Canada, 2011

Nearly 66 years ago, in

1946, one of my predecessors was privileged to

represent Canada at the first session of the General

Assembly. It is an honour to follow in those footsteps

and to renew Canada’s commitment to the founding

principles of the United Nations, namely, to maintain

international peace and security; to prevent and

remove threats to peace; to suppress acts of aggression;

to respect the principle of equal rights and the self-

determination of peoples; to strengthen universal

peace; and to promote and encourage respect for

human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. This

Hall symbolizes the promise of humankind and what

we can accomplish by working together to uphold

those founding principles.

Yet, only a short distance from here is an entirely

different symbol - ground zero. The date 9/11 was a

stark reminder that evil exists, that life is fragile, that

freedom has enemies, and that the poison of radical

terrorism is all too real. It serves as a reminder that, as

far as humankind has advanced, threats to peace,

security and human dignity remain.

In that context, I wish to share reflections on

three areas: first, the principles that motivate Canada’s

approach to foreign policy; secondly, the basis for

Canada’s support of multilateral organizations and

multilateral action; and thirdly, a way forward for the

United Nations.

The founding principles of these United Nations

are more than mere words. It is our duty to pull them

from the printed page, to breathe life into them and to

practise them every day. In everyday practice, it is not

easy to uphold principles. It requires struggle and

sacrifice. Some pay the ultimate price.

The world remembers Secretary-General Dag

Hammarskjöld, who was killed 50 years ago this

month. We honour him for his integrity, his principles

and for his great courage in confronting power. We also

remember that it was Canada’s Prime Minister, John

Diefenbaker, who, just a year earlier, stood at this very

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rostrum to respond to unjust attacks against him.

Canada did not hesitate to defend the Office and the

person of the Secretary-General.

That is the Canadian tradition — standing for

what is principled and just, regardless of whether it is

popular, convenient or expedient. Over the past

century, the world was infected by a lethal combination

of utopian ideology and brutal despotism that spawned

totalitarian regimes that enslaved their own peoples.

Apologists tried to persuade us that the ideology of

Communism was benign. Canadians knew better. We

took a stand for freedom and fundamental human

rights. We stood against oppression in Germany and in

Ukraine. We stood with its brave people, and those of

the other captive nations of central and Eastern Europe.

Canada does not go along in order to get along.

We will go along only if we go in a direction that

advances Canada’s values: freedom, democracy, human

rights and the rule of law. Also, Canada would not go

along to support the farce of a major proliferator of

nuclear arms presiding over the Conference on

Disarmament. When North Korea relinquished the

presidency, we resumed our engagement in the

Conference. Canada’s tough economic sanctions

against that rogue regime remain in place, and we

continue to advocate and advance reform in how the

President of that important body is selected.

We would not go along with appeasement of the

former Al-Qadhafi regime, nor would we look the other

way when the Lockerbie mass murderer received a

hero’s welcome and the Colonel’s embrace. We would

not look the other way as the Al-Qadhafi regime,

blatantly disregarding human rights and the rule of law,

waged war on the people of Libya.

Canada backs our principles with action:

providing military support to NATO’s Operation

Unified Protector; recognizing the National Transitional

Council as Libya’s transitional Government; co-founding

the Libya Contact Group; and giving early, strong and

continuing support to the Libyan people’s struggle

against tyranny.

Canada would not simply go along or look

elsewhere when the Al-Assad regime started killing

Syrian men, women and children in a despicable and

desperate attempt to cling to power. We imposed tough

sanctions on the regime and its backers.

Canada will not go along with a double standard

that castigates some United Nations Members for

alleged failings, while ignoring the notorious abuses of

others. We supported the aspirations of those peoples

who sought brighter futures for themselves and their

countries during the Arab spring that has just passed.

