YouSaid · the spoken record

John Baird

lines on the record: 67
first: 2011-09-24
most recent: 2013-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It is not without great challenge and responsibility, but we all must stand up and deliver on that unique mandate for the people, for it is the people who expect nothing less.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Like the three handles of a mug from which we all drink, they are three values that all humankind shares. As I close, I cannot help but reflect on the three young girls, and my heart breaks for them: the child bride who said, “It was the day I left schoo.”; the young girl who was a victim of rape and sexual violence; the refugee who said, “I just want to go home”. We are not here to achieve results for Governments or political leaders. We are here to protect and defend those three girls and 7 billion other members of the human family. Let us remember that as we embark on discussions to shape a new global agenda, focusing on those most in need. I am confident that everyone here feels the overwhelming honour and privilege it is to serve our people.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“What the signatories claimed as a triumph of practical politics was in fact a craven capitulation that betrayed human dignity and bankrupted the peace it purported to secure. It was wrong then to underestimate and to appease fascism, just as it is now to underestimate its modern incarnation. Extremism that subjugates human dignity and crushes individual freedom beneath rigid ideology must be opposed for what it is. One year ago, the world lost the great Somali poet known as Gaarriye. Although his pen has been silenced, the inspiring words remain. He wrote: “And tell them this: our purpose is peace; our password ‘freedom’; our aim, equality; our way, the way of light.”. In other words, peace, prosperity and freedom — three universal human priorities.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We reject the pernicious notion that human dignity can be sliced up, compartmentalized or compromised. In a pluralistic society, it is impossible to protect some human rights and freedoms while infringing others. All freedoms are rooted in the inherent dignity of human beings. Whether the issue is religious freedom, sexual freedom, political freedom or any other freedom, some people ask: What business is it of ours? What interest do we have in events outside our borders? Our business is a shared humanity. Our interest is the dignity of humankind. Many assaults on human dignity have common roots. I refer to neo-fascist ideology masquerading in different forms, and the threat that it poses to individual freedom. I spoke earlier of the anniversary of the Munich Agreement.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Since we gathered here last year, the world has witnessed bombings of mosques in Iraq and Pakistan and Catholic churches in Tanzania; attacks against Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim places of worship in Burma and Bangladesh; the bloody persecution of Christians in Syria; attacks on Coptic Christian churches in Egypt; attacks on a mosque and on a Catholic church in Sri Lanka; the detention of Sri Lankan Muslim leader Azad Sally; the murders of Catholic worshippers in Nigeria; and the Iranian regime’s ongoing persecution of the Baha’i. Canada this year opened an Office of Religious Freedom. Its mandate is to promote freedom of religion and belief as a foreign policy priority, and to combat the enslavement into fear by those who seek to intimidate and undermine the right to worship freely in peace and in harmony.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Everyone has an interest in contributing to the solution, because peace and prosperity ultimately ensure the freedom of the individual. That is why we need the people of these United Nations gathered here to promote that freedom: freedom from oppression, freedom from discrimination, freedom to worship, to think, to speak, to love, to believe — freedom to be. Human freedom can be exercised and, sadly, limited in far too many ways. Religious persecution continues in too many places.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Her parents had made the difficult decision to leave their home and to seek refuge in another country, braving hardship because they were motivated, like all parents, by the desire to keep their family safe. I asked the young girl how she was doing. With tears in her eyes, she said simply, “I do not like it here. I want to go home.” It was absolutely heartwrenching. And millions of people are in the same tragic position around the world — millions of members of the human family who cannot even begin to contemplate prosperity until a more basic need, their need for security, is addressed. The global family will never achieve the prosperity that is our full potential unless we address the peace and security concerns that constrain human opportunity.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“But the quest for prosperity must never come at the expense of our commitment to freedom. Prosperity is inextricably linked to peace. After all, those who lack security usually lack the means to provide for themselves and their families. With economic opportunity, a fruit vendor in Tunisia may not have felt compelled to end his life seeking the dignity to provide for his own family. A young man in Afghanistan may never feel compelled to join terrorist elements simply to raise his children and ensure that their lives are better than the one he lived. I will always remember the 7-year old girl that I met at Zaatari refugee camp, in Jordan.