John Ivison: Canada backing Iran at the UN betrays what Carney stood for at Davos

The Security Council chamber at the United Nation in New York City. Photo by Spencer Platt /Getty Images

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The day after the Liberals secured their majority in the House of Commons there was a sense that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

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In this case, it was the reminder that at 2:15 p.m. in the House, it is still “question period,” not “answer period.”

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Mona Fortier, the parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, was charged with the task of answering but had been handed talking points that were entirely unrelated, other than that they mentioned Iran.

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Undaunted, she recited her lines, saying that Canada is making sure civilian infrastructure is protected in the war with the U.S. and that international law is respected. “We will continue to monitor efforts being done in Iran,” she said to muted applause and bemused looks from her colleagues on the Liberal side.

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It is nice to find the parliamentary traditions of blurring the issue, dodging the question and concealing the error are alive and well.

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But it gets us no closer to finding out what is going on.

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Chong got a little warmer in a note from Anita Anand, the foreign affairs minister, who told him that Canada does not support Iran for positions of influence at the UN but since the Islamic Republic was nominated by acclamation, there was nothing Canada could do.

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“As the position was uncontested, there was no opportunity for a vote,” she said.

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However, that is not the whole picture.

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Hillel Neuer, the Canadian lawyer who heads up the UN Watch non-governmental organization in Geneva, said Anand’s defence was “misleading.”

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He explained that the 54-nation Economics and Social Council (ECOSOC), of which Canada is a member, is split into five regional groups, which are allocated a certain number of seats on committees. If there is a closed slate — that is, seven candidates for seven seats in the Asia group — there is typically no vote and the nations are acclaimed.

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Chong was wrong to say Canada voted in favour of Iran directing the UN’s women’s rights policy.

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But that is not to exonerate Canada’s representation at the UN.

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Canada and its democratic allies on the ECOSOC could have sought rival candidates on the Asia slate, as happened when the Obama administration persuaded East Timor to stand against Iran and supported its candidacy.

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Canada could have forced a vote on the nominations, as happened in 2023, when Russia lost elections to three UN bodies after the invasion of Ukraine.

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Canada could also have joined the U.S. in disassociating itself from the consensus that waved through Iran’s membership of the committee. In a statement, the U.S. ambassador to ECOSOC said that Iran is “unfit” to be nominated to the Committee on Programs and Coordination, and that Cuba and Nicaragua are equally unfit to be elected to the Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations.