EDITORIAL: Does Security Council seat even matter now?

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Canadians probably think that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is all hands on deck when it comes to tackling the coronavirus and that any policy matter not concerning this issue has been placed on the back-burner by the Liberal government.

Apparently not.

“As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau works to address the coronavirus pandemic from Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, he is also tackling another crusade — Canada’s push for a seat on the UN Security Council,” begins an article in The Hill Times discussing Trudeau’s current efforts in lobbying for his much-coveted United Nations treasure.

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To say that this isn’t the best use of the PM’s time is putting it mildly. Given all of the urgent problems facing people, industry and business throughout the country, and given how long the pandemic may play out, it’s not unreasonable to ask if winning a Security Council even matters any more for Canadians.

If the PM is working the phones with world leaders to win himself a UN Security Council seat, that’s valuable time that isn’t being put to tackling the Canadian response to the pandemic.

Foreign affairs and trade are currently up in the air and may face considerable disruption following the pandemic. Who knows what issues we’ll be tackling on the world stage in the months to come?

Writing in this space in September 2018, we supported Trudeau’s push for the seat but stressed the following: “It is not enough to win the seat, and hold it like some participation medal. We need to make good use of it. This includes advocating for the change we want to see around the world…

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“So we will need serious and robust positions on global security and prosperity. The world is changing in front of our eyes. Canada needs to stand up for the Western values that will hopefully spread in years to come.”

Since that time has passed, we still have not been told why Trudeau is so focused on securing a seat and what he plans to do with it. That has never been explained to Canadians.

This would be a problem even if Trudeau and the Liberals did not have the pandemic to contend with. But they do.

Perhaps the UN Security Council seat shouldn’t be such a priority at a time like this.