Justin Trudeau’s failure to win UN Security Council seat is a wake-up call, says NDP MP McPherson

EDMONTON – Yesterday, while questioning Ministers in parliament, NDP Critic for International Development, Heather McPherson (Edmonton–Strathcona), expressed her disappointment over Canada, once again, losing an opportunity to hold a seat on the UN Security Council.

“We failed under Stephen Harper’s Conservatives and now we have failed under Justin Trudeau’s Liberals,” said McPherson. “When the Prime Minister announced that Canada was back, it was an acknowledgment of how far Canada had fallen behind on our leadership role on the world stage. But this rejection shows that this government has done little about it.”

Under the Liberals, Canada’s Official Development Assistance is just a third of what it should be – smaller than the contribution of the Harper years. The number of Canadian peacekeepers deployed is at a 50-year low. Not to mention that Canada is way behind on climate targets, and the Liberals have still not enshrined the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into law.

In 2017, the Liberals promised to appoint an ombudsperson to ensure that Canadian companies working abroad were held to the same standards they would need to meet if they were working in Canada. Instead, Canadians were given an ombudsperson with no power and Canadian mining companies continue to inflict human rights abuses and environmental degradation in countries around the world with impunity.

“Failing to win the UN Security Council seat is a wake-up call that Canada isn’t doing enough on the global stage,” said McPherson. “Now we need the government to show Canadians and the world that we can do better. We can have a leadership role in advancing human rights and justice at home and abroad."