Canada, 2010

It has

now been more than 65 years since the nations of the

world, exhausted, and in some cases devastated, by

years of war, established the United Nations. Canada

was one of those nations — one of the many, in fact,

whose fresh experience of conflict had persuaded their

peoples that the possibility of a better world, one in

which nations resolved their differences peacefully,

was an objective worthy of their every effort.

Today, the Canadian people continue to believe in

that purpose and will continue to strive to live by the

principles that would make it possible. Such principles are enshrined in the Charter of

this Organization; that same United Nations Charter

endorsed with happiness and hope by a former

Canadian Government on that auspicious June day in

San Francisco in 1945.

Those foundational beliefs recognize the

sovereign equality of countries. They remind us of the

obligation to settle disputes peacefully, and they

demand we seek justice and uphold the human rights of

all people. Those are values that Canadians hold dear,

and, as the universal membership of this body implies,

so do peoples the world over. That widespread

consensus continues to convince the idealist in all of us

that so much more is possible in this world of ours.

At the same time, it makes the gap between

aspiration and achievement so disappointing. It calls us

onward to do more, as successive Canadian

Governments have worked diligently to do for almost a

lifetime.

Those ideals, as well as an acute awareness of the

broad concerns of the international community,

especially those of the developing countries, continue

to animate the Government of Canada, the Government

that I lead today.

Those ideals have the enthusiastic support of the

Canadian people, and I do not foresee any day or

motivation that would lead us to cease in our

endeavours in this regard.

The question, as always, is how this is to be done.

Our preference is to take meaningful action, action that

produces real results, action that helps people in their

struggle with oppression, disaster and poverty.

Let me just run through some of those actions. As

a founding member of the United Nations and the

seventh-largest contributor to its finances, Canada has

been a consistently reliable and responsible participant

in United Nations initiatives around the world. This

was so in the earliest days of the United Nations. It was

so during the difficult days of the cold war,

decolonization and the struggle against apartheid, and

it remains so today. Canada continues to pay, for

instance, a heavy price to fulfil our United Nations

obligation to support the lawful Government of

Afghanistan. We pay it with the resources of Canadian

taxpayers, but more profoundly in sorrow for the

priceless lives of our young men and women who serve

there in the Canadian forces, as well as, sadly, civilians

who have also given their sweat and their lives in the

service of both our country and the people of

Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan, our military efforts have gone

hand in hand with our reconstruction and development

programmes. In particular, Canada supports those such

as the Dahla Dam, which will have enduring economic

benefit.

We have also invested heavily in other programmes

which will improve the lives of that country’s most

vulnerable citizens, and we will continue to do so.

Our international engagement is by no means

restricted to Afghanistan. In fact, elsewhere in the

world, we have also expanded our efforts. We pledge to

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double our aid to Africa,thereby making Canada a

leader in the Group of Eight (G-8).

And we are on track to double our overall development

assistance by March of next year. Furthermore, we

have untied food aid, and all Canadian aid will be

untied by 2013. Such measures significantly extend the

purchasing power of Canadian aid funds.

Canada was also among the first last year at the

G-8 Summit at L’Aquila to double support for

agricultural development. During the economic crisis

as well, we acted, in concert with our Group of Twenty

(G-20) partners, to increase the lending capacity of

development organizations like the Inter-American

Development Bank and the African Development

Bank. In particular, we have made a significant

contribution to peace and security in Africa, including

to peace initiatives, humanitarian assistance and

reconstruction in the Sudan, since taking office in

January 2006.

We have also provided leadership in peacebuilding in

Sierra Leone.

Canada welcomes the resumption of direct talks

between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. We

sincerely hope that the discussions will be successful,

and we will continue to assist the Palestinian Authority

in building its institutions.

As members know, we have also engaged very

extensively in Haiti, both before and since the terrible

earthquake earlier this year. Canada was among the

first nations to provide tangible relief in various forms,

and it has made a long-term commitment to assist the

people of Haiti in rebuilding their severely damaged

country.

Most recently, Pakistan has faced devastating

floods, and Canada has again responded swiftly. All

these actions are born from Canadian ideals.

So allow me to say one thing. This Assembly

should know that Canada is eligible to serve on the

Security Council. And if we are elected, we will be

ready to serve.

