Ever since President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the US coined the term "United Nations," Canada has been a strong supporter of both the concept and practice of a firm structure of international organization. From the beginning, Canada's intent was to do so as a 'middle power,' ready to contribute in a substantial way to UN peacekeeping forces and to enjoy a place on the Security Council at regular intervals.

Since the establishment of the UN in 1945, every successive Canadian Government has placed the UN as a central component of its foreign policy, and individual Canadians have played seminal roles in the work of the Organization as it has evolved. Canada feels that the UN represents the best chance to maintain world peace and to help in the development of all states. It realizes that the effects of poverty and war are not isolated; they affect everyone in the world, including Canadians. To help others, as well as ourselves, Canada has worked to maintain peace, promote development, and help suffering people around the world. Canada believes that its contributions through the UN, as a multilateral channel of assistance in policy development, strengthen the world.

Canada's history makes it well suited to make significant contributions to the international community. It has developed into a non-partisan middle power that has forged strong connections with countries and international organizations around the world. Our non-imperial history makes us a non-threatening partner for international initiatives. Furthermore, our history illustrates our strong support for the United Nations and its ideals of peace and cooperation.

Canadian Accomplishments in the UN
Canadians have played a central role in creating, developing, and maintaining the UN system. Canadians have contributed their expertise to virtually every aspect of the UN. Our extensive involvement in the organization makes it impossible to list all of those who have enhanced the United Nations, but the following sample gives an idea of individual Canadians' involvement in the UN:

• Lester B. Pearson, a former Prime Minister of Canada, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for establishing a peacekeeping role for the UN in helping to resolve the Suez Crisis between Israel and Egypt in 1956. He was also the President of the UN General Assembly during its Seventh Session in 1952.
• General Maurice Baril was the senior military advisor to UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, and headed the UN's Department of Peacekeeping Operations. He is currently Chief of Defence Staff for Canada.
• In the early years of the UN, Brock Chisholm helped draft the constitution for, and became the first Secretary-General of, the World Health Organization.
• John Peters Humphrey organized the Division for Human Rights in the United Nations Secretariat and was one of the principal drafters of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• Maurice Strong became the first Executive Director of UNEP and the Secretary-General of the UN Environment Conferences in Stockholm (1972) and Rio de Janeiro (1992). Until recently, he was the Executive Coordinator for UN Reform.
• Elizabeth Dowdeswell was, until recently, the Executive Director of UNEP.
• Justice Louise Arbour was, until recently, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; she is now the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• Louise Fréchette, former Canadian Permanent Representative to the UN, is currently the first Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• Stephen Lewis is a former Canadian Permanent Representative to the UN and Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on African Economic Recovery, and was until recently a Deputy Director with UNICEF.
• William O'Neil was the Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization.
  

A Tradition of Peace
Canadians are proud of Canada's peaceful, non-imperial, and non-colonial past. Forged through consensus and cooperation, Canada has become a strong and free country. Since the establishment of the United Nations, Canada has actively pursued and defended the role of peacekeepers. During the creation of the United Nations, Canada insisted that if a country contributed to UN security initiatives, it should have a say over the security measures. This proposal resulted in greater equality between non-Security Council and Security Council members.

One of the defining events in Canadian history occurred when Lester B. Pearson, future Canadian Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner, played a central role in the creation of UN peacekeeping. During the Suez Crisis, he proposed the establishment of a UN peacekeeping force to restore the peace. Canada has continued to play a leading role in peacekeeping, and has been involved in almost every UN peacekeeping mission.

Canada recognizes that peacekeeping is beneficial to the international community. Canada's exemplary record in peacekeeping will continue, a record that is increasingly benefiting from qualified civilians and police who complement the excellent work of the Canadian Armed Forces. Election monitors have helped build democracy by ensuring free and fair elections in locations around the world. Canadian police forces have played a key role in helping to stabilize countries such as Bosnia and Haiti by training their police. Other Canadians have been active in helping warring parties negotiate peace. Increasingly, Canadian peacebuilding is gaining a reputation similar to our proud tradition of peacekeeping.

