Trudeau to take UN Security Council pitch to Caribbean next week

OTTAWA — Next stop: the Caribbean. That is where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be heading next week as he continues making his pitch for why Canada should have a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

Trudeau’s two-day visit south, starting Monday, comes right on the heels of a week-long voyage shaking hands with leaders in Africa and Europe in an attempt to lock down votes from those countries for the Security Council bid.

The scene this time will be the island nation of Barbados, which is playing host to a gathering of leaders from across what is known as the Caribbean Community, or Caricom, which includes 15 countries as full members and five others as associate members.

While Trudeau is expected to talk to Caribbean leaders about climate change, given the region’s particular vulnerabilities to its impacts, the Security Council seat will also figure prominently.

Canada, Norway and Ireland are the three countries vying for two seats available to Western European countries as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. Members of the UN will vote in June, with the winners sitting for two-year terms.

Canada last sat on the Security Council in 2000, with Stephen Harper’s Conservative government having lost a bid for a seat in 2010. Canada lost partly due to lacklustre African support.

Trudeau spent the past weekend at a summit in Ethiopia, meeting leaders from across Africa, before making a whirlwind visit to Kuwait to visit Canadian troops there and speak with the country’s leader.

He will spend time in Senegal before jetting to Germany to attend the annual Munich Security Conference, which will include a number of leaders from Europe.

Trudeau has said he is seeking a seat for Canada on the powerful UN Security Council because it is where the world’s most pressing issues are debated.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 11, 2020.

Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press