Let Them Fight

Neither the UN nor special-interest groups should be so powerful that they determine the course of a sovereign nation.

When one sees those parties spitting and hissing at one another, it is akin to watching those monster movies where one monster attacks another, thereby giving the human characters a chance to escape.

To wit:

A Canadian First Nations chief is slamming a recent directive from a United Nations anti-racism committee after the organization called for the shutdown of an Indigenous-backed pipeline only to later admit that it did not seek Aboriginal views toward the project.

In December, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) released a directive calling for three large-scale natural resource projects in British Columbia to be “immediately” shut down, including the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline that would feed into a massive export facility along the West coast. The project has signed benefit agreements with 20 Indigenous communities along its 670-kilometre route.

But in an interview with Reuters published Thursday, CERD chair Noureddine Amir admitted that the committee did not study First Nations views toward the project, saying he “did not know” that most communities supported it.

This UN:

“The Governor General supports Canada’s foreign policy in many ways, in particular by receiving ambassadors, hosting state visits and representing the country on the international stage. The meetings and exchanges that take place in these circumstances are conducted in close collaboration with the government,” it read.

That suggests Payette was invited to raise the issue by the Prime Minister’s Office. A spokesman for the prime minister said he had no direct knowledge but defended the concept of governors general advocating government policy.

Winning the UN Security Council seat has been a foreign policy priority for the Trudeau Liberals – new foreign affairs minister, François-Philippe Champagne, has been charged explicitly with the task of “expanding Canadian diplomacy in international institutions”. The campaign has added spice since the Conservatives were foiled in their efforts to win a seat in 2010, losing out to Portugal. Victory would validate Justin Trudeau’s claim that “Canada is back”.

Back? As in backward? As in occupying a chair of a toothless organisation that lets North Korea attack Israel? Like, that kind of back?