Canada loses prestige UN spot due to conservative Government foreign policies

[yahoo40]

UNITED NATIONS — Canada's historic loss in its bid to win election Tuesday to the United Nations Security Council came despite written promises of support from 135 countries, Postmedia News has learned.


While the vote in the 192-member UN General Assembly is secret, broad opposition by members of the Islamic bloc appear to have scuttled Canada's chances of returning to the council for the 2011-2012 two-year term.

The Harper government's shift toward support for Israel compared to positions held by previous Liberal governments had not gone down well with members of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference, officials based at the UN revealed Tuesday.

But he also acknowledged that foreign policy under the Conservative government had played a role in the loss — even as he said that policy is based on sound democratic and human rights principles.

We will not back down from our principles that form the basis of our great country, and we will continue to pursue them on the international stage," Cannon said. "Some would even say that, because of our attachment to those values, we lost a seat on the council. If that's the case, then so be it."

Other insiders revealed Tuesday that Brazil, the most populous of the Portuguese-speaking countries, had itself been quietly telling Arab countries that a vote for Canada would be as good as a vote for the United States.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news...ting+nations/3658523/story.html#ixzz12CFSuSK5

 

[euripides]

Harper's plan for a far right-wing Canada is finally being exposed by the rest of the world. Hopefully we Canadians can get our heads out of our asses and see wht is going on with the non-progressive Conservatives:

1) foreign policies;
2) human rights;
3) women's rights;
4) environmental policies;

Lester Pearson would roll over in his grave. It is a huge embarrassment for Canada the responsibility for which rests solely in the hands of Harper.

 

[james t kirk]

as far as the sentence in bold goes....it is true.

Exactly.

But then again, we are more alike the Americans than we are not.

 

[red]

i have to admit I don't care.

 

[landscaper]

Harper's plan for a far right-wing Canada is finally being exposed by the rest of the world. Hopefully we Canadians can get our heads out of our asses and see wht is going on with the non-progressive Conservatives:

1) foreign policies;
2) human rights;
3) women's rights;
4) environmental policies;

Lester Pearson would roll over in his grave. It is a huge embarrassment for Canada the responsibility for which rests solely in the hands of Harper.

Foriegn policy , supporting Isreal the only democracy in the region, insisting African countries clean up their acts before any more money gets sent to swiss bank accounts, standing up for human rights in Afghanistan, interesting take on the proper foriegn policy
Human rights.
Womens rights, ? How have we abused womens rights in any way shape or form, unless of course you count the stopping of honour killings and genital mutilation where ever we have the ability to.. education of girls in Afghanistan, ...
Environmental policies... I would guess that you are refering to Kyoto, interesting that you don't mention that it was a Liberal government that ratified the treaty and then ignored the damn thing because it would have destroyed our economy?

We lost the seat as soon as Germany decided to run for the position. The number of votes that the European union holds guarentees them a win in virtually any race they enter. The Loss to the Potugese was in part caused by the support of Isreal, the demands that African countries clean up thier acts before any more money goes their way. The middle eastern block is pissed about our support of ISreal and nothing beyond refuting the Isreali support would keep them happy, The African block is a bunch of dictators who view the support payments from the western world as their due, Liberia, The Congo, the list goes on Human rights violators in a major way everything from slavery to abduction and forced prostitution are everyday occurances , and they pissed at us for wanting to make sure OUR MONEY is used for the purposes that it was intended.
Brazil... Brazil has had ongoing disagreements with us over Embraer vs Bombardier for years, that along would cause the sniping, just wondering when was the last time you heard of a Brazilian task force of any kind on a peace keeping mission?

As far as Lester Pearson is concerned, I am old enough to remember the man and his administrations, he would indeed be spinning in his grave at the farce that now repreents his ideal; of a United Nations working towards the betterment of mankind, not propping up repulsive dicatorships and the spewing of hate comming out of bodies such as the UNHRC.

 

[JollyJoe]

The UN has become a joke... so who the fuck cares?

 

[goalie000]

it's funny how the UN became a joke only after we lost.

It has become a joke long before we lost.

 

[GPIDEAL]

Exactly.

But then again, we are more alike the Americans than we are not.

