Canada's UN Security Council Bid Fails After 4-Year Campaign
In a contest against Ireland and Norway, Canada came out empty-handed
Members of the UN Security Council advise on the humanitarian situation in Syria during a meeting on Feb. 27, 2020.
By Zi-Ann Lum
OTTAWA — Canada has lost its bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council after member nations cast secret ballots in New York Wednesday.
The result is a disappointing end to the country’s four-year campaign to return to the UN body since 2000. Election results show Canada received 108 of 192 valid votes, below the two-thirds threshold that’s required to win a seat.
Ireland and Norway, securing 128 and 130 votes respectively, will take their seats at the UN’s most important decision-making body for a two-year term beginning January 2021.
Turnout was high for the much-anticipated election with 192 out of 193 nations participating in the vote.
It’s a major loss for Canada, but for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in particular because of the “ownership” he’s taken in the campaign, according to Adam Chapnick, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Time wasn’t on Canada’s side.
“We joined this election extremely late,” the UN security council expert told HuffPost Canada in an interview. “In some ways, we’ve been campaigning with an arm tied behind our back.”
Physical distancing restrictions in the General Assembly hall could also delay voting and tallying results.
The country’s current campaign has been led by Marc-André Blanchard, a lawyer and former president of the Quebec Liberal Party. He was appointed Canada’s ambassador to the UN in 2016.
Recently, Blanchard has embarked on a campaign of physically distant events, arranging bike rides and picnic dinners with diplomats in Manhattan to shore up votes.
Canada will need to win at least two-thirds of support to secure a seat on the UN’s most important decision-making body for a two-year term beginning in January 2021.
Norway and Ireland, which have run longer campaigns, are also competing for the two open seats in the same voting bloc reserved for “Western European and Others Group” countries.
“The Irish have been campaigning for more than a decade. The Norwegian campaign has run twice as long as ours,” Chapnick said.
Canada’s campaign hasn’t been a smooth four-year run, either.
The election of Donald Trump as president in the United States heightened concerns about the North American Free Trade Agreement and deflected Canada’s attention from its Security Council bid for about a year.
JOHANNES EISELE VIA GETTY IMAGES
By Zi-Ann Lum
OTTAWA — Canada has lost its bid for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council after member nations cast secret ballots in New York Wednesday.
The result is a disappointing end to the country’s four-year campaign to return to the UN body since 2000. Election results show Canada received 108 of 192 valid votes, below the two-thirds threshold that’s required to win a seat.
Ireland and Norway, securing 128 and 130 votes respectively, will take their seats at the UN’s most important decision-making body for a two-year term beginning January 2021.
Turnout was high for the much-anticipated election with 192 out of 193 nations participating in the vote.
It’s a major loss for Canada, but for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in particular because of the “ownership” he’s taken in the campaign, according to Adam Chapnick, a professor at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Time wasn’t on Canada’s side.
“We joined this election extremely late,” the UN security council expert told HuffPost Canada in an interview. “In some ways, we’ve been campaigning with an arm tied behind our back.”
Physical distancing restrictions in the General Assembly hall could also delay voting and tallying results.
The country’s current campaign has been led by Marc-André Blanchard, a lawyer and former president of the Quebec Liberal Party. He was appointed Canada’s ambassador to the UN in 2016.
Recently, Blanchard has embarked on a campaign of physically distant events, arranging bike rides and picnic dinners with diplomats in Manhattan to shore up votes.
Canada will need to win at least two-thirds of support to secure a seat on the UN’s most important decision-making body for a two-year term beginning in January 2021.
Norway and Ireland, which have run longer campaigns, are also competing for the two open seats in the same voting bloc reserved for “Western European and Others Group” countries.
“The Irish have been campaigning for more than a decade. The Norwegian campaign has run twice as long as ours,” Chapnick said.
Canada’s campaign hasn’t been a smooth four-year run, either.
The election of Donald Trump as president in the United States heightened concerns about the North American Free Trade Agreement and deflected Canada’s attention from its Security Council bid for about a year.
JOHANNES EISELE VIA GETTY IMAGES
Canada's ambassador to the UN, Marc-Andre Blanchard speaks to the United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Venezuela on Jan. 26, 2019 at the United Nations in New York.
Another setback, Chapnick said, was the SNC-Lavalin affair, which shook countries’ confidence in making UN vote swaps with Canada. Ambassadors were uncertain if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government would survive the fall election.
Vote swapping is a common practice among member states to trade support in UN elections.
Despite Trudeau’s bumpy 2019, a political twist gave Canada a competitive advantage in vote swapping early this year.
In February, a cloud of political uncertainty fell over Ireland after an election that took down the incumbent prime minister resulted in a hung parliament.