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We are aggressively pursuing free-trade agreements with other nations. Bounded by three oceans, with the second-largest land mass in the world, Canada is literally open to the world. We are both deepening existing economic relationships and building new ones. Whether with China, which is now Canada’s second-largest trading partner, or the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, where Canadian trade and investment ties are dramatically increasing, or the Pacific Alliance, which provides new and exciting opportunities, or the European Union, where we are negotiating a comprehensive free trade agreement, Canada and Canadians are supporting market liberalization. In the process, ordinary lives are becoming enriched and entire societies stronger.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Next year, nothing would make Canada more pleased than to see a change in Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a change to its terrible human rights record and an end to its material support for terrorism, including for Hizbullah. Now is the time for the global community to maintain tough sanctions against Iran so that the country takes a different path on its nuclear programme. The Iranian people want peace, and they are suffering great hardship because of their Government. Canada wants the Iranian people to be able to access a life of freedom and prosperity for themselves. How do we as a human family achieve and maintain prosperity? We do so through free trade among open societies operating under transparent, consistent and fair rules. Canada continues to diversify its markets because it is a trading nation.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“If we take the recent statements coming from the regime in Iran, some observers see encouraging signs, but sound bites do not remove threats to global security. Kind words, a smile and a charm offensive are not a substitute for real action. We will welcome and acknowledge reform, if and when it comes. By the following test we will know when genuine reform has occurred: has there been real, measurable, material improvement in the lives of the Iranian people and in the security of the world? Not yet. We will judge the regime on the basis of its actions and results. The five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany have had five rounds of formal negotiations with Iran in the past two years. While everyone says the meetings have been productive, the fact remains we have not seen any change in Iran’s actions.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Recent developments in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are indeed encouraging. I want to salute the leadership and courage of the Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian Authority’s President. I commend United States Secretary of State John Kerry for his personal leadership in this area. We must all commit ourselves to this cause, united by the prospect of peace. I look forward to the day when Israeli and Palestinian children can live side by side in peace and security in a Jewish and in a Palestinian State. Dialogue is important, yes. But our dialogue must be a prelude to action, and action must mean achieving results. Action must mean making a difference.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Today, the Jewish people are masters of their own fate, like most other nations, in their sovereign Jewish State. And like all other nations, Israel has the right to defend itself, by itself. Canada fundamentally believes peace is achievable and that Palestinians and Israelis and their neighbours can live side by side in peace and security. We, like many nations, wish to see a prosperous Palestinian State living in peace with its Jewish neighbour. That is why, although at times we have fundamental differences on how statehood is achieved, Canada is providing significant assistance to build the institutions that are vital to the establishment of a viable future State. In the West Bank, Canada is contributing greatly to economic, security and justice initiatives.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The appeasers claimed they had won peace in our time. In fact, their abandoning of principle was a calamity for the world. Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor who was imprisoned at Auschwitz, has been even blunter: “Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant.” Just as we are not neutral or silent on the crimes being committed against the Syrian people, neither is Canada neutral on Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself. There can be no bargaining over Israel’s existence. While dialogue is a virtue, there can be no virtuous discussion with anyone wedded to Israel’s destruction.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“I also commend the work of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in providing assistance to the refugees fleeing that terrible conflict, as well as the generosity of Syria’s neighbours in providing safe haven. Canada joins the entire world in seeking a political resolution to the conflict. Canada supports a peaceful, democratic and pluralistic Syria that protects the rights of all communities. But let us not confuse a peaceful, negotiated outcome with equivocation or moral uncertainty. There can be no moral ambiguity about the use of chemical weapons, particularly against civilians. Today, 30 September, is a dark reminder of the price of accommodation with evil. It is the seventy- fifth anniversary of the Munich Agreement, by which Czechoslovakia’s freedom was sacrificed to appease the Nazi regime.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Canada’s position is clear: we support the Syrian people, the innocent people caught up in this senseless violence and those who show great courage in working on their behalf. We will never support a brutal and illegitimate regime that has unleashed weapons of mass destruction on its own people. Nor will we tolerate extremism and terrorism as alternatives to Al-Assad’s tyranny. The people of Canada have been generous in helping those most in need. When success is achieved, I believe that it is important to recognize it. The near- impossible work of the World Food Programme must be applauded, and Canada has responded by being the second-largest single-country donor in the world. Its work in Syria is paramount and has not gone unnoticed.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“While those efforts, to eradicate sexual violence in conflict, to eliminate early forced marriage and to improve maternal and newborn health are essential, we must do more than react to crises. We must invest in opportunities for women and young girls. We must ensure that women participate fully in all parts of our society and in all the countries of the United Nations. That will help us build a stronger, more secure, more prosperous and more peaceful world. It is in every nation’s self-interest to ensure every young girl realizes her full potential. And it is from the perspective of the human family, one family, that we must address other threats to peace and security. Among the most urgent crises remains the violence in Syria.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“We condemn it, even though some might prefer that we kept quiet. The discomfort of the public is of small concern, particularly in the context of a crime that calls to heaven for justice. (spoke in English) If the United Nations does not act to protect young girls, who will? Another way to protect the vulnerable is to improve the health of mothers, newborns and children so that we can reduce the number of deaths. I would like to say how proud I am of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper for having led a global effort — the Muskoka Initiative — to reduce maternal and infant mortality and to improve the health of mothers and children in the world’s poorest countries. That is about half of the world’s population, and all of its potential.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Tragically every year, millions of girls, some as young as nine years old, are forced into marriage. Since I began my remarks today, 100 children have been forced into marriage at a rate of 1,100 per hour, or more than 26,000 per day. The effects of early forced marriage are documented and beyond dispute. Early forced marriage harms health, halts education, destroys opportunity and enslaves women in a life of poverty. A young woman once recounted her wedding date. She remembered, “It was the day I left school”. No country is immune from this scourge. This is a global problem — a problem for humankind. Forced marriage is rape — an act of violence against women. Early forced marriage is child rape — an act of violence against young girls. The practice is abhorrent and indefensible.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Almost always, the suffering is felt by the most vulnerable among us. Far too often, that involves women and violence. In the context of war, rape and serious sexual violence are war crimes. I have met girls who were victims of that very war crime, and their stories are absolutely horrific. The war criminals involved must be identified, pursued, prosecuted and punished. Earlier this year, Canada and other Group of Eight nations agreed to treat sexual violence in conflict as a violation of the Geneva Conventions. I applaud the United Kingdom and Foreign Secretary William Hague for their work in this very important area. But he would be the first to acknowledge that the fight to eradicate this crime has been led by women, including the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The billions who are hungry, or lack access to clean water, or are displaced, or cannot read and write do not care how many members sit on the Security Council. But they do need to know that their brothers and sisters in humankind will walk with them through the darkness. Peace, prosperity and freedom are the conditions that have been sought by human communities from the beginning of recorded time: to live in peace, to live in prosperity, to live in freedom. Of those priorities peace is the foremost objective of the United Nations. It is no surprise that the Charter of the United Nations mentions the word peace four dozen times. Sadly, peace the word is easier to locate than peace the condition. Since the moment the Organization was created, not a day has passed without the human family being pained by war somewhere on the planet.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The very first words of the Charter of the United Nations make clear that the Organization is a body of, by and for human beings. It begins, “We the peoples of the United Nations” — not “We the countries” or “We the Governments” or “We the political leaders”, but “We the peoples”. That is an important reminder of why and on whose behalf we are all here today. At the United Nations, Canada targets its efforts on securing tangible results for the human family. It is much more important to consider what the United Nations is achieving than how the United Nations arranges its affairs. Canada’s Government does not seek to have our values or our principled foreign policy validated by elites who would rather go along to get along.