e-4623 (Foreign affairs)

The role of any Canadian government is to protect Canada and the best interests of Canadians. We must do so on the world stage, and the United Nations (UN) is a necessary and important platform for Canada to exercise its sovereignty, amplify its voice, to influence, build partnerships, and work collectively toward a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. The current Government of Canada will remain part of the United Nations, and its subsidiary organizations, to accomplish, together with other states, what none of us can do alone. 

Our participation at the UN and other multilateral organizations matters because, at a time where global issues have a clear local impact, Canadians know that what is happening around the world also impacts their every day lives. Canada must be at the table where decisions about the world are being made, and Canada has committed to working to make the UN more inclusive and representative.

Canadians have played a key role in creating our international rules and institutions and Canada will continue to ensure that the UN adapts to meet modern challenges. While no organization is perfect, the UN has standards and regulations that are critical to the protection and interests of Canada and Canadians. Therefore, the Government of Canada has committed to increasing our presence at the United Nations and in multilateral institutions. In fact, the Federal Budget in 2024 proposes $18 million over five years to bolster Canada’s presence at our mission to the UN in New York.

A number of Members of the UN have expressed concerns regarding whether or not the rules reflect their reality and benefit their people. Some have expressed concerns about double standards or whether the current institutions, and their decisions, meet their needs or are fair. Canada is committed to working collectively to work harder to address these concerns.

The United Nations is a forum where all states are represented in such a way that they, along with other stakeholders, can advance issues and take on global challenges. It is the centrepiece of the international rules that work to keep us safe, and the backbone of multilateralism.

The UN was established in the aftermath of war; it plays an essential role in bringing states together to attempt to find common ground, resolve their differences peacefully and advance shared interests for all. In this context, Canada’s place at the UN is as important as ever.

From a peace and stability perspective, while Canada benefits from its history and its geographic location, our interests are broad and deep in the world. This is amplified by many Canadians having ties to parts of the world that do not benefit from such security. With the world’s security at stake, Canada’s security at stake. We cannot just rely on our old friends and allies. Wars in one part of the world have direct effects globally, from supply chain disruptions, to migration, to food and energy insecurity. The UN’s peace and security architecture works worldwide through preventing large-scale conflict, protecting civilians from violence, and supporting countries in building sustainable peace. The UN assists and protects 117 million people fleeing war, famine and persecution and also provides food and assistance to 160 million people in over 120 countries and territories.

The UN also serves as the central meeting place for states and other stakeholders to meet, listen, negotiate, and develop positive relations among nations, working together to address issues relating to climate change, peace and security, economic development, human rights, disarmament, combating terrorism and extremism, conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, disease prevention, advancing gender equality and universal education, refugee resettlement, humanitarian assistance, advancing the rule of law, and fighting against transnational crime. It plays an essential role in bringing states together to attempt in an effort to find common ground, resolve their differences peacefully and advance shared interests for all. In this context, Canada’s place at the UN has never been more important.

From supporting decolonization across Africa and Asia to providing a critical platform for peaceful discussion throughout the Cold War, from eradicating extreme poverty and hunger to addressing the challenge of climate change, the UN and Canada have been at the forefront of efforts to ensure a more secure, prosperous, and equitable world.

In the current context, we also see an increasing boldness from bad actors who believe they can tip the scales of power and seek to re-shape the very rules that have kept us safe.

Those who call for Canada’s withdrawal of the UN would have Canada abandon our international obligations on human rights, women and children, and so much more. This ideology would disrupt the peace that Canadians fought, and gave their lives for. The Government of Canada believes in a woman’s right to choose. Through the UN, Canada continues to make efforts to protect and promote global human rights and gender equality. Additionally, Canada continues to work on implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals throughout the Decade of Action will help address global poverty, hunger, inequality, and economic growth. Furthermore, the COVID-19 has demonstrated the need to take bold action to ensure we are better prepared for the next pandemic. The Government of Canada believes in vaccines and will continue to work closely with other countries and international partners, including the World Health Organization, to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and responses.

Ahead of us is a complex, generational challenge, where we will be judged at our ability to prevent global conflict, and if we are able to build a world that is just and equitable, stable, and inclusive. Canada will double down on forward-leaning engagement at the United Nations and in other multilateral bodies, and extend our hand to new partners building a broader coalition of states from around the world. To be part of the United Nations is both an exercise in Canadian sovereignty and the protection of the sovereignty of all its members. Canada will demand that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of others. This is a defining principle of the UN Charter. Canada will work to promote agreement on these basic principles, because if Canada succeeds in promoting agreement on the basic rules among a larger group of states, every citizen, every state, and every region of the world will benefit.