During the COVID-19 crisis, Trudeau finds time to call 28 world leaders while pressing for a seat at the UN

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has spoken to 28 world leaders since the pandemic crisis began in early March, as he continues to seek a temporary seat on the UN Security Council, according to his daily itineraries.

That has meant making time for conversations with leaders of the small island nations of Saint Lucia, Fiji and Tuvalu, amid a pandemic that has sickened thousands and closed much of the economy. Leaders also contacted since March have included those from Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Sweden, Colombia, Ghana, Sudan, Qatar, Jamaica and Ethiopia, among others.

“We want a seat on the UN security council,” Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne reiterated in an interview on Thursday. Trudeau made obtaining a seat on the Security Council a priority for Champagne when he was transferred to foreign affairs last fall.

Trudeau staff say the main purpose of the calls is to discuss the global response to COVID-19 and its economic and health impacts, but they acknowledge that the UN Security Council’s offer sometimes rises.

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Saint Lucia and Fiji have just 18 cases of COVID-19 each, and Tuvalu, an island with just over 11,000 residents, has so far kept the virus out.

Canada is in a tough battle with Norway and Ireland for two possible seats with the vote scheduled for next month.

Trudeau traveled to Africa in early February on a tour aimed at garnering support for Canada’s bid and was scheduled to attend a gathering of Caribbean leaders after that, but the trip to the Caribbean was canceled with Trudeau returning home to deal with protests that had blocked vital rail lines through Canada.

Champagne said the entire government is focused on COVID-19, including its own ministry, which is focused on bringing more Canadians home who remain trapped abroad. But you are also thinking about the future.

“It is also important that we spend time on reconstruction and the world that we want to publish after COVID,” he said. “We need to monitor the future we want and how we want to shape it.”

He said the government wants the seat because it is an opportunity to shape the world’s response on any number of issues.

“The UN Security Council is the big table. This is where the most important decisions regarding peace and security are made around the world, “he said.” It is the first time in generations that the world has been on hiatus, and I think, before pushing the game forward, Canadians want us to play a role on the international stage. “

If Canada wins next month’s vote, it will take its seat at the table next year, for a period of two years.

“The most interesting thing about the value of a seat on the security council is that you don’t know how valuable it will be until you’re on the council,” said Adam Chapnick, a professor at the Royal Military College and author of a book on Canada and the UN. .

There is no recipe for how to end a campaign on COVID

Chapnick said sitting at the table is an opportunity to forge ties with some of the world’s top nations.

“Unless you have really bad diplomats, which we don’t have. You will inevitably build some relationships that you won’t have a chance to build when you’re not on the council.”

He said he believes Canada has a 50/50 chance of getting the seat, but securing the seat has become difficult in the pandemic environment.

“There is no recipe for how to end a campaign under COVID.”

Christopher Sands, director of the Institute of Canada at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington, D.C., said there is political pressure on Trudeau to continue looking for the seat, even in the midst of the pandemic crisis.

“He almost has to, because the Liberals were very hard on (former Prime Minister Stephen) Harper for not appearing to be trying hard enough when Canada last tried,” he said. “If Trudeau doesn’t try, I think it will make him appear much weaker.”

Canada sought a seat in 2010 under the Conservative government, but lost to Portugal, even though the Harper government has received no written promises of support from most UN members, many of whom later broke that promise. . That broke Canada’s record for earning a place in the 15-member corps once a decade since the UN’s inception.

Sands said Canada is in a tough fight. Norway has been chasing its seat for years and has increased foreign aid commitments to secure the seat. He said that Ireland’s offer has also been formidable and that they have a lot of goodwill in the world.

“There are not many people who hate the Irish, so I think this time it will be very difficult for Canada.”

He noted that Canada also has a mixed record when sitting on the board in the past, often not achieving much while there. Although he said that there could now be a role for a medium power to have greater influence in a world where tensions are increasing between the great powers China and the United States.

“Canada on the security council would be a voice for many countries that do not want to take sides in a great power rivalry,” said Sands.

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