Putting the UN in Canada
As
a federal election seems imminent, Jack Layton and Dennis Mills, who
will be running against each other, are storming the public suggestion
box in a competition of ridiculous ideas. Although we have every confidence
in Layton's ability in this field, Mills' most recent suggestion is
an absurd coup de grace. He proposes that the United Nations move its
headquarters to Toronto. Mills is absolutely right: the UN could find
no better home.
With Kofi Annan's recent endorsement of the global acceptance of same-sex
"marriage", the only debate between the UN and Canada would be deciding
whether to celebrate diverse tolerance, or to embrace tolerant diversity,
or even both - so long as it is conducted in a non-religious sort of
way. In fact, the similarities between the UN General Assembly and the
Canadian House of Commons are uncanny. Both are equally inefficient,
and both are overruled by activist high courts. One American website
observed that, by having the UN in our collective back yard, we "would
be able to see how futile UN-style diplomacy is". They obviously underestimate
our rich heritage of living with institutional malfeasance.
