UN Security Council needs Canada post-pandemic, akin to Second World War: PM

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council is more relevant now because of the need to rebuild the world after the COVID-19 crisis subsides.

Trudeau is drawing a direct link between the pandemic and the aftermath of the Second World War, when Canada played a role in the founding of the UN, the Bretton Woods global financial institutions and other multilateral organizations such as NATO.

As was the case in the 1940s, Canada has a role to play in creating a better, fairer world and winning a spot on the UN’s most powerful body is one way to do that after the pandemic, the prime minister says.

Canada is competing against Norway and Ireland for a two-year temporary seat on the council that would begin next year. 

The UN General Assembly was to vote in a secret ballot in June.

Trudeau is offering the justification after the distribution of an open letter from signatories such as environmentalist David Suzuki and American scholar Noam Chomsky that says Canada is not worthy of a UN Security Council seat because of its positions on a variety of issues such as climate change, the Middle East and Venezuela.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 19, 2020.

The Canadian Press