However, we will not go along with the unilateral

actions of the Palestinian Authority. Just a few days

ago, the Quartet laid the foundation for a return to

negotiation. Our Government’s position has been

clear — the only solution to the issue is one that is

negotiated by the two parties themselves. We continue

to encourage both sides to accept those principles and

to return to direct talks, based on a two-State solution,

without delay or precondition.

We uphold Israel’s right to exist. We uphold its

fundamental right, like any Member State, to defend

innocent civilians against acts of terrorism. Just as

Fascism and Communism were the great struggles of

previous generations, terrorism is the great struggle of

ours. Far too often, the Jewish State is on the front line

in our struggle and its people are the victims of terror.

Canada will not accept or stay silent while the

Jewish State is attacked for defending its territory and

its citizens. The Second World War taught us all the

tragic price of going along just to get along. It was

accommodation and appeasement that allowed Fascism

to gather strength. As Winston Churchill said, an

appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will

eat him last.

We respect State sovereignty, but Canada will not

go along or look the other way when a minority is

denied its human rights or fundamental freedoms. It is

our common duty to uphold the rights of the afflicted

and to give a voice to the voiceless.

As citizens of the global community, we have a

solemn duty to defend the vulnerable, to challenge

aggression and to protect and promote human rights

and human dignity, at home and abroad: women,

Christians, Baha’i and other victims of persecution in

Iran; Roman Catholic priests, other Christian clergy

and their laity, driven to worship underground in

China; Christians being driven out of Iraq by Al-Qaida;

and Copts being assaulted and killed in Egypt. In

Burma, the regime discriminates against several forms

of Buddhism and restricts the activities of Muslims. In

other places, the Ahmadiyya community faces real

violence. Gays and lesbians are threatened with the

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criminalization of their sexuality in Uganda, and other

minorities are subjected to persecution, oppression or

violence. Our nationalities are many but we share one

humanity.

I am pleased to report that Canada will be

creating an office of religious freedom within our

Government at the heart of my own Department. The

office will promote freedom of religion and of

conscience as key objectives of Canadian foreign

policy. The long history of humankind has proved that

religious freedom and democratic freedom are

inseparable. As Franklin Roosevelt observed on the eve

of global war,

“[w]here freedom of religion has been attacked,

the attack has come from sources opposed to

democracy. Where democracy has been

overthrown, the spirit of free worship has

disappeared. And where religion and democracy

have vanished, good faith and reason in

international affairs have given way to strident

ambition and brute force”.

That brings me to Canada’s support of

multilateral institutions and multilateral action. Some

years ago, a former Secretary-General referred to

enlightened multilateralism as the guarantor, not the

enemy, of State sovereignty and the integrity of State.

State sovereignty is not created by multilateral

institutions. Instead, multilateral institutions exist and

derive legitimacy from the independent decisions of

sovereign States.

Canada’s position in that regard was explained by

our Prime Minister just last year. Referring to

multilateral action to address the world economic

crisis, Stephen Harper said that he saw world

leadership, at its best, as a glimpse of a hopeful future

where we act together for the good of all; the world we

have been trying to build since 1945; the world we

want for our children and for our grandchildren. It can

be done if we act together.

Enlightened sovereignty, multilateral institutions

and multilateral action result from a collection of

sovereign decisions based on individual States’ own

interests, not narrow self-interest in sovereignty’s

name, but an expanded view of mutual interest in

which there is room for all to grow and for all to

prosper. Canada calls that enlightened sovereignty. It is

the natural extension of enlightened self-interest.

As Canada’s Prime Minister noted when he

addressed the General Assembly last year, the United

Nations Charter is animated by “the idea that what is

good for others may well be the best way to pursue

one’s own interests” (A/65/PV.11, p. 46) — in other

words, enlightened sovereignty.

The world knows that we can accomplish great

things by working together. This year, collective action

under United Nations sanction helped to limit the loss

of life in Libya and ultimately ended a criminal,

illegitimate regime’s war on the people whom it

claimed to represent. Canada was tremendously proud

to take part in its demise. Our Royal Canadian Air

Force flew 10 per cent of the total strike sorties against

Al-Qadhafi’s forces and our Royal Canadian Navy

helped enforce the maritime blockade.

