The author was political adviser to the Minister of International Trade in the Harper government of 2011 at 2015. He is now a consultant and lecturer in several universities on trade and international business.
The Conservatives have an ambivalent relationship with international organizations, a relationship made up of a mixture of mistrust and cynicism. Canada, under the leadership of Stephen Harper, failed to secure a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council in the fall of 2010.
Prime Minister Harper replied that his government would not allow itself to be distracted by a popularity contest.
Canada’s actions on the international stage are not motivated by the desire to make friends, according to the translation of Minister John Baird’s words: “ Canada does not just “go along” in order to “get along”. »
This setback, however, did not prevent the Harper government from working with the UN, NATO and international coalitions when the situation required military intervention or humanitarian aid, for example in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq or in Syria.
The wildly popular Justin Trudeau also failed to secure a seat on the UN Security Council in 2020. The Conservative family can take comfort and rejoice, he did no better than Mr. Harper. Regardless, the consensus among conservatives remains unchanged: the UN does not protect Israel enough. It is also an organization that offered a seat to Saudi Arabia in a commission on the status of women. No need, therefore, to woo her.
In December 2011, Canada left the UN’s Kyoto protocol on climate. This decision by the Harper government was motivated, in essence, by the fact that major polluters, such as China, were not subject to binding targets, in the same way as Canada, and that the targets were not respected . On the form: it was an opportunity to send an unequivocal message of support for the oil and gas energy sector in the country, with which the Kyoto targets were not popular, and, in passing, to express a bit of contempt for the UN.
Populism
The reality is that even within the conservative family, an ambiguous relationship with international organizations is cultivated. When we analyze the leadership race of the Conservative Party of Canada, we see that certain positions flirt with very marginal, even conspiratorial populism.
Leslyn Lewis, a candidate for the leadership for a second time, does not budge: the World Health Organization (WHO) is attacking Canada’s health sovereignty, nothing less. The proposal for an international treaty on pandemics must be fought, she said.
It’s a bit of a paradox, as her campaign communications say she wants to “reject fear and division”, while claiming that we should all be afraid of the WHO. If she defends this position, it is because it must enjoy a certain popular support, and therefore respond to a political calculation.
Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative leadership race, has been clear: no minister of his future government will attend the meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF), better known by its English acronym WEF, which is held each year in Davos , in Swiss.
Having taken part in it more than once, I assure you that you will never come back from being a socialist or less Canadian. The proof, Stephen Harper and John Baird attended. While the GEF is not an organization like the UN and WHO, the message remains clear. Same calculation here as at Mme Lewis: This position has to be popular for Mr. Poilievre to adopt it.
All that’s missing is Bill Gates’ name being mentioned in the leadership race. Gates is part of the world’s elite, better he is the world elite. Its goal is unequivocal: mass vaccination and the fight against pandemics, in collaboration with the WHO. He will certainly not win a popularity contest in some conservative circles.
Do you remember the 2010 G8 summit in Muskoka? Prime Minister Harper used the platform offered to him by the Canadian presidency to promote the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Initiative, funded to the tune of $6 billion by Canada.
The objective: vaccination, in partnership with the WHO and a certain Bill Gates. Alongside free trade agreements with Europe and Asia, the Muskoka initiative was Stephen Harper’s great international achievement.
Vaccination
Today, vaccination has become a touchy subject in the conservative family. We must believe that the days when Stephen Harper was praised for his leadership in a vaccination initiative which, with the support of Bill Gates, saved lives around the world, are over.
All these ambiguous international relations that my party maintains make me think that we have forgotten an organization. Pascal Lamy, former Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said in his farewell speech in 2013: “We have strengthened the WTO as the leading organization in world trade, a major pillar of global economic governance. Yes, yes, he used the sacrilegious term “global governance”.
In the light of this sentence, should we also review our commitment to the WTO, according to the political calculation mentioned above? You will tell me that the organization is struggling at the moment, but it might still be popular to do so. In any case, among the Conservatives, you don’t enter politics to make friends internationally.
We leave that to the Liberals, with their social events. I look forward to hearing the explanations of a future Conservative Minister of Trade on the fact that he does not go to meetings of the WTO, chaired by Switzerland, because these are held on the sidelines of the WEF.
Last piece of advice: no attack on UNESCO, because it was under the Harper government that Quebec obtained a seat.