On Monday, rival Irish parties announced an agreement to form a coalition government — 48 hours before the Security Council vote.
Chapnick said the timing of the outcome ameliorates Ireland’s decade-long bid, throwing a last-minute twist for Canada’s campaign.
Current Security Council described as ‘dysfunctional’
Canada has been on the outside looking in for more than two decades after losing a Security Council vote in October 2010.
Allan Rock, Canada’s former ambassador to the UN in New York between 2003-2006, said the loss in 2010 to Portugal was a rebuke of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government’s efforts to move away from multilateralism.
Before that, the only time Canada lost an election to the Security Council was in January 1946.
The former Chrétien-era cabinet minister told HuffPost he doesn’t believe the current campaign can be dismissed as a vanity project for Trudeau’s Liberal government.
“I think of it as an opportunity to serve, and being on the Security Council provides that opportunity uniquely, in a way that no other organization can,” Rock said. Canada could bring some much-needed “positive energy” to the Security Council, he said, describing the powerful body as currently “dysfunctional.”
“They find it difficult to get together and adopt resolutions. Russia and China are too frequently using their veto. There’s too little basis for consensus at the table,” Rock said. “For a while, they weren’t even able to agree on how they would meet during the pandemic.”
The Security Council has been missing in action in the pandemic.Allan Rock, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations
The UN Security Council is made up of five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Every two years, elections are held to fill the rotating 10 non-permanent seats that round out the UN body.
Its dysfunction has been evident in the lack of UN intervention in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars and the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. It hasn’t been much help in the world’s response to COVID-19, either.
“The Security Council has been missing in action in the pandemic,” Rock said. “It has not fulfilled a constructive role in coordinating the UN’s response.”
With the apparent inertia that has seized the Security Council, Rock believes there’s an appetite among members to build alliances with Canada to “establish peace and security and to accelerate development.”
Pandemic casts Security Council diplomacy in new light
Wednesday’s election won’t unfold like other ones in recent decades.
Special rules are in place to ensure physical distancing in the UN General Assembly Hall for Wednesday’s vote. Time slots will be given to 193 member countries to enter the venue to cast their ballots.
Canada’s ground game received help this week from Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who arrived in New York by car on Sunday to help Blanchard in the final stretch of the campaign.
Champagne told The Canadian Press “the race is tight” and that he’s made more than 100 calls in the past three weeks to his counterparts around the world and in New York.
“I sense momentum. But obviously you have to be cautious,” he said.
Since the 2015 election, Trudeau has treated the campaign for the UN seat as a marquee item in the Liberal Party’s foreign policy agenda. The prime minister has put significant effort into lobbying Caribbean and African countries in particular.
Readouts from the prime minister’s office in recent days show Trudeau working the phones to reach out to leaders in Saint Kitts and Nevis, Angola, Pakistan, Mexico, and India, among others countries in the campaign’s final push.
SEYLLOU VIA GETTY IMAGES
Another setback, Chapnick said, was the SNC-Lavalin affair, which shook countries’ confidence in making UN vote swaps with Canada. Ambassadors were uncertain if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government would survive the fall election.
Vote swapping is a common practice among member states to trade support in UN elections.
Despite Trudeau’s bumpy 2019, a political twist gave Canada a competitive advantage in vote swapping early this year.
In February, a cloud of political uncertainty fell over Ireland after an election that took down the incumbent prime minister resulted in a hung parliament.
On Monday, rival Irish parties announced an agreement to form a coalition government — 48 hours before the Security Council vote.
Chapnick said the timing of the outcome ameliorates Ireland’s decade-long bid, throwing a last-minute twist for Canada’s campaign.
Current Security Council described as ‘dysfunctional’
Canada has been on the outside looking in for more than two decades after losing a Security Council vote in October 2010.
Allan Rock, Canada’s former ambassador to the UN in New York between 2003-2006, said the loss in 2010 to Portugal was a rebuke of former prime minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government’s efforts to move away from multilateralism.
Before that, the only time Canada lost an election to the Security Council was in January 1946.
The former Chrétien-era cabinet minister told HuffPost he doesn’t believe the current campaign can be dismissed as a vanity project for Trudeau’s Liberal government.
“I think of it as an opportunity to serve, and being on the Security Council provides that opportunity uniquely, in a way that no other organization can,” Rock said. Canada could bring some much-needed “positive energy” to the Security Council, he said, describing the powerful body as currently “dysfunctional.”
“They find it difficult to get together and adopt resolutions. Russia and China are too frequently using their veto. There’s too little basis for consensus at the table,” Rock said. “For a while, they weren’t even able to agree on how they would meet during the pandemic.”
