Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s U.N. ambassador Marc-André Blanchard bragged on Saturday about voting on a North Korea-sponsored resolution against Israel last week, stating in a tweet that: “Canada found its voice”. The ambassador featured an article on the vote from the Quebec-based publication La Presse.
Le Canada retrouve sa voix à l’ONU https://t.co/rxNRH56NMG via @lp_lapresse
— Marc-Andre Blanchard (@blanchardCanada) November 23, 2019
The vote, which has been unprecedented in Ottowa for 14 years was a resolution on the “right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”.
UN Watch spokesman, Hillel Neuer blasted Blanchard tweeting: “No, Mr. Ambassador,” responded Hillel Neuer, the Canadian-born human rights lawyer who heads the non-governmental organization UN Watch, “when you voted on behalf of our country for an anti-Israeli UN resolution sponsored by NORTH KOREA and other dictatorships, you didn’t find Canada’s voice. You joined the jackals in order to win their votes in your campaign for a Security Council seat.”
No, Mr. Ambassador: when you voted on behalf of our country for an anti-Israeli UN resolution sponsored by NORTH KOREA and other dictatorships, you didn’t “find Canada’s voice.” You joined the jackals in order to win their votes in your campaign for a Security Council seat. https://t.co/2bmCbdlfic
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 23, 2019
Neuer backed up his assertion that the anti-Israel decision does not necessarily represent “Canada’s voice” with a petition against Blanchard’s decision that already garnered over 10,000 signatories.
Here is a sample of 10,000 Canadian voices urging you to cancel this absurd vote on its second reading in December: https://t.co/adcfnzpBtN
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) November 24, 2019
Canada’s former foreign minister John Baird also took issue with the vote mocking Blanchard’s arrogance.
PM Trudeau’s guy bragging about Canada’s vote at the UN against Israel! Bragging about it!!! https://t.co/tvwJXUrX5C
— John Baird (@Baird) November 23, 2019
Other members of Canadian parliament who criticized the move include Peter Kent and Erin O’Toole. Senator Linda Frum also condemned Blanchard’s behavior.
