Even Mobilizing Celine Dion... Canada Suffers Humiliating Defeat in UN Security Council Bid

▲Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada [Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Canada suffered the humiliation of losing the vote for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council despite spending 1.74 million dollars (about 2.1 billion KRW).

According to Bloomberg on the 17th (local time), at the UN General Assembly held at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA, Canada received support from 108 out of 192 voting countries but narrowly failed. Mexico, India, Ireland, and Norway were elected as non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Canada aimed for one of the two seats allocated to Western European and other states among the 10 non-permanent seats, but competitors Ireland and Norway were elected with 129 and 130 votes respectively.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement after the vote, "I listened and learned a lot from other countries that opened the door to cooperation to solve global challenges," adding, "We have created new partnerships to raise Canada's standing in the world."

This defeat is considered one of the biggest setbacks Trudeau has faced during his tenure as Prime Minister, and it is expected to deal a blow to the current administration. For this election, Trudeau employed 13 dedicated staff members and even invited UN member state diplomats to a New York concert by Canadian national singer Celine Dion, courting the international community.

The amount Canada spent on the campaign alone reached a total of 1.74 million dollars (about 2.117 billion KRW).

Moreover, Canada had previously run for a non-permanent seat in 2010 but also faced defeat.

Chevaloi Magundar, senior researcher at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a prominent Canadian think tank, and former conservative policy foreign advisor to ex-Prime Minister Steve Harper, commented, "This is the greatest international embarrassment that he (Prime Minister Trudeau) will face during his tenure as Canada's Prime Minister."

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council consists of five permanent members with veto power (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia) and ten non-permanent members that rotate every two years. Elections for non-permanent members are held annually for five seats each year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.