But not exactly like Americans. I would think we're the country of sober second thought. I don't think the Liberals would have done anything different on the international scene as the Conservatives have.

 

[GPIDEAL]

It has become a joke long before we lost.

Truer words haven't been spoken.

 

[burt-oh-my!]

The very idea that we CHANGE our positions to appease a body which gives EQUAL VOTES to the likes of North Korea and other assorted dictatorships is both ludicrous and dangerous.

 

[toguy5252]

Harper's plan for a far right-wing Canada is finally being exposed by the rest of the world. Hopefully we Canadians can get our heads out of our asses and see wht is going on with the non-progressive Conservatives:

1) foreign policies;
2) human rights;
3) women's rights;
4) environmental policies;

Lester Pearson would roll over in his grave. It is a huge embarrassment for Canada the responsibility for which rests solely in the hands of Harper.

By that you mean principled stands on a variety of issues instead of pandering to the Arab block in order to gain favor and a seat on the SC. If that is what you mean then I say hooray for Harper.

 

[Nickelodeon]

Those who trash the UN seem to forget it's made up of the same corrupt racist motherfucker nations that make up the majority of the world.

So we either engage using the mechanisms that are there or we withdraw. It seems like Harper was offended by international relations with totalitarian China and the Middle East, but now he wants to play.

He hasn't figured out how to get into the game...and then he blames Ignatieff for this decision.

Small man running a medium sized power won't go far in the big ugly world. He's not even a good boy scout.

 

[Eric Blair]

I guess when you Isreal is 100% right and the Arabs are 100% wrong you get one new friend that you had anyway and lose about 28 Arab and Muslim nations. You crap on Kyoto, support war in Afganistan, support the government of Columbia with free trade and guess what? You are out of friends. How does that happen?

 

[danmand]

as far as the sentence in bold goes....it is true.

Exactly, as the brazilians said: "why vote in Canada, when the US is there already"


PS. I find it interesting that all the right wingers who are so fond of saying that the UN is worthless, all of a sudden want a seat on the SC, and get upset, when they don't get it. Here is Thomas Walkham's take:

Walkom: UN vote a rebuff to Harper’s I’m right-you’re-wrong approach to the world
Published On Wed Oct 13 By Thomas Walkom
National Affairs Columnist

Free beer and maple syrup aren’t enough. By denying Canada a seat on the United Nations Security Council, the rest of the world has served notice that – in its view – this country’s foreign policy is bankrupt.

That’s not because the 192 other nations that make up the UN General Assembly particularly dislike Canada. They don’t.

But clearly, a vast majority prefer the Canada they thought they knew, a Canada that strove to defuse international tensions by focusing not just on who was right or wrong but on what was fair and reasonable.

In that sense, Tuesday’s vote was the world’s response to Prime Minister Stephen Harper – a great, big raspberry for the man who has attempted to introduce what he calls a new morality into the realm of Canadian foreign affairs.

The theory of this new morality was outlined by Harper in a 2003 magazine article.

Writing at a time when many thought George W. Bush’s Iraq War defensible, Harper excoriated Canada’s then-Liberal government for not taking part in that conflict – a reluctance that he said stemmed from the “moral relativism, moral neutrality and moral equivalency” of the left.

A truly conservative government, he pledged, would sweep away this “moral nihilism” and base its foreign policy on rock-ribbed values.

Once in office, Harper attempted to do just that. His stubborn defence of Huseyin Celil, a Canadian citizen imprisoned in China, threatened trade relations with Beijing. But the prime minister held firm, vowing that Canada’s foreign policy would note be governed by “the almighty dollar.”

This repudiation of dollar diplomacy didn’t last long. Under business pressure, Harper soon moved to improve relations with China’s dictators. These days, the prime minister rarely mentions Celil’s name.

But the so-called new morality lived on in a different form, focusing less on abstract principles like human rights, and more on choosing sides.

In this view of the world, there are few grey areas. If Colombia’s government is fighting terrorists, then it is right – no matter how vicious its own death squads.

If Israel is fighting suicide bombers, then its actions – however dubious in terms of international law – are justified.

With Harper, Canada’s more measured approach to the Middle East came to an abrupt end. Under the new morality, Israel was right, period.

