton Spectator

Canada doesn’t deserve security council seat

- Ken Stone, Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War

Re: Trudeau say’s he’s seeking UN SC seat (Feb. 10)

The Trudeau government doesn’t deserve a security council seat: it doesn’t support human rights at home or abroad and it’s a serial violator of internatio­nal law.

In regards to human rights, Trudeau gets an “F.” Witness the RCMP helping push a pipeline through Wet’suwet’en unceded land despite Indigenous opposition. In Yemen, children are dying, according to UNICEF, at the rate of one every 10 minutes due to starvation and disease. Yet, despite Trudeau’s 2015 campaign promise, he still permits the sale of light-armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia. His government regularly opposes almost all UN resolution­s condemning Israel’s violations of Palestinia­n human rights.

Demonstrat­ing continuing disrespect for internatio­nal law, Trudeau’s government eagerly sponsored the Lima Group’s blatant attempts at regime change in Venezuela, failed to condemn the recent coup in Bolivia, and continues to support the 2014 coup government in Ukraine which honours Nazi collaborat­ors.

In addition, his government maintains punishing economic sanctions against Russia and Syria, which sanctions are illegal because they don’t have the approval of the UN Security Council. In Haiti, Trudeau openly supports a corrupt government that came to power in the 2004 overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, its first democratic­ally-elected president.

Instead of scouring Africa for votes, Trudeau should quit NATO and develop an independen­t foreign policy for Canada.

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