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Prime Minister Stephen Harper addresses the UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals in New York on Sept. 21, 2010.Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press

It was a campaign speech unlike any other Prime Minister Stephen Harper has delivered.  The candidate: Canada.

Mr. Harper ratcheted up Canada's drive to win a spot on the most powerful council at the United Nations with an address Thursday hailing the country as a model global citizen.

Speaking at the UN, Mr. Harper underlined Canada's numerous contributions to international affairs, from its presence in Afghanistan to its push to better the health of women and children in poor countries.

Canada has been a "consistently reliable and responsible participant in UN initiatives around the world," he said, noting that it is also the seventh-largest contributor to the body's finances.

There are less than three weeks left until the UN's 192 members vote to elect 10 countries to serve a two-year term on the Security Council, its highest decision-making body.

The Harper government, once seemingly dismissive of the UN, now is paying assiduous attention to it. Mr. Harper made his pitch Thursday during the UN's annual opening debate, his first such speech since 2006 and his second address at the UN this week.

Mr. Harper noted Canada's ambition to secure a temporary seat on the Security Council. "If we are elected, we will be ready to serve," he said at one point in the 15-minute speech. If chosen, he continued, Canada would be guided by the UN's founding ideals and will "strive to further them."

Elections for the 10 temporary seats on the Security Council are divided by region, with Canada, Portugal and Germany vying for two seats. The contest is boiling down to a fight between Canada and Portugal, though the odds appear to favour Canada. Among those inclined to support its bid are fellow Commonwealth countries and French-speaking nations; Russia also endorses Canada's candidacy.

The factors working against Canada's bid include the government's recent decision to freeze its budget for aid to poor countries, its go-slow approach on tackling climate change, and its embrace of Israel, which alienates some in the Arab world.

Like any good campaign speech, Mr. Harper's address Thursday contained messages for constituents. He highlighted Canada's role in relief efforts in Haiti and Pakistan and underscored its diplomatic work toward peace in Sudan and Sierra Leone.

He took pains to present Canada as a fair-minded player on the global stage. On matters of importance to Canada, such as protecting the Arctic and promoting trade, "we shall be guided by the same advice we prescribe for others," he said. "We will listen to their concerns. We will speak the truth. We will act with vigour."

Mr. Harper also pressed Canada's case in private meetings Thursday with world leaders before flying to Newfoundland later in the evening. He held separate discussions with Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres, applauding the fresh round of peace negotiations under way in the Middle East. He also noted his "disappointment with the unbalanced report" issued yesterday by the UN Human Rights Council, according to his chief spokesman. The report said Israel committed "grave violations" of international law in its deadly raid on a Turkish ship in May.

Thursday's speech and the campaign to win a Security Council seat reflect the continuing progress of Mr. Harper's foreign policy from one oriented toward the United States, Israel and other Western allies toward a more nuanced appreciation of the opportunities presented by the emerging global powers.

"There has been an apparent evolution in his thinking on foreign policy," observed Roland Paris, Research Chair in International Security and Governance at the University of Ottawa. It manifests itself, he said, in growing awareness of the rising geopolitical and economic influence of China and India, and in the untapped potential of Africa as the next global region to be reshaped by rapid growth.

Canada was late in getting its bid for a Security Council seat into gear thanks to Mr. Harper's initial ambivalence over whether it was worth the trouble. But as he has grown more confident on the world stage, Mr. Harper has become increasingly determined to secure the seat.

Critics said Mr. Harper had waited too long, putting Canada's record of winning such bids - six times since 1948 - in jeopardy. "Canada must have a seat on the Security Council, it's in our DNA," said NDP MP Paul Dewar, the party's foreign affairs critic. "The difference is that this time it's not an absolute. We're really having to scramble to get the deal done."

What remains unclear is what Canada will do with the seat if it gets it. When Canada last sat on the Security Council, from 1999 to 2000, "we were very effective," said Paul Heinbecker, a former ambassador to the UN. Canada's agenda ranged from fighting the trade in blood diamonds to helping establish the International Criminal Court.

But no one is certain what Canada's priorities on the council would be under this Conservative government. Prof. Paris said he found the once-maverick Prime Minister's speech Thursday remarkable for its emphasis on the continuity of Canada's foreign policy - a continuity established and maintained by Liberal governments that Mr. Harper once scorned.

A seat on the council offers a clear, if limited, opportunity. "It certainly provides something of a bully pulpit," said Stewart Patrick, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington who is researching the Security Council, even though it is only in "extraordinary circumstances that elected members really play the role of kingmaker."

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