Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Baird lectures largely empty UN General Assembly hall

After what Globe and Mail columnist Doug Saunders described as the failure of prime minister Stephen Harper’s “two-year, multibillion-dollar, all-hands-on-deck bid” for a seat on the United Nations Security Council, Harper’s foreign minister John Baird lectured a largely-empty UN General Assembly hall yesterday saying, “The United Nations must spend less time looking at itself, and more time focused on the problems that demand its attention. …You measure results by measuring the results. Not by weighing best efforts. Not by counting good intentions. Not by calculating inputs.”

Sounding like a shopper dissatisfied with a purchase, Baird reminded the General Assembly that Canada is the 7th largest contributor to the UN budget.

The Harper government - which abstained at the historic UN General Assembly vote on the recognition of the human right to water and sanitation and which only belatedly signed on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - will have its human rights record evaluated through the UN’s ‘Universal Periodic Review’ process taking place April 22 to May 3 in Geneva.

Original Article
Source: canadians.org
Author: Brent Patterson

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