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Indeed, nearly three millennia ago, Homer wrote in the Iliad of a multi-handled mug. The tyg and its many counterparts around the world are tangible reminders not just of the fact that eating and drinking are social activities, but that, as long as human beings have inhabited this planet, sustenance and the necessaries of life have been community endeavours. Human beings share out of necessity. We cooperate to survive. We form communities because that is our natural state. As Cicero observed, we were born to unite with our fellow men and to join in community with the human race. Animated by the same spirit of community, the Charter of the United Nations declares that our goals include to live together, to be neighbours and to unite.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“The province of Newfoundland and Labrador was the last province to join Canada, but it is the site of the earliest known European settlement in the New World. L’Anse aux Meadows is more than 1,000 years old. We consider the province’s capital city, St. John’s, to be the oldest English settlement in North America, dating back to 1497. The early Newfoundland settlements are the subject of significant archeological activity. Among the artifacts commonly found is a three-handled drinking mug known as a tyg. The three handles are designed for sharing. During the seventeenth century, it was common to share eating and drinking utensils. Further research reveals that the tyg is not unique to Canadian and English history. On the contrary, cups with three or more handles are common to many of the world’s cultures.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“As we gather near Ground Zero, site of the World Trade Center mass murder, I wish first to honour the victims of terrorism. I honour all victims everywhere, including those killed and wounded at the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi. Tragically, we lost two Canadians in Nairobi, including one of our diplomats. There is no more fitting venue to honour the life of Annemarie Desloges and her service than right here at the United Nations. The crime of terror is an assault on all people. In its wake, the human family is one — united in pain, mourning and our resolve that we will never allow evil to triumph. At this moment of grief, the oneness of humankind is the theme of my remarks today. Allow me to begin with an observation drawn from the Canadian experience.”
2013-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 68 (2013)
“Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” Emboldened and bolstered by our faith in humanity, let us move forward together to secure the results that this Organization was established to achieve. constant is change”. The only constant is change. Indeed, our world continues to change and at a rapid pace in all domains. At the geopolitical level, change means a rebalancing of power and new opportunities. Not since the Cold War has so much change occurred so quickly. In these turbulent times, when change can be swift and unexpected, it is all the more important that we focus with precision on the constants that remain true. Canada is a maritime nation bordered by three oceans. Please allow me, then, to use a nautical”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Other abuses enslave the soul by suppressing, sometimes with brutal force, the right to worship freely, to practise a faith and to hold religious beliefs. Assaults on human dignity, wherever they occur, are unacceptable. At the start of my address, I observed that results matter. This Organization was created to achieve certain goals, and it will be measured by its success in doing so. No one ever said that it would be easy to make real progress in advancing the prosperity, well- being, security and dignity of humankind. It is not easy but it is essential. Despite the challenges, the frequent setbacks and the cost, which is often heavy, we know that the nations and peoples of the world are up to the challenge. As we celebrate Mohandas Gandhi’s birthday tomorrow, let us be inspired by his words: “You must not lose faith in humanity.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“History teaches us that an open society that is tolerant, pluralistic and free is the best guarantor of human rights and dignity. A threat to the security of humankind is often coupled with the crushing of human rights. Yet human rights abuses that do not threaten security still concern us. The enslavement of others is a vicious human rights abuse. It takes many forms, such as the notorious political prisoner camps of North Korea, the forcible recruitment by the Mouvement du 23 mars group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the early and forced marriage of young girls, which is a truly barbaric form of slavery. Another despicable type of enslavement is the criminalization of sexuality: jailing, torturing and killing people for who they are and whom they love.