Canada has served on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as a non-permanent member 8 times, with the most recent being in 2000. For its first 2 terms in the UNSC, Canada took the Commonwealth seat on the council, but in 1967, Canada has run for the Western European and Others Group seat. Canada is a member of Uniting for Consensus, a group that opposes the G4 nations' bids for permanent seats on the Security Council.
Canada was an original member of the United Nations, having previously served in the League of Nations prior to its dissolution. John Peters Humphrey established the Division for Human Rights in the UN Secretariat. Humphrey was also on the Drafting Committee of the International Bill of Rights. The Committee gave the Division for Human Rights the task of creating the first draft of the Bill of Rights, with Humphrey being the preliminary drafter of the document. Humphrey remained a champion of the Bill of Rights until its adoption by approval of the UN General Assembly in 1948.[2][failed verification]
Canada has served in over 50 peacekeeping missions, including every United Nations (UN) peacekeeping effort from its inception until 1989.[5] More than 125,000 Canadians have served in international peacekeeping operations, with approximately 130 Canadians having died during these operations.[6] Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its peacekeeping efforts.[7][8][9]
Canada's role in the development of and participation in peacekeeping during the 20th century led to its reputation as a positive middle power.[10][11] Canada's successful role in mediating the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis gave it credibility and established it as a country fighting for the common good of all nations.[12][13] The Canadian public came to identify the nation's peacekeeping role as the country's top contribution in international affairs.[14][15][16]
Canada faced controversy over its involvement in some peacekeeping efforts resulting in a military reassessment in the late 1990s.[17] By the 21st century, Canadian direct participation in UN peacekeeping efforts greatly declined, with its military participation reallocated to UN-sanctioned operations through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).[18] This military reallocation resulted in a shift towards more militarized and deadly missions, rather than traditional peacekeeping duties.[19]
Canada and the Security Council
Canada has served in the UNSCfor 12 years, thus ranking in the top ten of non-permanent members. As of 2015, it shares the fourth place in the list of non-permanent members serving on the Council by length with Italy. This places Canada behind Brazil and Japan (first place), Argentina (second place), and Colombia, India, and Pakistan (third place). Canada was elected for the following six terms: 1948–49, 1958–59, 1967–68, 1977–78, 1989–90, and 1999–2000 - once every decade. It lost its bid for a seat in the 2010 Security Council elections, to Germany and Portugal, and in the 2020 Security Council elections, to Ireland and Norway.
A site on Navy Island which straddles the U.S.-Canada border was considered as potential site for the UN Headquarters.[22][23] As well as a subsequent proposals following the Iraq invasion to relocate to Montreal[24] in the Canadian province of Quebec.
^"Canada and Peacekeeping". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 30 June 2023. Archived from the original on 26 February 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
^Sens, Allen; Stoett, Peter (2013). Global Politics (5th ed.). Nelson Education. p. 6. ISBN978-0-17-648249-7. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
^Donaghy, Greg (2016). "The politics of accommodation: Canada, the Middle East, and the Suez Crisis, 1950–1956". International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis. 71 (2): 313–327. doi:10.1177/0020702016643261. ISSN0020-7020.
^Gaffen, Fred (1987). In The Eye of The Storm: A History of Canadian Peacekeeping. Deneau & Wayne Publishers. p. 43.
^Anker, Lane (20 June 2005). "Peacekeeping and Public Opinion". Government of Canada, National Defence, Canadian Defence Academy. Archived from the original on 10 February 2024. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
^Atwater, Elton (April 1976). "Philadelphia's Quest to Become the Permanent Headquarters of the United Nations". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Pennsylvania: The Historical Society of Pennsylvania; University of Pennsylvania Press. JSTOR20091055.
Carroll, Michael K. (2009). Pearson's Peacekeepers: Canada and the United Nations Emergency Force, 1956-67. University of British Columbia Press. ISBN9780774815819.
Kay, Zachariah (2010). The Diplomacy of Impartiality: Canada and Israel, 1958–1968. Toronto: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN9781554582839.
Stacey, C. P. (1981). Canada and the Age of Conflict, Volume 2: 1921-1948, The Mackenzie King Era. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN9781442659377.
