A Canadian Forces convoy moves along the Arghandab riverbed in Afghanistan in August.

Master Corporal Jonathan Johansen, JTF-Afg

Restore Canada as peace leader

By Saul Arbess and Larry Kazdan

Publish Date: September 21, 2009

The contributions of Canada and its citizens to international peace and justice have been exceptional.

A Canadian, John Humphrey, was the principal author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948.

United Nations peacekeeping developed from Lester B. Pearson’s proposal to interpose troops between Arab and Israeli armies in 1956, an initiative for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Canadians were pivotal players in the adoption of the Land Mines Treaty, an international accord which now regulates the actions of 156 countries and prevents countless injuries and deaths, often tragically involving children playing outdoors.

Canada was a principal architect of the International Criminal Court, the first permanent tribunal to bring the perpetrators of egregious human-rights violations—including heads of state—to justice. A Canadian, Philippe Kirsch, became the Court’s first president in 2003.

Canada also established the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty, which in 2001 produced the landmark report The Responsibility to Protect that calls upon the international community to prevent human-made catastrophes, and to intervene under stringent conditions for humanitarian purposes when a country is unwilling or unable to protect its own citizens.

And yet Canada is losing the lustre of much of its accomplishments as an international human-rights and peace leader.

The current government voted against the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was overwhelmingly approved by the General Assembly. Our government has failed to intervene forcefully on behalf of Canadian citizens held in Guantánamo Bay and other foreign countries, and has weakened its stance on capital punishment by not objecting to all planned executions of Canadians abroad. In Afghanistan, our military has transferred prisoners to U.S. custody, in possible violation of the Convention Against Torture.

Our commitment to UN peacekeeping has fallen away. Canada now contributes only 55 soldiers to UN missions worldwide, and no Canadians can be found at the headquarters of the UN’s Department of Peacekeeping.

In Afghanistan, although Canadian Forces have not themselves planted land mines, they have taken advantage of those placed by Americans, a reliance which is against the spirit of the Land Mines Treaty and which undermines our moral authority.

And now government-mandated changes to language used by Canadian diplomats such as avoiding the terms “human security”, “international humanitarian law”, and “impunity” signal weakening support for the International Criminal Court and the responsibility to protect.

Bold political leadership is required to revitalize Canada’s role as an international peacekeeper and peacemaker.

Canadians must assume a greater role in UN peacekeeping again. At a time when demand for UN troops has skyrocketed, about 2,700 Canadian troops are committed to an all-consuming mission in Afghanistan under NATO command. With a more balanced deployment, Canada could offer the services of several hundred soldiers to the UN as well as providing advanced communications equipment and specialized training. In addition, we could lend our weight to the commendable drive to create a United Nations Emergency Peace Service, to be composed of approximately 15,000 personnel drawn from around the world but under UN control. As well as providing a robust military presence to maintain security in global hot spots, a peace service would include sufficient police to help restore law and order, and an array of civilian teams specializing in humanitarian and disaster assistance, human-rights and election monitoring, environmental services and conflict resolution.

Military might is never enough on its own. The major incubator of preconditions that lead to war—high child mortality rates, discrimination against women and minorities, lack of economic opportunity, and lack of democratic input—are all found in failed and failing states. To work with government and civil society in target countries, our government agencies must receive adequate resources, commensurate with the magnitude of the task, and a much higher level of co-ordination. A Department of Peace with a cabinet-level minister is needed to reinvigorate Canada’s role as global peacekeeper and peace builder.

Canada was once respected by the international community because it supported multilateral institutions, rule of law, and the general interests of the global community. But now our priority has shifted to buying billions of dollars of military hardware, largely to provide interoperability with U.S. forces. If Canadians are not satisfied to be merely the military sidekick of another nation, then our government must reaffirm Canada’s greater mission: promoting a culture of peace at home and abroad. In the coming federal election, Canada’s vital role in the world must be debated.

Saul Arbess is national cochair of the Canadian Department of Peace Initiative.

Larry Kazdan is a council member of the World Federalist Movement-Canada.

