Canada fails in UN Security Council bid

Ambassador John McNee says the country will drop its quest for a seat on the council after coming in third behind Germany and Portugal.

In an unprecedented diplomatic failure Canada has been unsuccessful in its attempt to land a temporary seat on the UN Security Council for the first time in the organization’s 65-year history. After Germany was voted in on the first ballot, Portugal beat out Canada in the second vote by 113-78. Stephen Harper and Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon had lobbied hard for the spot in recent weeks, with the former making two speeches at the UN in September and the latter spending Thanksgiving weekend personally courting diplomats in New York. Harper’s office was quick to point the finger at Michael Ignatieff this afternoon, saying the Liberal leader’s public criticism of the Harper government’s international track record ruined Canada’s chances.