Canada’s foreign policy all about the U. S., not UN
Nikki Haley, the American ambassador to the United Nations, is throwing a party in January. Only those who opposed a resolution condemning her country for recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel are invited.
The invitation list is limited. The guests of honour will be those few nations that opposed the resolution passed by the United Nations on Dec. 21. These include heavyweights such as Togo, the Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau, Honduras, Guatemala and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Out of seasonal generosity — or political desperation — Haley has also invited the 35 members who abstained and the 21 who were absent.
Canada, full of merriment, will attend the party. We abstained but that was enough for an invitation.
Israel had little to do with our decision. It was about managing our most important relationship, with the United States, as we re- negotiate our most important economic covenant, the North American Free Trade Agreement.
NAFTA, NAFTA, NAFTA. Strange how it could make a vote in the General Assembly more about the United States than about the United Nations. Fundamentally, our vote was about keeping ourselves in the good graces of the Americans.
If the road to Washington runs through Jerusalem, we’ll take it. Our challenging situation conjures up the usual clichés: threading the needle, walking a tightrope or, as one Liberal MP says pointedly, “navigating a minefield.” Everything we say and do these days is measured by how it is seen by Donald Trump. He prizes attention and loyalty; in refusing to oppose his stand on Israel, we want to remain in the emperor’s favour.
After all, Trump promises to exact retribution from countries that oppose his view on Jerusalem, a threat Ambassador Haley echoes. “The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in this Assembly,” she declared, noting the U. S. is the leading financial contributor to the UN and sends aid to many of the nations that voted against it. The warning: “Cross us, and you’ll be sorry.”
For Canada, the vote was realpolitik. Our longstanding policy is that the status of Jerusalem should be determined by Arabs and Israelis, as part of a peace agreement. It’s why Canada’s embassy remains in Tel
Aviv, not Jerusalem, where the U. S. is now planning to move its embassy to make a broader statement.
In the past we would have joined our allies — Britain, France Germany — in opposing Trump’s change of policy. But as long as NAFTA is under discussion, we have another priority. Since Trump became president and threatened to withdraw from NAFTA, the supreme effort from Justin Trudeau, his ministers and our diplomats has been to save the agreement.
This means doing nothing to antagonize Trump. It means flattering him. It even means creating a dubious bi- national women’s business council chaired by Ivanka Trump when Trudeau visited the White House last March.
Most of all, it means speaking no ill of a president who never stops speaking. From the prime minister and everyone else, then, no sarcastic rejoinders, no cheeky tweets. It isn’t easy to impose this kind of discipline across government, but the Liberals have. The point: Let nothing threaten the chances of an agreement.
So, when this isolationist, nativist president acts or speaks against the Paris Agreement on climate change, the Iran nuclear agreement, the Trans- Pacific Partnership, open immigration or North Korea, we remain mute. Trump may be listening. We just shut up.
This is surely hurting us at the UN, where we’re seeking a rotational seat on the Security Council in 2020; more abstentions like this one on Israel and our hopes will disappear. As long as Trump and trade dominate our foreign policy, we’re in a dilemma.
The reward is a new free trade agreement to sustain our prosperity. That’s uncertain now. The risk is our independence and self- respect. That’s priceless.