The Security Council has been missing in action in the pandemic.Allan Rock, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations
The UN Security Council is made up of five permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Every two years, elections are held to fill the rotating 10 non-permanent seats that round out the UN body.
Its dysfunction has been evident in the lack of UN intervention in the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars and the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. It hasn’t been much help in the world’s response to COVID-19, either.
“The Security Council has been missing in action in the pandemic,” Rock said. “It has not fulfilled a constructive role in coordinating the UN’s response.”
With the apparent inertia that has seized the Security Council, Rock believes there’s an appetite among members to build alliances with Canada to “establish peace and security and to accelerate development.”
Pandemic casts Security Council diplomacy in new light
Wednesday’s election won’t unfold like other ones in recent decades.
Special rules are in place to ensure physical distancing in the UN General Assembly Hall for Wednesday’s vote. Time slots will be given to 193 member countries to enter the venue to cast their ballots.
Canada’s ground game received help this week from Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne, who arrived in New York by car on Sunday to help Blanchard in the final stretch of the campaign.
Champagne told The Canadian Press “the race is tight” and that he’s made more than 100 calls in the past three weeks to his counterparts around the world and in New York.
“I sense momentum. But obviously you have to be cautious,” he said.
Since the 2015 election, Trudeau has treated the campaign for the UN seat as a marquee item in the Liberal Party’s foreign policy agenda. The prime minister has put significant effort into lobbying Caribbean and African countries in particular.
Readouts from the prime minister’s office in recent days show Trudeau working the phones to reach out to leaders in Saint Kitts and Nevis, Angola, Pakistan, Mexico, and India, among others countries in the campaign’s final push.
SEYLLOU VIA GETTY IMAGES
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks with Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri at the "Door of the Journey of No Return" at the Goree Slave House during a visit to Senegal on Goree Island off the coast of Dakar on Feb. 12, 2020.
Earlier this year, Trudeau embarked on a tour of Ethiopia and Senegal to boost Canada’s Security Council bid. Former prime minister Joe Clark was also recruited to help add some clout to the campaign. But some analysts said that trip may have come too late.
Chapnick said Canada’s campaign — focused on strengthening multilateralism, economic security, gender equality, peace, and action on climate change — isn’t much different from what Ireland or Norway are pitching.
But Canada is the best connected of the three countries in a time when multilateralism is struggling, Chapnick said.
He pointed to Canada being a member of the Commonwealth, La Francophonie, and the G7 and G20. “We are better placed to bring more countries together.”
But as long as COVID-19 remains a pandemic, the nature of having a seat in the UN’s most powerful body will look and likely feel different.
POOL VIA GETTY IMAGES
Earlier this year, Trudeau embarked on a tour of Ethiopia and Senegal to boost Canada’s Security Council bid. Former prime minister Joe Clark was also recruited to help add some clout to the campaign. But some analysts said that trip may have come too late.
Chapnick said Canada’s campaign — focused on strengthening multilateralism, economic security, gender equality, peace, and action on climate change — isn’t much different from what Ireland or Norway are pitching.
But Canada is the best connected of the three countries in a time when multilateralism is struggling, Chapnick said.
He pointed to Canada being a member of the Commonwealth, La Francophonie, and the G7 and G20. “We are better placed to bring more countries together.”
But as long as COVID-19 remains a pandemic, the nature of having a seat in the UN’s most powerful body will look and likely feel different.
POOL VIA GETTY IMAGES
A view of members taking part on screen during an emergency G20 virtual summit to discuss the coronavirus crisis on March 26, 2020.
Like many workplaces around the world adjusting their workflows to the coronavirus pandemic, the Security Council has moved its meetings online. It’s a trend that will likely continue until an effective vaccine for COVID-19 comes to market.
Despite the fact that ambassadors are currently not physically sitting next to each other every day, Chapnick said there’s still diplomatic value in having a seat on the council.
“We’re really struggling to negotiate with the Chinese, the release of the two Michaels,” he said, referring to the two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig who have been detained in China since December 2018. “It couldn’t hurt to have a seat beside a major Chinese diplomat every day for two years at the Security Council.”
Of course, rubbing physical shoulders with someone is currently verboten from a public health perspective. It’s too early to say if the loss of small talk and in-person access between diplomats will remedy or exacerbate the UN body’s current dysfunction.
Members can always take their interactions to private digital rooms, Chapnick said, emphasizing opportunity in a time of scarce interpersonal interactions. “You may have fewer interactions, but those interactions are likely to be more serious and deeper.”