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Source URL: http://www.straight.com/article-258426/saul-arbess-and-larry-kazdan-restore-canada-peace-leader

Where have all the peacekeepers gone?

http://www.thestar.com/printArticle/678155

August 08, 2009

Walter Dorn
Peter Langille

Peacekeepers' Day in Canada, celebrated each year on Aug. 9, was created to recognize the high level of professionalism, dedication and courage of Canadians serving in faraway places in the cause of peace. For decades, Canada was the world's number one contributor of UN peacekeeping troops. Until 1996, this nation remained in the top 10. Unfortunately, the country now ranks 52nd. While UN peacekeeping is now at an all-time high, deploying more than 82,000 troops worldwide, Canada's contribution is a mere 65 soldiers.

Asking a simple question, "Where have all the Canadian peacekeepers gone?" yields a simple answer. They have shifted to NATO, where they are not doing peacekeeping but are conducting counter-insurgency operations as an integral part of the American war on terror. With more than 2,700 Canadian troops deployed in southern Afghanistan under U.S. and NATO command, the Canadian Forces are clearly in danger of becoming a single mission military, with one predominant and all-consuming theatre of operation. In abandoning UN peacekeeping operations, Canada is forcing developing countries to carry the heaviest responsibility for providing urgently needed troops to many troubled regions of the world. At the UN's headquarters in New York, Canada does not provide a single military officer to the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which guides some 17 missions worldwide.

Canada could renew its peacekeeping role by providing several hundred troops directly to UN operations, including the missions in Haiti, Lebanon, Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As a country rich in peacekeeping heritage, Canada could support the United Nations in many other ways besides boots on the ground; for example, through communications and reconnaissance technology, specialized training and joint exercises with other peacekeeping nations. Canada's Coyote reconnaissance vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles could help the UN do early warning of conflict outbreaks, secure UN mission staff and protect vulnerable populations.

The Canadian drift away from peacekeeping has occurred in the absence of an overall strategic policy direction from the government. After years of waiting for a comprehensive strategy on how Canada can contribute to world security and develop its armed forces accordingly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay announced in May 2008 the "Canada First Defence Strategy." The document and associated speeches were widely criticized as little more than announcements confirming funding commitments.

More recently, Canada and other governments further weakened UN peacekeeping by shutting down SHIRBRIG, the multinational Standby High Readiness Brigade for United Nations Peace Operations. Canada helped pioneer this innovation starting in 1995, following the Rwandan genocide. SHIRBRIG enabled Canada to participate in a multinational division of labour for UN peacekeeping – an arrangement so promising that the government announced Canada would take a lead role. Canada was to provide a CF standby unit of approximately 800 troops, as well as to staff an operational headquarters. However, this was not delivered. Furthermore, last year Canada and the 15 other countries voted to cease all SHIRBRIG activities, a decision that took effect on June 30. The organization's termination represents another failure of Western countries to live up to their peacekeeping commitments and their responsibility to protect.

As Canada looks ahead to the 2011 deadline to draw down our military commitment in Afghanistan, a vigorous debate is underway on this country's future military purpose and priorities. Historically, Canada's interests have been divided between (1) working closely with the U.S., through alliances like NATO and NORAD; and (2) working to build a secure multilateral order, through a myriad of engagements at the United Nations, including UN peace operations. But in recent years our historic support for UN peace operations has waned, while the trend toward integration with the U.S. military and U.S. priorities has increased. Political leadership is required to restore a balanced Canadian military policy, one that includes a significant commitment to peace operations.

In tribute to the sacrifices that our soldiers have made for service to humanity, let us indeed celebrate Peacekeeping Day in Canada. But as we begin to spend billions of dollars to make our military forces more robust, we must remember that UN peacekeeping urgently needs Canadian support, and that a significant contribution to the UN by this country would give Canadians further cause for pride and future celebration.

Walter Dorn is an associate professor of defence studies at the Canadian Forces College and the Royal Military College of Canada. He serves as a consultant to the UN and is a council member of the World Federalist Movement-Canada.

H. Peter Langille directs Global Common Security I3 in London, Ont., where he specializes in UN peace operations, peace and conflict studies, as well as independent defence analysis.

UNPA Update

Five hundred lawmakers call for world parliament

by worldlywise | July 1, 2008 at 08:02 pm | 81 views | 2 comments

Little more than a year after its launch, an international campaign to bring democracy to the United Nations has achieved a landmark.

