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No new Canadian bid for UN Security Council: Baird

After Canada's defeat last year, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the country will not mount a new campaign for a seat on the UN Security Council.

Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says that Canada will not be launching a new bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council after a "historic" failure last year.

"It's not something I envisage," he said, during an interview with the Canadian Press last week.

Under the Harper government, Canada was defeated by Portugal last year in the fight for the second of two temporary, two-year non-veto wielding seats on the council. It the first time in the UN's 60-year history that Canada failed to win a seat for which it had made a bid.

After the historic loss, critics blamed the Conservative government for its perceived tilts in policy toward Israel and away from Africa, along with its unpopular policies around climate change.

Baird responded to criticism, saying that if Canada had "shut up" instead of being vocal about gay rights in Africa, atrocities against the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, and human rights offences in Iran, maybe things would have been different.

"But we didn't and I don't think we regret anything," he said. "Iran probably voted against us; North Korea probably voted against us; Gadhafi probably voted against us. I think those are all badges of honour.''

To read the full story from CP, click here.

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