Canada is unique. It is democratic, rich, and a vassal state.

Sandwiched between two nuclear powers (Russia and the United States) and providing a welcome buffer to each of them, Canada has benefited greatly from its close relationship with the US. Canada is rich because it is economically integrated with the US and is spared the real cost of defending its vast country thanks to the US armed forces and nuclear umbrella.

Washington, over the years, has afforded Canada considerable leeway as long as we did not oppose the US on important matters and were otherwise useful. In fairness, there have been exceptions to this rule, such as the Cuban embargo, but they are few. (The 2003 Iraq invasion was not an exception, as Canada stood on the sidelines rather than opposed the invasion.)

This state of affairs has been couched in polite language and shrouded in diplomatic ritual in order for Canada to save face. Since Trump’s election, the veneer of civility has been removed. Unilateral decisions have become the order of the day. Consultations are viewed by the US as a sign of weakness, important Canadian exports have been declared security risks, and the Prime Minister has been publicly humiliated at the 44th G7 meeting in Charlevoix, Quebec. For the last three years, Ottawa has been on its back foot as it scrambles to mollify a prickly White House whilst seeking US allies to limit the damage stemming from the Trump administration.

The US currently prefers bilateralism whilst Canada believes in multilateralism. But as the recent vote for a UN Security Council seat indicates, Canada is not seen as an effective global player. Canada lost to Norway and Ireland, and garnered fewer votes this time than when it tried to get a seat under Harper.

With the US “out of control,” why should the UN General Assembly elect a country more likely to abstain and sit on the sidelines than sanction Washington? In the eyes of many, “truth to power” is required, not appeasement. Moreover, Canada’s international record over the last 25 years is thin. It is difficult to conduct an effective foreign policy on the cheap. To put it kindly: our efforts are often short-term, incoherent and grounded in unrealistic aspirations.

The overriding priority of Canada’s foreign policy is to preserve and enhance its relationship with the world’s most powerful country and ensure that the common border is as thin as possible. Everything else is secondary and any action that threatens the US-Canada relationship must be avoided.

In seeking a seat on the UN Security Council, Canada demonstrated a disturbing lack of self-awareness. Relations with Washington are tense and Canada is in no position publicly to take on the US at the UN or in any other forum. In denying Canada, the UN General Assembly took Canada out of harm’s way and did it a great favour. Canada should be thankful.

We are told that Canada wants to project soft power and that a Security Council seat is important to do so. Interestingly, Lester B. Pearson was not an advocate of Canada taking on such a role. Be that as it may, the UN is not the only perch from which to project soft power. Below are a few suggested ways of doing so:

  1. Improve the Canadian Model: Like many Nordic countries, Canada is viewed as an important societal model, particularly when it comes to immigration, multiculturalism and post-secondary education. Canadians generally view immigration favourably, nearly 20% of Canadians were born outside Canada and it has the highest proportion of university graduates among OECD countries. Canada can contribute to the world by building on its successes and continuing to improve its model, particularly as to the treatment of First Nations and visible minorities, as well as the reduction of wealth inequality. On June 17, 2020, Canada’s Parliamentary Budget Officer issued a report showing that wealth inequality in Canada is growing. According to the report, families in the top quartile own nearly 75% of Canada’s wealth. Even more worrisome, the gap is growing.
  2. Bulk up: Canada has benefited greatly from playing the demographic card. Rapid population increase is the effortless way to engender considerable economic activity. Also, a rich Canada with a sizeable population would be more difficult to ignore. Canada’s population can only grow through immigration, something that Canada is relatively good at. By increasing immigration, Canada would also begin addressing the imbalance between its population and the size of its country. As climate change continues, the world will surely ask, in a not too distant future, why it is fair for less than 0.5 % of the world’s population to occupy 6.1% of the world’s landmass. We must start to work on an answer now.
  3. Revisit and update Canada’s foreign and defence policies: Other than with the US, foreign policy should centre on a few things that Canada does well and wants to do. As for defence, Canada does a lot with a small budget (circa 22 billion CAD), but it needs newer and better equipment in order to be relevant when the need arises. Conflicts have evolved and peacekeeping is very different today compared to when Pearson won his Nobel prize in 1957. It is difficult to help protect vulnerable populations without effective armed forces and the budget to operate them.