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Iran must act immediately to stop all enrichment and must abandon technology that could be used for weapons. Iran is testing the will of the international community to its utmost. That, too, must end. The world’s security is closely linked to the third goal that should animate this Organization, namely, protecting the dignity and worth of every person by upholding and protecting fundamental freedoms. The great poet Kahlil Gibran inspired us to remember that safeguarding the rights of others is the most noble and beautiful goal of a human being. That principle is not simply a question of beliefs and values. It includes a requirement for action. Protecting human rights and human dignity is an obligation that each State owes its citizens. It is a mutual obligation that all members of the international community must share.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We support the process of the five plus one group of countries. Iran needs to seize the opportunity provided by the international community and negotiate in good faith by showing demonstrable progress and by meeting its nuclear obligations. The Iranian regime still has the chance to redeem itself. In fact, I encourage Iran to follow the example of some of its neighbours, some of whom Canada has supported in building nuclear energy programmes for peaceful purposes. We will continue to work closely with the United States, the European Union and other allies to put pressure on Iran to comply with its important international nuclear obligations. Rather than accept as inevitable the conflict that Iran seems intent on provoking, Canada seeks a peaceful alternative.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“While Canada prizes engagement and open relations, there can be no open engagement with a regime that dishonours its word, repudiates its commitments and threatens to perpetuate crimes against humanity. Canada’s philosophy is captured in the wisdom of Dag Hammarskjöld, the second United Nations Secretary-General, killed 51 years ago while fighting for peace and justice. He advised: “Never, for the sake of peace and quiet, deny your own experience or convictions”. That is why Canada has imposed some of the toughest economic sanctions against the Iranian regime. However, let me be absolutely clear. Our quarrel is not with the people of Iran, but with the regime, which aims to silence their voices. Canada urges Iran to comply with its international nuclear obligations and to cease sensitive enrichment activities.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“A nuclear Iran would embolden an already reckless regime and would perpetuate a very destabilizing factor not just for an already fragile region, but also for the entire planet. The Government of Canada has not only formally listed the Iranian regime as a State sponsor of terrorism under Canadian law, but we have also suspended diplomatic relations. Some may ask why a country committed to openness and engagement would suspend relations. We do not take such decisions lightly. On a practical level, the regime’s blatant disregard for the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations created real and legitimate concern for the safety and security of our civilian diplomats. But there is also a great principle at stake.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I pledge that Canada will work to address the urgent humanitarian crises wrought by the violence of the past 18 months. It behoves all Member States in a position to do so to improve conditions for the Syrian civilians affected by their great struggle against tyranny in pursuit of dignity. Today, the most significant threat to global peace and security remains the regime in Iran. It refuses to comply with Security Council resolutions. It routinely threatens the very existence of the State of Israel. It foments hatred against the Jewish people and incites genocide. It provides aid, comfort and support to terrorist groups. It is guilty of the widespread and massive repression of the human rights of its own people, including gays, lesbians and religious minorities.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Until such an opportunity arises in Syria, Canada stands ready to assist neighbouring States in taking measures to reduce the threat of the proliferation of those terrible weapons. Until that time, Canada continues to call for an immediate end to the violence. Al-Assad must be replaced by a new order that protects Syria’s territorial integrity and all the rights of each and every citizen. I have seen the despair of the Syrian people first hand on the Jordanian border, where a little girl heart- wrenchingly told me that all she wanted to do was to go home. That experience will no doubt leave a lasting scar on the children caught in the middle of the tragedy. We must ensure that they have the opportunity for a better life — for a life free of fear and full of opportunity.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“And if the collective interest in our shared humanity does not motivate us to act, then the self-interest of our own security should. After all, a stockpile of chemical and biological weapons does not respect national sovereignty or recognize territorial integrity. Who among us would be secure if the chemical and biological weapons of another Member State fell into the wrong hands? That is why Canada calls on the Syrian regime to ensure that its stockpile of chemical weapons remains secure against possible use or proliferation by those who would do evil. When the post-Al-Qadhafi Libya declared its willingness to destroy previously unknown stockpiles, Canada stepped in and provided $6 million to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in order to achieve that vital objective.