Harper lauded both its 2006 incursion into Lebanon and its later attack on Gaza. When a Canadian soldier on duty as a UN observer in Lebanon was targeted and killed by Israeli forces, the prime minister made little fuss.

In the new, Conservative moral universe, Major Paeta Hess-von Kruedener was merely collateral damage in an apocalyptic battle between good and evil

Indeed, the Harper government’s new morality applied to the UN itself. To those looking for certainty in foreign affairs, the UN – an organization based on compromise – is by definition corrupt, a haven of moral relativists.

Last year, Harper showed his disdain for the world body by skipping out of a meeting of the UN General Assembly to attend a photo op at an Oakville doughnut shop.

This year Canada cut off its aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (which works in Hamas-controlled Gaza and is deemed suspect by Israel), channeling it instead to the anti-Hamas Palestinian Authority.

Belatedly, when he recognized the political embarrassment he could suffer from failing to win a security council seat, Harper switched his approach. He spoke of his respect for the world body. He lobbied the leaders of small countries.

In New York, Canadian diplomats reportedly tried to woo their counterparts with cases of free beer and maple syrup.

But it was too late. The world had seen enough of Canada’s new, I’m-right-you’re-wrong approach to foreign affairs. And it decided it preferred us the way we used to be.

 

[Tokyo Heights]

Its totally not correct to say that Canada loss the Seat at Security Council, due to our great PM's Foreign Policies, rather i would say that at the moment the Conservative Party is far more better than the Liberals, who have no Leader-ship at the moment, and what they did to the Province of Ontario by forcibly imposing HST Taxes on its poor citizens, who were alll against the imposition of HST, due to which their lives have further being made difficult, as since July, 2010 our Inflation Rate has gone over 2% whereas the Govt. is claiming just 1.70% we are paying additional taxes on thousands of items which were earlier not being taxed, now we are being taxed on every step of our lives due to our Honourable Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty, who has miserably failed, and most the politically conscious people of Ontario are eagerly awaiting for our Handsome Blue Eyed PM to announce early Spring Elections so we can root-out the Liberals from the Province of Ontario and have our Conservative Candidate Tim Huduck as our next Premier, and feel safe with the PC ruling us! Lord save Canada from Rip-Off Political Parties!

 

[fuji]

Seats on any UN body are bought and sold, not won. In order to get the seat Canada would have to agree to support some dictator's loathsome agenda. Given how little power a non-permanent member has on the UN SC just not worth it.

 

[Eric Blair]

Its totally not correct to say that Canada loss the Seat at Security Council, due to our great PM's Foreign Policies, rather i would say that at the moment the Conservative Party is far more better than the Liberals, who have no Leader-ship at the moment, and what they did to the Province of Ontario by forcibly imposing HST Taxes on its poor citizens, who were alll against the imposition of HST, due to which their lives have further being made difficult, as since July, 2010 our Inflation Rate has gone over 2% whereas the Govt. is claiming just 1.70% we are paying additional taxes on thousands of items which were earlier not being taxed, now we are being taxed on every step of our lives due to our Honourable Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty, who has miserably failed, and most the politically conscious people of Ontario are eagerly awaiting for our Handsome Blue Eyed PM to announce early Spring Elections so we can root-out the Liberals from the Province of Ontario and have our Conservative Candidate Tim Huduck as our next Premier, and feel safe with the PC ruling us! Lord save Canada from Rip-Off Political Parties!

Harper is the worst PM in Canadian history. Luckily he will soon be history.

 

[afterhours]

Harper's plan for a far right-wing Canada is finally being exposed by the rest of the world. Hopefully we Canadians can get our heads out of our asses and see wht is going on with the non-progressive Conservatives:

1) foreign policies;
2) human rights;
3) women's rights;
4) environmental policies;

Lester Pearson would roll over in his grave. It is a huge embarrassment for Canada the responsibility for which rests solely in the hands of Harper.

elaborate on women's rights please

 

[flubadub]

elaborate on women's rights please

He's ignoring equity hiring and tried to stop funding abortions through foreign aid.

 

[OddSox]

He's ignoring equity hiring and tried to stop funding abortions through foreign aid.

Wrong.