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norman spector

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff and MP Bob Rae take questions from journalists in Ottawa on Wednesday.Chris Wattie/Reuters

Michael Ignatieff, Monday, commenting on Canada's bid for a Security Council seat:

"This is a government that for four years has basically ignored the United Nations and now is suddenly showing up saying, 'Hey, put us on the council … Don't mistake me. I know how important it is for Canada to get a seat on the Security Council but Canadians have to ask a tough question: Has this government earned that place? We're not convinced it has."

In contrast to Mr. Ignatieff's words - which unmistakably ooze with his hope for Canada to fail - here's Bob Rae, on the high road that Mr. Ignatieff eschewed, after the Prime Minister's speech yesterday:

"The key thing is this is a bid for Canada. This is not a bid about one government or another government. I think what I found in Mr. Harper's speech was that he emphasized Canada's 65-year commitment to the United Nations and I think that is the point. It is a 65-year commitment, it is not a one or two or three-year commitment. It is not about what a government has done this year or last year, it is about what Canada has done over a very long time in our history at the UN and on the world stage.

And that is why I think all Canadians would be very supportive of a place for Canada on the Security Council, not based on the record of the last year or two or three one way or the other, but based on what we as a country have done over 65 years, since the formation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. I think that is the key point.

I think the case for Canada is very strong and I think the case was made effectively by the prime minister, but I think frankly it transcends partisanship and it transcends one political party or another, you know, when the prime minister is at the United Nations, speaking on behalf of Canada and talking of 65 years of Canadian experience, that is, I think, a story that everybody needs to hear and he wasn't just talking about his own government, he was talking about the achievement sand the accomplishments of many different governments and I think that is the way we should approach it. I think we would be much better off in foreign policy if we looked much longer and harder at the things that we are doing together as a country and not see it as some partisan exercise. As far as I'm concerned, it is not a partisan exercise and I think that is the approach that we should be taking."

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