You must win 237 Park Avenue [à New York], at 5.30 p.m. to visit Her Majesty The Queen. Before coming to the building, please read the medical questionnaire below…”
Tuesday, April 26, 5:30 p.m. Queen Elizabeth II cannot be found at the premises of the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations (UN), which is located a 10-minute walk from the United Nations headquarters in the Turtle Bay area.
The building manager mentioned an appointment with “Her Majesty The Queen” in his automated email simply because the Canadian government signed his lease in the name of “Her Majesty The Queen”, explains a member of the Canadian delegation to employees and interns of the United Nations Secretariat with an amused smile.
My duty is to talk about political issues following Canada’s international policy, and that’s what I do.
They came to talk about the “importance of public diplomacy in combating disinformation”: a theme dear to Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, and his team. For the occasion, the small napkins decorated with a red maple leaf were taken out and the bottles of wine were taken from the cellar space.
The ex-politician passes from one table to another, then in front of the flags of Canada, Ukraine, the United States and the United Nations placed against a wall, stands in front of a screen on which “real » and « false » information scrolls next to the question « True or false? “. “Public diplomacy is just as important as quiet diplomacy,” argues Bob Ray, two months after the outbreak of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. “If we don’t fill the space, someone else will fill it and that will create misinformation and misinformation,” adds the 73-year-old who adopted the mantra. break the fake “. And, to get there, the former premier of Ontario (1990-1995) and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (2011-2013) tweets, among other things. “The new fascists are in Moscow, and Ukraine is fighting for freedom and democracy. This war is an imperialist war, led by Moscow and Putin,” he wrote on Twitter four days later, denouncing the bellicose slogan intoned by the Russian Communist Party: “For the liberation of Ukraine from Nazism, fascism and Bandera! “Complete shit.” Look in the mirror guys,” @BobRay48 will sign on Sunday.
In front of his guests, Bob Rae, in office for nearly two years, reveals that his statements can sometimes raise some questions in Ottawa. “People at 6 in the morning are like, ‘What exactly did he say? What did he mean by writing that? From time to time, it comes up to me: “What did you mean? / That. / Oh, you can say that. / Thank you, I just did it!”, he says, sparking diplomatic laughter in the room bathed in a red Canada light.
Not the tongue in his pocket
Earlier in the day, Bob Rae urged his counterparts, from his seat in the great hall of the UN General Assembly, to discover or rediscover the work of writer George Orwell. “Currently, he would have a lot to teach us”, including no doubt that “all member states are equal, but some are more equal than others” in the United Nations system, he declared in the large room bringing together the representatives of most of the 193 Member States.
Bob Rae reacted to the applause of the adoption of the Liechtenstein resolution — which Canada quickly joined — providing for the holding of a debate after the exercise of the right of veto by a permanent member of the Security Council.
Canada is campaigning to “abolish” the veto power of the five permanent members of the Security Council, which is “as anachronistic as it is undemocratic”, and, until then, “to circumscribe, define and limit it” or to show “the cost of its use” for example when a State, like Ukraine, is unfairly attacked.
The use of the veto by Russia — a “permanent member of the Security Council, which has launched a war of aggression against another member of the United Nations [soit] Ukraine — is not only shameful, it is also contrary to the obligations set out in the Charter [des Nations unies] and contrary to international law and our commitment to the principle of the responsibility to protect,” said Bob Rae in plenary holding his pair of glasses in his right hand. The muffled voices of performers in glass boxes and the clatter of people typing on their computer keyboard fill the silence.
A style “
Why did you invite the members of the General Assembly to read or re-read George Orwell? “Because he’s the one talking about what it’s like to live in an atmosphere of lies and misinformation,” he replies after inviting The duty in a conference room at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN. The lawyer became passionate about the work and life of George Orwell after animal farm fell into his hands. “You have to read it to understand what is happening. When we listen to the speeches coming from some countries like the Russian Federation, it is extraordinary to see to what extent [leurs représentants] follow a line of propaganda. It must be said,” continues Bob Rae, whose name appeared on Russia’s blacklist only on April 21. “It took too long,” he notes, before predicting that all members of the House of Commons will suffer the same fate as him after unanimously passing a motion “recognizes[issant] that the Russian Federation is committing acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people”.
Admirer of George Orwell, but also of Albert Camus, Bob Rae has given himself the mission of also “speaking directly about the world as he saw it”, of favoring “frankness”. “When you can speak directly, you have to do it,” he says, in front of a portrait of Lester B. Pearson that had been given to his father, Saul Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1972 to 1976. In his eyes , the legibility of Canada’s international policy depends in particular on this.
Except that Bob Rae does not determine Canada’s foreign policy, he applies it. This does not prevent him from saying what he thinks about it. “I am very frank and very candid in my private discussions with the government. I give my advice, then I accept the decisions of the government. My duty is to talk about political issues following Canada’s international policy, and that’s what I do,” says the man who has experienced the ups and downs of political life. “It has helped me a lot in the work that I do. »
Despite its failed attempts to accede to the Security Council, Canada plays “an important role in all human rights discussions; in all the discussions on the activities of the UN”, argues Bob Rae, recalling that Canada is part of the “important club” of the largest donors of the organization.
“Our ability to persuade people depends not only on our words, but also on what we do. And that’s why I’m proud of the fact that Canada has increased its financial contribution to international aid over the past two years,” says the author ofExporting Democracy: The Risks and Rewards of Pursuing a Good Idea.
Is Canada taken seriously? request The duty to the guests of the Canadian Mission, to which were added throughout the evening members of delegations from all over the world. “Yes, yes,” they respond, saluting Canada’s “kindness” and its search for “consensus” between two maple-scented bites. Why is he kept away from the Security Council? “We tried to gather enough votes”, “Canada is glued to American foreign policy”, “A European country cannot vote against a European country”…
The voice of Jean Leloup resounds in the loudspeakers of the 20and floor of 237 Park Avenue. “Tender is the night, the illusions that die, the ideas of happiness. I am a thief of eternity in a wounded world. And I cry, I cry, baby wou. In Paradise City, in Paradise City. »
This report was financed thanks to the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund.The duty.