PITCHING FOR A SEAT AT THE USELESS UN

   There was a wonderful incongruity to Justin Trudeau’s latest pitch for Canada’s bid to win a temporary seat on the UN Security Council. It came on the International Day of the Peacekeeper, at a time when Canada’s contribution to a force it helped create in 1956 is at its lowest ever level.
   Canada has just 35 personnel involved in UN peacekeeping, a number that compares unfavourably with Ireland and Norway, the two countries with which we are competing for the two spots to represent the Western Europe and Others group. Ireland has around 474 personnel involved in UN missions, while Norway has 65.
   Trudeau has left a trail of broken promises in his wake, to the UN and domestic voters. One only has to look at his 2015 election platform — which promised that MPs “must be free represent their communities and hold the government to account” — and then contrast it to the vote this week that closed down Parliament until the fall. It sends the message that he is not entirely dependable.