Ottawa

Tease the day: When Canada took on the United Nations

Three hostile regions lash out at Canada, and the Conservatives aren’t backing down

AP/Seth Wenig

It’s not every week that Palestinians, North Koreans and Iranians all lash out at Canada. But that’s what Canadian diplomats at the United Nations have endured over the past couple of days. This morning, we learn in The Globe and Mail that Palestinians are threatening Canada with “consequences” if Canadian diplomats don’t side with the Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations. The National Post‘s Kathryn Blaze Carlson tells us North Koreans are angry with us, too. They’re particularly mad at Guillermo Rishchynski, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, for expressing his disappointment in the Communist regime’s human rights record. Rishchynski earned the ire of Iranians just the day before, when he criticized that regime’s human rights record. The Post reported that, in return, Iran called Canada “racist” and “self-centred.” For their part, Conservatives in Ottawa aren’t giving an inch. With every statement, they’re only reinforcing their positions at the UN—and John Baird, the foreign affairs minister, might well make his case against the Palestinians in front of the UN General Assembly. Somewhere, Lester B. Pearson’s shaking his head. Elsewhere, Prime Minister Stephen Harper couldn’t care less.


What’s above the fold this morning?

The Globe and Mail leads with Canada’s opposition to the Palestinian bid for enhanced status at the United Nations. The National Post fronts the arrest of former SNC-Lavalin chief executive Pierre Duhaime. The Toronto Star goes above the fold with Ontario elementary teachers’ looming strike. The Ottawa Citizen leads with an Ottawa man who, for now, won’t be deported to Gaza. iPolitics fronts an interview with Liberal leadership contender Martha Hall Findlay. National Newswatch showcases a CTV News story about federal food inspectors at the infamous XL Foods plant being told to turn a blind eye to contaminated beef.


Stories that will be (mostly) missed

1. Immigration boost. An internal government document obtained by Postmedia News says annual immigration quotas should be bumped up by six percent a year until 2018. 2. Plastic lakes. A team of researchers found high concentrations of plastics in three Great Lakes—findings that rivalled the most polluted parts of the world’s oceans.
3. Angry North Koreans. Canada’s outspoken UN ambassador criticized North Korea’s dismal human rights record. For that, he received a strong rebuke from the Asian nation. 4. Egyptian conviction. A Canadian man was sentenced to death in absentia in Egypt thanks to his role in a controversial movie about Islam. He’s worried he’ll be kidnapped and sent to Egypt.

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