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Until the last moment of recorded time, the world will remember and history will judge Member States that are allowing the atrocities to continue. Many people of the planet, including many of the citizens whom we represent, cannot understand why this Organization — despite the sound and fury of debate in this great Assembly — has been unable to take concrete steps. Some ask, “What business is it of ours?” Our citizens would argue that the business is our common humanity, and our mandate is the strengthening of humanity’s bonds. It is difficult to fault their logic. The late Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it”.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Or, as Nelson Mandela eloquently put it, “freedom would be meaningless without security in the home and in the streets”. Thus, our freedom is strengthened when others are free, and our liberty is diminished so long as any of our brothers or sisters are imprisoned by fear. Because a threat to one is a threat to all, our security is enhanced when we cooperate to protect fragile democracies or to block the forces of instability. The crisis in Syria is a test of this Organization’s ability to achieve results. While the brutal and repressive regime of Bashar Al-Assad continues the slaughter of its own people, the United Nations continues to fail to impose binding sanctions that would stem the crimson tide of that bloody assault.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We are expanding trade at a rate of unparalleled ambition, and consequently we are looking for partners. But we fully recognize that sustained trade requires stability and security. The United Nations will also be judged by how well it advances the security of humankind. The goal of security is not separate from the objective of well-being. Security is, after all, a vital part of people’s well-being. Once again, openness and engagement are important means of achieving that goal. While there may at times be tension in the means of execution, there exists no fundamental conflict between national security and the open society; both seek to protect the same values, the same rights and the same freedoms. It is not enough for a society to protect its own security. Global security affects all of us as members of the global community.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Blessed with the benefit of human experience, we know what produces prosperity: free trade among open societies operating under transparent, consistent and fair rules. As Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon recently wrote, “engaging in the world is the best path to a better future”. The fight for the economic and social advancement of all peoples is manifested in the struggle for open markets, open society and open-mindedness. It is a struggle in which Canada is decidedly not neutral. We recognize that the well-being of Canadians depends both on openness at home and on openness to the world. Canadians know, from experience, the connection between trade and prosperity. After all, in order to support the world’s tenth-largest economy with only the world’s thirty-sixth-largest population, we must be a trading nation.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Since before recorded history, societies have reached out to their neighbours and beyond. As soon as human beings invented transport, we invented trade, exchanging not just the fruits of the Earth, but also goods, practices and ideas. Informed by our successes and failures — that is, having benefited from engagement and having paid the price of isolation — humankind has learned several lessons. We cannot develop understanding by building walls between cultures. We cannot achieve prosperity by erecting walls between economies. And we cannot advance a people by putting walls between them and the State. It is no longer necessary for humankind to endlessly debate how to make people better off. There is no special alchemy required.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“The United Nations Commission on Information and Accountability for Women’s and Children’s Health, co-chaired by Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and President Jakaya Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania, is the type of initiative that Canada would like to see more of in the future, and its recommendations need to be integrated into a post-2015 framework. The Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations reflects our collective determination to achieve “better standards of life” for all humankind. It sets as a goal “the economic and social advancement of all peoples”. That is no mean ambition. Those of us who recognize a Creator accept the responsibility to use the Creator’s gifts to improve the well-being of all. Openness and engagement are vital to progress and prosperity.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“Canada’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations will henceforth devote primary attention to what the United Nations is achieving, not to how the United Nations arranges its affairs. The United Nations spends too much time on itself. It must now look outward. The preoccupation with procedure and process must yield to substance and results. If the United Nations focuses on the achievement of goals — such as prosperity, security and human dignity — then reform will take care of itself. As the international community sets its sights on a post-2015 development framework, it should not forget the work that remains to be done and the commitments it has made.