Canada eyes UN security council seat

Prime minister lobbies for return to key United Nations role; next vacancy years away

Canada will vie to win back a seat on the United Nations Security Council, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says.

“We are determined to help the UN make even greater strides in support of its goals for all humanity,” Trudeau said Wednesday morning in the lobby of UN headquarters in New York.

“My friends, it’s time. It’s time for Canada to step up once again,” Trudeau said.

Canada will seek to win back a seat for the 2021-22 term, Trudeau said.

As he made his much-anticipated announcement, Trudeau said Canada has a long and honoured history with the United Nations that dates back to its founding in 1945.

“We are determined to revitalize Canada’s role in peacekeeping,” Trudeau said.

He said his government has made pushes forward in recent months on issues such as gender equality, refugee resettlement, respect for diversity, stability in the Mideast and answers to climate change, all of which are in sync with UN goals.

“This is the Canada of today,” Trudeau said. “This is how we build the world of tomorrow.”

Under the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 members, and each member has one vote. Under the Charter, all member states are obligated to comply with Council decisions. The Security Council attempts to settle disputes peacefully and makes recommendations for terms of settlement in disputes. It can also impose sanctions and authorize the use of force.

The Security Council also helps select International Court of Justice judges and recommends the appointment of the Secretary-General to the General Assembly and the admission of new Members to the United Nations.

The 190-plus members of the General Assembly won’t vote on new candidates until the fall of 2020, so it will take at least five more years before Canada could start a two-year term. That means Trudeau will have to win another federal election in 2019 if he wants to personally see Canada come “back” to the UN’s most powerful, if flawed, body.

If Canada succeeds, it will still mark the country’s longest absence from the council in the history of the United Nations — 21years since the end of Canada’s last two-year stint in 2000.

Canada served six times on the Security Council, once every decade since the late 1940s, before it was upset by Portugal in 2010, a defeat that was blamed on a lacklustre attempt by a Tory government.

The Canadian Press reported that advisers told Trudeau it was unlikely Canada could run any time before 2020 because the UN grouping of countries to which Canada belongs — known as the Western European and Others Group — had a full slate of competitive candidates already lined up.

Campaigning for the Security Council usually takes years and involves much politicking and deal making, a reality that former prime minister Stephen Harper found unappealing.