Next month, the United Nations Conference on Disarmament will meet to further collective efforts to limit or ban the use of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons and in an almost criminal irony Syria will chair these meetings. You read that correctly. The only country to have repeatedly used chemical weapons in the last few years will chair an international gathering aimed at their elimination. This mockery of diplomacy is aided by countries that are silent with respect to Syria playing this role. Canada under Justin Trudeau is one of those countries so far silent on this diplomatic farce.
A week ago, Canadian allies the United States, United Kingdom and France launched strategic strikes to eliminate the Syrian capacity to inflict such horrors on its own people. The Trudeau government has voiced support for the strikes but their silence on the Syrian role in disarmament and their rapprochement with Iran, the most destabilizing country in the region, means we are increasingly being seen as out of touch on global defence and security matters.
The vicious Assad regime in Syria leading the Conference on Disarmament is not the first time international diplomatic forums have been hijacked by bad actors. In 2012, North Korea took the lead as chair of the Conference on Disarmament despite its decades long pursuit of nuclear weapons and its provocative nuclear and missile testing. The following year, Iran took the helm of this body despite its well documented efforts towards weaponizing fissionable materials, threats against the existence of Israel and funding of terror groups across the Middle East. In the last decade, the Conference on Disarmament has looked more like a rogues’ gallery of despots rather than an extension of the multilateral diplomatic bodies aimed at global peace and security like those once steered by Canadians like Lester Pearson.
The Conservative government used Canada’s role as a leader of middle powers to try and stop this gaming of international diplomacy. In both 2012 and 2013, Canada spoke out against North Korea and Iran playing a leadership role on disarmament while engaging in programs to pursue these weapons. Canada also boycotted the conferences to avoid lending legitimacy to a body that has allowed itself to be captured by nations intend on frustrating its progress. That is what Canada should do today particularly given the repeated and flagrant use of chemical weapons by Syria. Inaction and silence is egregious.
Is silence in the face of diplomatic farce like Syria leading affords on chemical weapon elimination what Justin Trudeau meant by “Canada is back”? The Liberal government has not only been conspicuously silent on Syria, but their actions run contrary to the multilateral work of our allies in recent years. Trudeau’s first foreign policy vote in the House as Prime Minister was to withdraw Canadian fighter aircraft engaged in the international coalition fighting the ISIS at a time when France was calling on allies to do more after vicious attacks in Paris. When he pulled Canadian jets the Prime Minister pledged to “be more significantly involved in counterterrorism measures and improving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear security in the region”. He has, of course, done nothing in any of these areas and seems OK with Syria being held up as a global leader on disarmament. He has also been one of the few western leaders to avoid serious criticism of the Iranian regime despite the unlawful arrest, torture and deaths of thousands of democratic protestors in Iran including the death of Canadian Professor Seyed-Emami in notorious Evin prison. This silence should concern Canadians as it runs contrary to our interests and our history as a principled and dependable ally. Under Justin Trudeau Canada is becoming known as a country of scripted progressive words and disappointing regressive actions in global efforts towards peace and disarmament. The world certainly needs Canada back.