With files from The Canadian Press
https://soundcloud.com/huffpost-follow-up/31-canada-aches-for-redemption-at-the-united-nationsLike many workplaces around the world adjusting their workflows to the coronavirus pandemic, the Security Council has moved its meetings online. It’s a trend that will likely continue until an effective vaccine for COVID-19 comes to market.
Despite the fact that ambassadors are currently not physically sitting next to each other every day, Chapnick said there’s still diplomatic value in having a seat on the council.
“We’re really struggling to negotiate with the Chinese, the release of the two Michaels,” he said, referring to the two Canadians, Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig who have been detained in China since December 2018. “It couldn’t hurt to have a seat beside a major Chinese diplomat every day for two years at the Security Council.”
Of course, rubbing physical shoulders with someone is currently verboten from a public health perspective. It’s too early to say if the loss of small talk and in-person access between diplomats will remedy or exacerbate the UN body’s current dysfunction.
Members can always take their interactions to private digital rooms, Chapnick said, emphasizing opportunity in a time of scarce interpersonal interactions. “You may have fewer interactions, but those interactions are likely to be more serious and deeper.”
With files from The Canadian Press
India, Mexico, Norway, Ireland elected to UN Security Council
POOL/AFP/File / Stephane LEMOUTONThe UN Security Council room seen in 2017
The UN General Assembly elected on Wednesday four new members of the Security Council for 2021 and 2022, with Canada losing out again and the battle for the African seat going to a second round.
India, Mexico, Norway and Ireland were chosen as non-permanent members, while Djibouti and Kenya -- both of which failed to receive the two-thirds vote majority required to win -- will go to a second round of voting on Thursday.
Canada was beaten once again for one of the Western seats, by Ireland and Norway, despite a long and star-studded campaign, a result likely to be a blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
In the Asia-Pacific region, India -- which has been trying unsuccessfully to win a permanent seat in an expanded Security Council -- ran unopposed to win 184 votes out of the 192 countries that participated in the election.
The result means that India will now have a seat at the same table as China, just days after the two nations disputed their Himalayan border, trading blame for a brawl that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.
Mexico, which also ran unopposed, earned 187 votes.
African nations have in the past picked their own candidate but were unable to put forward a single country this time. Kenya received 113 votes against Djibouti, which got 78.
Kenya boasts of enjoying the support of the African Union, but Djibouti says it should have the seat due to Nairobi's past participation on the Security Council and the principle of rotation.
French-speaking Djibouti and English-speaking Kenya are both highlighting their roles in seeking peace on the Horn of Africa, as well as their contributions to UN peacekeeping options.
Kenya has pointed to its welcome to refugees from Somalia and South Sudan, as well as to its support to the two countries' fragile governments.
Djibouti, in turn, notes its strategic location and unusual role as a defense base for diverse countries -- France, the United States, China and Japan -- as well as its contributions in Somalia.
For Europe and the Western seats, the competition was more customary.
Canada -- already stung by a defeat in 2010 during its last bid for the Security Council, when the General Assembly chose Portugal instead -- was dominated by Norway, with 130 votes, and Ireland, which had 128, the minimum number required to win.
Trudeau had invested heavily in the latest Security Council effort, with the defeat potentially causing him political embarrassment at home.
"As we move forward, we remain committed to the goals and principles that we laid out during this campaign," Trudeau said in a statement, adding that Canada would "continue to play a vital role in advancing global cooperation and building a more peaceful, inclusive and sustainable world."
- Celine Dion vs Bono -
Getty Images North America/Getty Images/AFP/File / Michael NagleU2 frontman Bono visits the United Nations in 2008
Hoping to woo delegates, both Canada and Ireland had wielded star power: Celine Dion sang in New York City to promote Canada at the UN, while U2 performed a concert in the Big Apple for Ireland.
"Campaigning for a UNSC seat involves endless lobbying, entertaining and worrying that the ambassador who just promised you a vote is a liar," tweeted Richard Gowan, an expert on the world body at the International Crisis Group.
Fearing fraud or manipulation, the General Assembly did not vote electronically, even though the United Nations is mostly operating virtually until the end of July due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Instead, each of the 193 delegations had a chance to cast a secret ballot at a designated time scattered throughout the day in the famous Assembly Hall. Each new Security Council member needed to win two-thirds of the votes cast.
The Security Council has 10 non-permanent members in addition to the veto-wielding Big Five -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.
The General Assembly also elected Turkish diplomat Volkan Bozkir as its president for the 2020-21 session on Wednesday.
Bozkir was the only candidate running, but Armenia, Cyprus and Greece -- all of which have historically tense relations with Turkey -- opposed him, meaning he could not be elected by consensus and nations had to cast votes
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