C-32, the UN vote and the United States Silence

Fox News, no less, has published an opinion piece from Richard Grenell who served as the spokesman for 4 U.S. Ambassadors to the U.N. during the George W. Bush era including John Negroponte, John Danforth, John Bolton and Zalmay Khalilzad suggesting that the USA left Canada "hanging without vocal U.S. support" at the UN in Canada's unsuccessful attempt to serve on the UN Security Council. Canada's defeat was unprecedented and very significant. As The Economist says in its customary plain language, Canada has been "snubbed".

Mr. Grenell states:

In fact, U.S. State Department insiders say that U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice not only didn’t campaign for Canada’s election but instructed American diplomats to not get involved in the weeks leading up to the heated contest. With no public American support, Canada lost its bid to serve. That gives the EU more than 25% control of the body and a strong voting block to ensure EU priorities become global priorities. -- This was the second time a high profile ally could have used U.S. help yet Rice chose to stay silent.

If it is the case the USA has let Canada down this badly, could it be that the Canadian government will no longer feel so compelled to "make the Americans happy" on the copyright and Bill C-32 front, as Blayne Haggart has documented? Many others have also believed that this goal has been a major factor in the thinking behind Bill C-61 and Bill C-32.

Several months ago, I commented on the astonishing and absurd attempt by the noted American lobbyist Scotty Greenwood to link the "Buy American" issue to Canadian copyright capitulation.

Hopefully, the Canadian government will now do what's best for Canada on Bill C-32 and put aside what's best for the US government and Canadian lobbyists acting as proxies for US corporate interests. Just as the US government has apparently just put aside Canada's interests.

HK