Canada has paid heavily, both in dollar terms and

in a costly human toll, to fulfil our United Nations

obligation to support the lawful Government of

Afghanistan. We used our chairmanship of the Group

of Eight 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.

That progress will help to meet the Millennium

Development Goal of reducing the appalling mortality

among mothers and children in developing countries.

Working with like-minded nations, Canada continues

to make significant financial contributions towards

peace, humanitarian assistance, development aid and

security in the Sudans. Collective action does not mean

uniformity.

For example, Canada works closely with like-

minded countries to advance human rights and

democracy in Burma. At the same time, we imposed

the toughest sanctions in the world against that

country’s repressive military regime. Similarly, when

Canada placed strong restrictions on Syria’s current

regime, we acted independently, but in close

consultation and cooperation with other nations.

In the defence of freedom and human rights, form

cannot prevail over substance. The determinant is

which route produces the best results. While

multilateral action should be preferred, failure to

achieve consensus must not prevent the willing from

acting to uphold human rights and the founding

principles of the United Nations.

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Margaret Thatcher was once reported to have said

that “consensus seems to be the process of abandoning

all beliefs, principles, values and policies. So it is

something in which no one believes”. That leads to my

third topic — the challenges to the relevance and the

effectiveness of this important Organization.

Canada has been a consistently reliable and

responsible participant in United Nations initiatives

around the world. We are the seventh largest

contributor to United Nations finances. The citizens of

the world deserve that the United Nations abide by the

same principles observed by so many Governments of

Member States: accountability, transparency and

ethics; financial responsibility and fiscal austerity;

efficiency and the elimination of waste and

duplication; regular reviews to sunset unnecessary,

redundant and obsolete mandates; and zero tolerance

for conflicts of interest, fraud and corruption.

Yet, the challenges faced by this Organization

extend beyond financial probity and operational

effectiveness. This Organization is a forum for debate

and dialogue, but it must also be a force for positive

action to make the world a better place. As a former

Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker, told this

Assembly during his defence of the world’s persecuted

minorities: “We are not here in this Assembly to win

wars of propaganda. We are here to win victories for

peace.” (A/PV.871, para. 225)

The relevance and effectiveness of the United

Nations are imperilled when the founding principles

are observed in word but not in deed. Such is the case

when the presidency of the Conference on

Disarmament passes to a regime involved in the illicit

transfers of weapons, material and technology; or when

Iran, which mocks the values of this Organization

through such outrages as refusing to allow entry to

United Nations observers on human rights, is permitted

to seek leadership roles, such as the vice-presidency of

the General Assembly and a seat on the Commission on

Population and Development; or when objection is

taken on petty, procedural or process-based grounds to

reporting that speaks about credible allegations of war

crimes committed in Sri Lanka; or when blatant

violators of women’s rights are welcomed to the

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination against Women, often despite

reservations that are incompatible with the object and

purpose of the very Convention.

Canada has consistently opposed the debasement

of multilateral institutions by conduct that is

inconsistent with their values. For example, this year

marks the fiftieth anniversary of Canada’s principled

refusal to support membership in the Commonwealth

of Nations by South Africa’s then apartheid regime.

The greatest enemies of the United Nations are

not those who publicly repudiate its actions. The

greatest enemies of the United Nations are those who

quietly undermine its principles or, even worse, who sit

idly, watching its slow decline. We cannot sit idly.

Canada is a vigorous defender of freedom,

democracy and the rule of law. As our Prime Minister

remarked earlier this month,

“we are not a country that makes war for gain or

for territory. We do not fight for glory. If we

covet honour, it is only a reputation for doing the

right thing in a good cause”.

That is all. That is enough. If I may be so bold,

that is why the countries of the world came together in

the United Nations - to do the right thing in a good

cause. The cause is peace, justice, freedom and

opportunity for all.