Selling the UN short
Two years ago Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservatives cared enough about the United Nations to lobby for a Security Council seat. Now, after being jilted, they seem to be in a cranky funk.
Unlike U.S. President Barack Obama, who spoke eloquently on freedom of speech to this year’s General Assembly, Harper couldn’t be bothered to attend. He was in New York last week, but only to accept a “world statesman” award as he turned his back on most of it.
Canada has no interest in “trying to court every dictator with a vote at the United Nations,” Harper told the award dinner. “Or just going along with every emerging international consensus, no matter how self-evidently wrong-headed.” Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird then hectored the General Assembly. Canada “cannot and will not participate in endless, fruitless inward-looking exercises,” he said. “The UN spends too much time on itself. It must now look outward.”
Granted, the UN has more than its share of flaws. The Security Council has failed so far to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions or stop Syria’s bloodshed. (It has also been accused of impotency on the Palestinian issue, though Ottawa has no complaint about that.) Despotic regimes get a vote. And the UN bureaucracy is top-heavy. Even so, the Harper government’s attitude comes across more as sour grapes than constructive criticism. It is also out of step with a wide segment of public opinion in this country that regards the UN as the world’s chief forum for dealing with dire threats to peace and security, and promoting development and aid.
In a survey last year of Canadians who give to charity — the “civic core” of society — most people supported the UN, the UN Association reports. More than six in 10 saw Canada’s UN activity as good or excellent. When asked about the big challenges the UN faces, 66 per cent cited poverty and hunger, peace and security, rights abuses and the environment. Just 6 per cent cited “staying relevant.” While not a scientific poll, the findings were instructive.
It was through Security Council mandates, after all, that Canadian troops fought terror in Afghanistan and helped Libyans shake off tyranny. The UN authorized sanctions on Iran and Syria trying to force better behaviour. Canada has earned praise for donating generously to UN-led drives to combat AIDS, malaria and other diseases, saving millions. And under Pierre Trudeau, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien, Canada played its part at the UN managing the great issues: Cold War tension, poverty, apartheid, genocide.
The Harper Tories may be fond of disparaging the UN as wrongheaded, fruitless and self-absorbed. Many civic-minded Canadians choose to see it as a forum, however flawed, in which to do good.