Canada joined more than 100 global allies on Tuesday in subjecting a paralyzed United Nations Security Council to more public scrutiny, while the Ukrainian government praised a Canadian senator for pushing for a new, tougher sanctions law. Bob Ray, the Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, denounced the Security Council veto as undemocratic as the General Assembly voted to put the world’s most powerful body under more public scrutiny. The General Assembly approved a consensus proposal that would require any of the five permanent members of the veto-wielding council – Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain – to appear before the 193-nation assembly to justify its decision. The move does not absolve the council’s controversial veto, but with Russia threatening to continue using it to prevent action against the war in Ukraine, Rae said the historic vote sends a message that the world will watch. “The veto power held by the five permanent members of the Security Council is both anachronistic and anti-democratic,” he said, explaining his support for Canada. US and allies pledge heavy weapons to Ukraine, canceling Russia’s nuclear war warning In Ottawa, with the Senate ready to pass a tough new law that could lead to the seizure of billions of dollars in sanctioned Russian assets and frozen assets, the Ukrainian embassy urged lawmakers to rush to the House of Commons. The bill. Senator Ratna Omidvar’s bill – entitled “A law that respects the re-use of certain confiscated, frozen or frozen assets” – would allow Russia to redefine sanctions and frozen assets to help support victims and victims. was a legal rarity for the international economic landscape. “We believe that it is perfectly fair for Russian state property or the illegal assets of Russian oligarchs to be part of the compensation from the aggressor state to the victim of the attack,” the embassy said in a statement. “With the passage of the S-217 bill, Canada will show a leading role and could set an example for others to show that the Russian corrupt regime will pay the full cost of its crimes against Ukraine.” At the UN, Tuesday’s unprecedented resolution seeks to hold Russia accountable politically if it uses its veto. The new resolution requires the General Assembly to “hold a debate on the situation” which leads to any veto in the Council within 10 working days and the country that uses it to be among the first to speak. Representatives from Russia and Belarus opposed the proposal, but were opposed by envoys from dozens of countries who supported the move, which led to little Liechtenstein and included Canada. From the floor of the assembly, Ray expressed a strong condemnation of a corrupt UN system that he said allowed what he called a shameful and illegal Russian offensive against Ukraine. Ray said the recent stalemate over Ukraine occurred when people needed the Security Council more. “We are watching the destruction of cities. We are watching the murder of women and children. We see the destruction of an entire infrastructure of a country and we see a country retaliating. The Security Council may not be able to act. “It does not prevent us from having the ability to act,” Rae said. Rae and world diplomats spoke as Russian bombs continued to pound the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, large areas of which have been destroyed in a war that has killed thousands of Ukrainian civilians and forced millions to flee their homes. “The use and threat of veto in situations where atrocities are being committed in Syria and Myanmar and Mariupol, for example, or in situations where a permanent member of the Security Council has launched an aggressive war against another UN member state. “As the Russian Federation is doing in Ukraine now, it is not only shameful, it is also contrary to the obligations under the UN Charter and international law.” The Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