“Over 500 members of parliament from over 80 countries have now joined the international Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, or UNPA,” said Andreas Bummel, head of the UNPA Campaign Secretariat, headquartered in Berlin. “The enthusiastic response of these politicians demonstrates that lawmakers elected at the national level readily appreciate the logic of having elected representatives at the global level and now want to take action,” he added.

The UNPA's parliamentary endorsers (including Canada's Roméo Dallaire) have all signed the campaign's appeal (viewable at http://en.unpacampaign.org/appeal/index.php) which asserts that solutions to the world's major economic, environmental, humanitarian and other problems require that "all human beings engage in collaborative efforts,” including "a gradual implementation of democratic participation and representation on the global level.”

"The means to achieve this," says Fernando Iglesias, a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies and the Latin American regional parliament "is an elected body at the UN."

In addition to the support of 519 current parliamentarians, the UNPA campaign has been endorsed by the European Parliament, the Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the Canadian House of Commons, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Pan-African Parliament and (most recently) the Latin American Parliament's Commission on Political Affairs.

The appeal was initiated by an international campaign launched in May 2007. The UN Parliamentary Assembly could be established as a consultative body, without requiring UN Charter reform. It would initially be composed of national and regional parliamentarians but at a later stage become a directly elected body.

"Anyone who believes in a more democratic world can sign the appeal by visiting www.unpacampaign.org," says Fergus Watt, Executive Director of the World Federalist Movement-Canada, a member of the UNPA Campaign steering committee. According to Watt, "a United Nations Parliamentay Assembly would help foster a sense of global community and create a powerful constituency for a United Nations system better equipped to tackle the many challenges ahead."

Mondial's 25th now posted

WFMC has now produced 25 issues of Mondial, our periodical.
You can download all issues, including the most recent one, from our website.

CANADA in AFGHANISTAN: Change Course, Change Outcomes

OUR AFGHANISTAN MISSION: CANADA CAN DO BETTER

A Brief to the Independent Panel on Canada’s Future Role in Afghanistan and to the Canadian Government

WFMC submits a new brief outlining a series of recommendations towards Canadian policy in Afghanistan.

Introduction: Canada cannot wait until 2009 to change its policies on Afghanistan. Thus our brief is addressed to the Independent Panel, political parties and the Government. Our position concerning the Canadian mission in Afghanistan is informed by recent developments in the context of global governance. By global governance we mean the capacity to take decisions and appropriate actions on behalf of humanity in a world without a global government but with an array of world institutions. Understanding changes in global governance helps Canadians see the context in which we must conduct our foreign policy. In this brief we focus on foreign policy principles conforming to the global context as well as an analysis of the existing situation in Afghanistan. Together these have led to our policy proposals.

See:
html format: http://www.worldfederalistscanada.org/changecourse.htm
pdf format: http://www.worldfederalistscanada.org/changecourse.pdf

Isn't the Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly just another variation of 'One World Government' and the destruction of democracy at the national level?


The choice is not between the nation-state and 'One World Government'. The choice is whether we will have democratic processes at all levels including the global one or whether we will let the unelected, unaccountable bodies strangle democracy at the world level and all the levels below.

The UNPA introduces for the first time the idea that citizens should be directly represented at the United Nations. It is a modest proposal because the UNPA would start as an advisory body, but it is revolutionary in its implications. Firstly it introduces the concept of global community and the global good. Second it is a force for further change in a UN system that has ossified with the current power structure.

Certainly some will try to co-opt this new parliamentary assembly, will try to limit its powers, and to marginalize it as much as possible. But they will fail. Remember that the first parliaments were advisory bodies to all-powerful kings who were forced to yield to public pressure but certainly did not intend to give up their omnipotent kingly powers. Yet, in fact, over time the kings had to give way to representative government. The UNPA is not a miracle nor a panacea, but it is a tool that we can use to fight for our idea of democracy at the global level. It deserves the wholehearted support of activists. The ones that will oppose this most strongly are those not at all enamoured of the prospect of losing power to any kind of democratic assembly.

A Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations would symbolize new concsciousness, jumpstart reform of global governance, and empower citizen perspectives at the UN.

WFMC Council Meeting

Council met in Toronto (and by conference phone) on Saturday October 27.

WFMC Blog added to our home page

This blog is now accessible from the WFMC homepage:
http://www.worldfederalistscanada.org/