General

Does Canada deserve a UN Security Council seat?

Ignatieff says Harper’s record raises doubts

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says Prime Minister Stephen Harper has “basically ignored” the United Nations, creating little basis for Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council. Yet Harper is slated to address the UN twice this week, once at the Millennium Development Goals summit and again at the General Assembly. The speeches come as Canada competes with Germany and Portugal for a two-year temporary seat on the council. “I know how important it is for Canada to get a seat on the Security Council,” Ignatieff said, “but Canadians have to ask a tough question: Has this government earned that place?” Meanwhile, Spiegel reports that in Germany the debate is about whether the country can ever hope to gain permanent membership, and the veto power that goes with it, enjoyed only by the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain. But first things first—the vote on the second-tier two-year seat is slated for mid-October.

Winnipeg Free Press

Spiegel

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