KEVIN MENZ
Associate News Editor

With the recent loss in a bid for a United Nations Security Council seat, Canada appears to have taken a self-centred approach to international relations and is starting to isolate itself, globally.

This isolation will prove detrimental as international interest in our natural resources — specifically, oil in the Arctic — increases. The Harper government must now try to reverse the costly effects of their self-centred foreign policy in order to re-establish a strong relationship with the UN and, ultimately, develop some sort of security if problems ever escalate militaristically.

The government’s military spending has increased since Harper came into power but the money has not been used for peacekeeping missions. Rather, the Canadian Forces are gradually shifting to a war-fighting entity.

While it might be logical to argue that it is about time Canada started improving its military in order to defend itself, this improvement cannot come at the cost of our international relations.

The self-centred approach to improve our military has hindered our status within both the UN and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has greatly decreased our international reputation as a peaceful nation.

There are a few major reasons Canada lost its bid for a seat in the UN Security Council and which speak to Canada’s diminishing role as a peacekeeping nation. First, we did not have the support from Arab and Muslim countries because they disagreed with the Harper government’s support of Israel. In January 2009, at a human rights council in Geneva, Canada was the only country not to condemn Israel’s attack on Gaza. Second, Harper turned down a request from the United Nations for Canada to take over command of a peacekeeping mission in the Congo, as long as it sent a large number of Canadian blue helmets.

Given that the United Nations blundered when it refused a request by Canadian Lieutenant General Romeo Dallaire to increase the amount of UN troops in Rwanda during the genocide and allow for a greater use of force to counter the massacres, it is no surprise that Canada has hesitated to embrace its former role as peacekeeper. However, Harper should not have rejected the request to aid in the Congo — a region filled with widespread violence and rape.

The most significant consequence of this denial — aside from the ethical shame of not aiding a region that greatly needed it — was that it let the UN and the world know that our priorities lie in fighting wars, not keeping peace. Therefore, it is no surprise that Canada was denied a seat in the Security Council.

The overwhelming commitment to troops in Afghanistan and support for the U.S., then, would appear to be Canada’s greatest asset in terms of international relations. Ironically, however, Canada did not receive any public support from America in its bid to attain the UN seat. Therefore, it seems risky to solely rely on America for international backup.

This is, however, what Canada is doing. Take the current land claims conflict between Canada and Russia regarding control of the Arctic, for example. As the polar caps melt, the land becomes more accessible and the Northwest Passage opens up. Therefore, controlling this land means controlling the estimated excess amounts of oil in the region and controlling the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In order to counter Russia’s claims for the land, Canada has named the U.S. its partner in the north.

This is risky, though, because the U.S. has never acknowledged Canada’s possession of the Northwest Passage in the region above Alaska — so, while the U.S. might be willing to dispute Russia’s claims to the land, it might not be willing to completely support Canada.

Canada has also started to invest in and improve its own military capabilities on the Arctic front. First, special units are being trained and were described by Brigadiere General Jean Collin as “an entire battalion of soldiers who are prepared to go live and operate in the north.” Second, Harper announced half a billion dollars to be spent on developing a new set of satellites.

Of course, this will not be enough to defend the Arctic region on our own and with shaky American support, improving international relations appears Canada’s best option if we want to keep our claim of the land and passage.

When the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf meet in December 2013 to discuss the land claims issues in the Arctic, Canada and Russia will likely have opposing proposals on which land they own. In order to compete with Russia’s permanent seat on the Security Council, Canada must re-establish a strong relationship with the UN and NATO for their claims to be taken seriously.

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image: Flickr