Do the Harperites even care they lost UN bid?

punditman says... 

Punditman agrees with the sentiments expressed below in Peacenik's post.  If you go against key UN initiatives, don't expect to win a seat on the UN Security Council. Actually, while watching the news last night, Punditman got the distinct impression the Harper gov't didn't really care about getting a UN Security Council seat—if you consider their lame, last minute lobbying efforts compared to that of Portugal's. And when you view their policies as a whole, it begins to look like a clear strategy to lose international goodwill. Aside from the reasons for failure listed by the Council of Canadians below, here are a few others, courtesy of the Creekside blog: 

It would seem that such international policies as:

1) unstinting support for everything Israel
2) actively undermining the Copenhagen summit climate talks
3) delaying debt relief to Africa to advance the interests of a Canadian mining company
4) flip flopping hostility to China
5) snubbing an International Aids Conference held in Canada
6) cutting funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency
7) refusal to sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and
8) blowing off UN talks on nuclear proliferation, global peace and climate change in favour of a photo op at a Tim Hortons

do not ultimately translate into votes for a seat on the Security Council at the UN after all. Who knew? In his UN defeat speech, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon graciously blamed the failure on Michael Ignatieff - three separate times. Wanker.

MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 12, 2010

UN Security Council loss a direct result of Harper’s policies, says Council of Canadians

Ottawa – The Council of Canadians is blaming the Harper government for Canada’s loss in its bid for a seat on the UN Security Council today.

The organization argues this historic loss is a direct result of the Harper government’s refusal to recognize the human right to water, being virtually alone in not signing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and consistently undermining action on climate change in Canada and internationally. For the past 18 months, the Council of Canadians has argued that Harper government must reverse its position on these key issues in order to demonstrate that it deserves a seat on the Security Council.

“The Harper government has been the only government in the world to be consistently against these major UN initiatives and worse, has been actively working to undermine these treaties and efforts,” says Council of Canadians national chairperson Maude Barlow. “With the Security Council vote the other 191 member states have sent a clear message that these positions are not in alignment with UN norms and that Canada cannot deny its UN obligations and still expect to be welcomed onto the Security Council.”

The Council of Canadians hopes that this vote will be a wake-up call for all Canadians that after almost five years in power, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has diminished Canada’s international standing to the point that what is normally a rubber-stamp for Canada to take our regular rotation on the Security Council has become a national embarrassment.

“Mr. Harper has let Canadians down in this historic loss, but he should not retreat to the G8 as his preferred body for decision-making,” says Council of Canadians director of campaigns and communications Brent Patterson. “We hope that Mr. Harper takes from this defeat a recognition of the need for real action on Indigenous rights, the right to water, and climate change to begin to regain the world's trust, and commit to these issues through the UN.”

In May, the Council of Canadians hand delivered a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressing concerns about positions the Harper government has taken on water, the climate and Indigenous rights. In September, the Council of Canadians faxed a letter to the 192 permanent missions at the United Nations outlining these concerns.

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For More Information:

Dylan Penner, Media Officer, Council of Canadians, 613-795-8685

dpenner@canadians.org

Canada loses bid for UN Security Council seat

Peacenik can only chuckle and shake Peacenik's head. Our great neo con Prime Minister, Stevie Harper, humiliated at the U.N. Nine years of ass kissing in Afghanistan and the U.N. slaps Canada's face. Good for the U.N. Unfortunately this will probably inspire Harper to redouble our warmaking efforts. Let's add some useless tanks, and some weapons of mass destruction to Canada's arsenal, then maybe Canada will get the respect Harper so clearly desires. Fiasco. Boondoggle. Fuck up. Bring the troops home now.

OTTAWA - In a stunning swipe Tuesday at Canada's foreign policy shift under the Conservative government, United Nations voters rejected Canada's bid for a seat on the prestigious Security Council.
After trailing in two rounds of balloting at the UN General Assembly in New York, Canada withdrew its bid for a Security Council seat.
As recently as two weeks ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper pitched Canada's candidacy for the Security Council to the 192 member countries at the UN.
But despite depositing bottles of maple syrup on the desks of voters Tuesday and bringing in some uniformed Mounties as part of a last-minute pitch for support, UN voters soundly rejected Canada's bid for a seat.
Read on...

Canada set to boycott Iran's UN speech

Peacenik says: Yawn....who cares?

By Steven Edwards, Canwest News ServiceSeptember 23, 2009

Canada will boycott Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech at the United Nations today, saying his outbursts about the Holocaust and Israel are "shameful."

Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon will be at the world body to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly's annual debate, but officials signal he and other members of the Canadian delegation will vacate when the Islamic republic's president approaches the podium.

Walking out of the chamber is seen as a strong diplomatic show of disgust at the UN -- and since the 192-member chamber is generally packed on the first day of the annual summit, Canada's empty seats will not go unnoticed.

Read on...