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“This Organization is not a goal; it is merely the means to accomplish goals. However, the United Nations must spend less time looking at itself, and more time focused on the problems that demand its attention. I make that observation in a constructive and positive spirit. Canada was an original signatory to the Charter, and is today the seventh-largest contributor to the budget of this important Organization. Our commitment to the United Nations has been tested and is proven. Our commitment to the United Nations is important. Nevertheless, because of our commitment to this body, we cannot and will not participate in endless, fruitless inward-looking exercises.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“In the same way, the only way for us to navigate the seas of change is to follow fixed principles and chart a course for immutable goals. In our opinion, those goals are the well-being, prosperity, security and dignity of humankind, objectives that are reflected in the purposes inscribed in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter. We owe it to those we serve — to the people of this planet — to maintain consistent effort in that direction. They will judge our success by how well we further the ends of prosperity, security, and human dignity. One measures results by measuring the results themselves, not by weighing best efforts, not by counting good intentions, and not by calculating inputs. I do not propose, therefore, to dwell extensively on reform of the United Nations.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“And yet it has also been two thirds of a century during which we suffered deep disappointment — the worst incidents of terrorism in the world’s history, including the largest terror attack ever, here in New York on 11 September 2001; the failure to anticipate and prevent genocide in Cambodia and Rwanda; and the stubborn persistence of totalitarianism and despotism. Some developments were predictable. Others no one foresaw, and nobody could have scripted. As we stand on the threshold of the next third of a century, we are reminded of that old adage, “the only analogy. At one time, sailors would navigate by the North Star. Winds and currents would shift, storms would blow, ships might even veer off course, but the North Star remained fixed — as a guide and as a goal.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“The General Assembly is now two thirds of a century old — two thirds of a century during which the Assembly and the planet have been witness to both great achievements and grave injustices and have seen both human triumphs and human tragedies. It has been two thirds of a century during which the peoples of the world made powerful progress. We have launched humans into orbit. We have mapped the human genome and unlocked various mysteries of life and science. We have pulled hundreds of millions of people out of abject poverty.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“It is an honour to address the opening of the sixty-seventh regular session of the General Assembly. First of all, allow me to begin with a moment of silence in tribute to all the diplomats, from so many countries, who have lost their lives in the service of our common humanity and in the pursuit of deeper understanding among countries. With the opening of this session, the General Assembly has passed an important milestone. Since the first session was convened in Central Hall Westminster in London in January 1946 until the calling to order of this new session, precisely 66 years and eight months have elapsed.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“If we covet honour, it is only a reputation for doing the right thing in a good cause”. That is all. That is enough. If I may be so bold, that is why the countries of the world came together in the United Nations - to do the right thing in a good cause. The cause is peace, justice, freedom and opportunity for all.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Canada has consistently opposed the debasement of multilateral institutions by conduct that is inconsistent with their values. For example, this year marks the fiftieth anniversary of Canada’s principled refusal to support membership in the Commonwealth of Nations by South Africa’s then apartheid regime. The greatest enemies of the United Nations are not those who publicly repudiate its actions. The greatest enemies of the United Nations are those who quietly undermine its principles or, even worse, who sit idly, watching its slow decline. We cannot sit idly. Canada is a vigorous defender of freedom, democracy and the rule of law. As our Prime Minister remarked earlier this month, “we are not a country that makes war for gain or for territory. We do not fight for glory.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Such is the case when the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament passes to a regime involved in the illicit transfers of weapons, material and technology; or when Iran, which mocks the values of this Organization through such outrages as refusing to allow entry to United Nations observers on human rights, is permitted to seek leadership roles, such as the vice-presidency of the General Assembly and a seat on the Commission on Population and Development; or when objection is taken on petty, procedural or process-based grounds to reporting that speaks about credible allegations of war crimes committed in Sri Lanka; or when blatant violators of women’s rights are welcomed to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, often despite reservations that are incompatible with the object and purpose of the very Convention.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)