Disarmament
Disarmament is another area in which we lead by example. Canada has been a strong supporter of nuclear, chemical, and biological disarmament. In 1996, following the failure of a comprehensive ban on landmines through the United Nations, Canada initiated the "Ottawa Process" to rid the world of landmines - a horrendous weapon that cannot distinguish between soldier and civilian, adult and child, a weapon that continues to claim casualties decades after a conflict has ended. The Ottawa Process obtained a high degree of support from the international community, and resulted in an Antipersonnel Landmine Ban Treaty that came into being with the aid of 122 countries that initially signed the treaty. The treaty entered into force on March 1, 1999. Canada's well-respected international reputation and the example we have set by destroying our own landmine stockpile have contributed to this success.

Human Security
Canadians believe strongly in the protection and promotion of human rights, both in Canada and around the world. The importance we place on human rights has led us to become active in many aspects of human security, in issues such as sustainable development, peacebuilding, and good governance. In essence, human security means safety for people from both violent and non-violent threats. It is a condition characterized by freedom from pervasive threats to people's rights, their safety, or even their lives. Human security takes people as its point of reference, rather than focusing exclusively on the security of territory or governments. Human security entails taking preventive measures to reduce vulnerability and minimize risk, and taking remedial action where prevention fails.

The range of potential threats to human security should not be narrowly conceived. While the safety of people is obviously at grave risk in situations of armed conflict, a human security approach is not simply synonymous with humanitarian action. It highlights the need to address the root causes of insecurity and to help ensure people's future safety. There are also human security dimensions to a broad range of challenges, such as gross violations of human rights, environmental degradation, terrorism, transnational organized crime, gender-based violence, infectious diseases and natural disasters. The widespread social unrest and violence that often accompanies economic crises demonstrates that there are clear economic underpinnings to human security. The litmus test for determining if it is useful to frame an issue in human security terms is the degree to which the safety of people is at risk. Human security issues have both domestic and international dimensions. Canada believes that the best way to deal with such issues is through constructive engagement with states rather than by taking a confrontational approach.

Development
The vast majority of us support international aid, which is only natural, as helping others in need is a central value for most Canadians. For Canada, international assistance is more than offering short term aid; it is a means of improving global security by helping to deal with many of the problems that threaten human security. It is also a means of helping countries to lift themselves out of poverty and to build a stronger global economy which will benefit all people. This takes a long-term commitment, one that Canada has made.

Canada provides aid to all parts of the world, and, through this experience, realizes that the needs and capabilities of specific countries must be taken into consideration. We have also learned that a successful development programme has to be people-centred. Our technical experience and, perhaps more importantly, our sensitivity to development issues makes Canada an important participant in international assistance and development.

While Canada has done a great deal of unilateral work through government organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency, the International Development Research Centre, and an extensive network of non-governmental organizations, we acknowledge the need for global action to combat poverty and to improve the situations of the people of the world. For this reason, Canada has been a strong supporter of the UN's development programmes. Canadians have provided direction for many UN agencies and funds such as the United Nations Children's Fund, the World Health Organization, and the Food and Agricultural Organization, organizations that have saved millions of lives.

Experience and the Security Council
The positive light in which other countries view Canada has led our country to take a seat on the UN Security Council on six separate occasions. 1948-49, 1958-59, 1967-68, 1977-78, 1989-90, and 1999-2000. The repeated re-election of Canada to the Council has illustrated the faith other states have in Canada's ability to work well and fairly with other states. They know that Canada is in a strong position to advance the cause of world peace, due to its involvement in peacekeeping and its balanced position on major issues before the UN. The election of Canada to the Security Council is an affirmation by the world community that Canada's goal of a strong United Nations benefiting all nations is shared by all.

Canada and the UN: An Investment in the Future
Canada has a long history as a respected international actor. An original member of the United Nations, Canada has been deeply involved in the organization's activities for over fifty years, and has taken pride in the UN's considerable success. Canada is also proud of its financial and personnel support for the UN. Canada has played, and will continue to play, a pivotal role in the global community.