Canada on the world stage- Paul Heinbecker

This past October, world leaders gathered in New York to vote two new members to temporary seats on the United Nations Security Council. Canada was vying for one of the positions against Germany and Portugal. When the results came in, Ottawa was stunned, rejected by the world community in favour of Lisbon and Berlin. But the results weren't much of a surprise to a former diplomat who had spent a career pushing Canada on the world stage.

"We were rejected on the basis of our indifference to the UN …. and the policies we've been following," says Paul Heinbecker. Heinbecker says Canada's shifting positions on climate change, our decidedly pro-Israel policy in the Middle East conflict, and our shift away from focusing aid to Africa all contributed to the loss. He adds, the results of the vote crystallized the effects of changes the Harper government has made to decades of Canadian foreign policy based on multilateralism.

Heinbecker spent his career in Canada's foreign service under both Tory and Liberal governments. He's been an ambassador, a representative at the United Nations, and is currently the director of the Laurier Centre for Global Relations. He's also the author of "Getting Back in the Game," a timely look at Canada's slipping role in world affairs. Heinbecker says Canada's international role has been relegated recently to being little more than a booster of American policies, a position the former diplomat unabashedly calls "sycophantic."

"You'll get more respect for an independent foreign policy than you will for being a sycophant," he says. "Sycophants aren't respected." Heinbecker also dismisses excuses by the Harper Tories and some in the media that the UN rejection was based on Canada's "principled" stands in foreign affairs. "Africa doesn't consider us principled for lowering aid (to the continent)," he says.

"When it comes to Israel, the Germans got elected. They support Israel, but they're not exclusively in the Israeli camp." He adds, the same is true when it comes to the Harper government's climate change stand. He says countries most vulnerable to global warming don't believe Canada is being principled by toeing Washington's line.

A break from history

Ryerson University history professor David MacKenzie says that in previous decades, Canada effectively used its middle power role in international organizations. He's just written, "A World Beyond Borders," a history of global organizations like the League of Nations, the Commonwealth and the United Nations. He notes, organizations like the UN, have given Canada greater status in international affairs. For much of the period after the Second World War, MacKenzie says Ottawa often "punched above its weight," taking leading or significant roles in peacekeeping, the-anti-Apartheid campaign, and the landmines issue.

"(The UN) gives Canadians a stage in which to play … (allows them to be) a bigger fish in a small pond," he says. That's changed in recent years, with Ottawa moving to an increasingly bilateral relationship with the U.S. But MacKenzie is skeptical of those who say the United Nations and its Security Council have become less relevant.  "(The UNSC) could be an important venue for dealing with international issues ... they do good work of a transnational nature," he says.

"It responds to what happens. You don't know what's going to happen in the next two years. If you want to play a role in international affairs, that's the place to be. Some of these things could effect Canada, so we always want to be consulted … There's a value there, and the biggest plumb of all is to be on the security council." MacKenzie notes, Ottawa does not appear to have clear ideas about what role it wants to play in organizations like the UN. He says Canada needs to determine its agenda as global power shifts, particularly towards emerging economies.

"More and more of what we do transcends borders. It's only logical that international organizations will have an increasing role to play in handling (problems and issues)." Heinbecker suggests a more effective Canada on the world stage is possible, but only through significant changes to the outlook in Ottawa. Specifically, Heinbecker says the Department of Foreign Affairs should be given more authority. He also says, the Tory government needs to rethink its "principles," something he is not optimistic will happen.

Like MacKenzie, Heinbecker notes, "The world is changing. We are going to a multi-polar, multi-centric world. The Chinese are a major player, and the Indians are going to be a major player. There's Brazil … and this is tailor-made for a country whose foreign policy is agile."

"For us, making the world work is a national interest. We can do things ... all we need is the ambition."