And if called upon to serve on the Security Council, we

shall be informed by these ideals and strive to further

them, just as we have striven to implement Security

Council resolutions.

I should also mention Canada’s role this year as

Chair of the G-8 and host of the most recent meeting of

the G-20. We have tried to ensure that these gatherings

serve the broader interests of the entire global

community. In preparation for the G-20, we conducted

wide-ranging outreach sessions, including with the

Secretaries-General of the Commonwealth, la

Francophonie and, of course, this Organization. We

used our chairmanship of the G-8 to reach out to

leaders from Africa and the Americas and to secure an

agreement to enact the Muskoka Initiative for

maternal, newborn and child health.

Such progress is literally vital in meeting the most

achievable of the United Nations Millennium

Development Goals — to reduce the appalling

mortality among mothers and children in developing

countries.

We are mobilizing support from donor nations

and private foundations. Together, we should be able to

mobilize more than $10 billion over five years. This

will contribute in a major way to the Secretary-

General’s Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s

Health. Likewise, we announced here two day ago that

Canadian taxpayers would make an enhanced

replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,

Tuberculosis and Malaria.

We did these things for one simple reason: to

alleviate the suffering and, indeed, save the lives of

people all over the world who are among the millions

afflicted with these grave and debilitating diseases.

Actions such as these are a moral imperative. It is

essential that we strive to make a significant, actual

difference in the lives of the world’s most

disadvantaged people. Who, seeing his neighbour

distressed, will pass by on the other side of the road?

That is why we have also used our chairmanship

of the G-8 to further the essential ethic of

accountability. We published the first accountability

report to ensure that, as donor countries, we fulfil the

pledges that we make. Our words must be translated

into action and we must make a real difference to those

who need our help. And to that end, as many of you

also know, Canadian taxpayers have forgiven debts

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totalling $1 billion owed by the world’s poorest

countries.

However, let us not limit our horizons by looking

just at the least we can do. Much higher goals are

within our capacity if we will but reach for them. In the

short time that I have here today, there is one thought

above all others that I wish to share.

It is the pressing need in the twenty-first century

for all the States of the world to adopt an enlightened

view of sovereignty. As I said earlier, respect for

sovereignty is a fundamental principle of the United

Nations. However, the global recession of the past two

years has taught us, we hope, a painful lesson. We have

been forcefully reminded that, in this shrinking world,

we all travel together in a single boat, not as solo

voyagers, and that how we travel together matters. This

is because our interests are all interconnected: from

climate change to health and pandemic threats and to,

of course, the economy.

For example, nations that do not consider the

effects of their economic choices on others may hurt

not only their trading partners, but themselves as well.

Those who succumb to the lure of protectionism soon

find that trading partners denied a market also lack the

means to be a customer. To recognize that is to

understand the need for enlightened sovereignty, the

idea that what is good for others may well be the best

way to pursue one’s own interests. In business, it is

called win-win, and it is good for business. In

international affairs, it is good for development and for

justice, and it is in the spirit of the United Nations

Charter. It is therefore of the highest importance, in a

passionate world of competing interests and principles,

where every person left to himself does what is right in

his own sight. In such a world, the need for an

enlightened, expansive view of sovereignty is as great

now as it ever was.

At the outset of these remarks, I referred to the

origins of the United Nations. It was founded at the end

of the greatest and most destructive war that had ever

disturbed the ocean of humanity. That war was

certainly attributable in part to an extreme and

pernicious nationalism. But we should never forget that

appeasement and expediency also allowed fascism to

gather such strength that it required the whole and

undivided effort of the world’s free peoples to subdue

it.

The United Nations mission has grown over time,

but its core job remains the same: through peace and

development, to build a better world, to prevent war

and conflict, yet at the same time, to uphold what is

right and to protect the weak and the poor from those

who prey upon them.

The Government of Canada has always been

deeply committed to these objectives and to the

Organization that nurtures them. It remains so today.

As we attend to our own affairs, in, for example,

the protection of Canada’s Arctic or the promotion of

our trade or the pursuit of our values, Canada will be

guided by the same advice we prescribe for others. We

will listen to their concerns, we will speak the truth,

and we will act with vigour. We will do all these things

ever mindful that peace and opportunity for all remain,

always, our ultimate purpose.

I know it has been a long meeting this morning,

and I thank members for their attention.