In the early morning of July 11, 2011, Postmedia News is reporting Canada will boycott the upcoming UN Conference on Disarmament. A senior government official told Postmedia that an announcement would be made later in the day by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.
The conference will be boycotted because So Se Pyong, a North Korean ambassador, has been named to chair the Conference on Disarmament. The government source was quoted as saying, "Our government received a strong mandate to advance Canada's values - freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law on the world stage."
Canada Disappointed Over North Korea's Appointment to Head Conference
At a plenary meeting held on June 28, 2011, Pyong, of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was chosen to assume the rotating presidency of the Conference. In his initial statement after the appointment, Pyong said he "was very much committed to the Conference" and looked forward to receiving constructive proposals from other members. Pyong added he believes the Conference will see concrete results in negotiating multilateral disarmament treaties.
Two days after North Korea assumed the leadership of the Conference, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs made his views known. Baird said, "North Korea is simply not a credible chair of a disarmament body." The Foreign Affairs Minister went on to say that North Korea should open its facilities to international inspections and called on North Korea to pass the chairmanship on to a more "credible country".
Much as Postmedia's government source said, Baird advised at the time that Canada will continue to take principled positions in accordance with fundamental justice.
Canadian Sanctions Against North Korea
On October 28, 2010, then Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon announced Canada was imposing a controlled engagement policy against North Korea and imposing further economic sanctions. These sanctions were imposed after international experts, including three from Canada determined North Korea was responsible for the sinking of the South Korean vessel, Cheonan, on March 26, 2010. Forty six South Koreans lost their lives when the ship went down.
These sanctions included prohibiting imports from and exports to the country except for supplying humanitarian aid. Canada also prohibited Canadians or anyone who is in Canada from making new investments in North Korea. Those in Canada are also prevented from providing financial services and technology transfers to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Ships and aircraft that are registered in North Korea are prohibited from landing or docking in Canada.
These sanctions were imposed under the Special Economic Measures Act. Passed by Parliament in 1992, the legislation allows the cabinet to impose sanctions on a foreign state where it is believed that the foreign state has committed a grave breach of international peace and security. As well as the sanctions imposed, Canada could have seized or frozen any property in Canada owned by either the North Korean government or a North Korean who is not ordinarily resident in Canada.
Canada is expected to be the first country to announce a boycott of the UN Conference on Disarmament that is set to resume on August 1, 2011.
Arthur Weinreb - Weinreb is an author, associate editor and columnist with Canada Free Press and the Canadian Affairs Feature Writer for Suite 101.
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