BREAKING: Canada loses non-permanent UNSC bid to Ireland and Norway, as colonialism and imperialism abroad finally produce consequences
Written by: Aidan Jonah
Canada has lost its bid for a two-year non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat. Canada was competing for a UNSC seat with Ireland and Norway. Norway recieved 130 votes, Ireland received 128 votes, and Canada recieved 108 out of a possible 192 votes.
To be elected a non-permanent member of the UNSC, a country needed to receive two-thirds of the total votes. Canada failed to reach this requirement and recieved less votes than both countries, leaving it with yet another failure to join the UN Security Council on a non-permanent basis for two years.
According to the National Post, Canada spent about $2 million on the bid.
The day of voting
Starting at 9 a.m. today, countries began to cast their ballots, with Canada vying against Ireland and Norway for two seats on the 15-member council.
Normally the UN ambassadors would all be in the general assembly room, but due to COVID-19 the ambassadors filed through in shifts to cast secret ballots.
Canada has had a seat on the council six times since the UN’s inception, but it has not held a seat since a two-year term ended in 2000. An attempt to gain a seat in 2010 failed, as Canada lost out to Germany and Portugal.
Trudeau and Freeland both dismissed suggestions that a loss for Canada would be a political failure for the Liberals, seeming attempting to provide cover in case of failure.
Around 4 p.m. the election results were confirmed via an online livestream.
#NoUNSC4Canada campaign produces results
This campaign led by left-wing activists seeked to expose Canada’s record of colonialism against Indigenous Nations at home and imperialism abroad. In recent years, Canada has consistently voted against UN resolutions which validate Palestinian rights, while supporting US-backed coup attempts in Venezuela, Bolivia and many more countries around the world. Canada even formed the Lima Group in 2017, when Chrystia Freeland was still Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister.
Canada has also supported the Unites States’ vicious sanctions agenda against any country which opposes its imperialist agenda. This includes attempts to suffocate the Venezuelan, Iranian and many other countries’ economies, in the hopes of sparking civil unrest to exploit, and place a US friendly leader in charge.
The campaign itself began long ago, but ramped up from this April onwards. The Canadian Foreign Policy Institute released an open letter arguing that “CANADA DOES NOT DESERVE A SEAT ON THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL”. It was signed by more than 3,500 Canadians, including famous citizens such as:
David Suzuki, Award winning geneticist/broadcaster
Roger Waters, co-founder Pink Floyd
Noam Chomsky, linguist, author & social critic
Setsuko Thurlow, Nobel Peace Prize co-winner (2017)
Ellen Gabriel, artist and activist
Roméo Saganash, former MP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou
Yvon Deschamps, author, actor, comedian
Sid Ryan, former president of Ontario Federation of Labour and CUPE Ontario
Rawi Hage, novelist
Amir Khadir, former Quebec National Assembly member
Pam Palmater, Chair in Indigenous Governance, Ryerson
August Arnold, journalist and author
Yves Engler, author & activist
On May 19, The Toronto Star published this open letter, earning the movement crucial recognition from Canada’s mainstream media. Many activists released various op-eds and columns on news sites around the world to build on this momentum. By June 10, the movement had garnered enough momentum to panic Canadian diplomats. On that day, Canada’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Marc-André Blanchard, delivered a letter to all UN ambassadors defending Canadian policy on Palestinian rights.
However, in the end, Canada’s vain effort to save its campaign for a non-permanent United Nations Security Council seat has failed. “Canada’s failure to gain a seat on the Security Council is a major blow to Justin Trudeau’s government,” said Bianca Mugyenyi, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute national coordinator. “But the loss is a victory for those seeking a more just Canadian foreign policy.”
What will the ramifications of this momentous election be? We will have to wait and see.
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