I was sad when Harper lost the UN vote. I’m sad now that we’ve lost it again. This is not about what party is in power. It’s a sign of Canada’s waning role on the world stage and a wake up call for us to do better.

We regularly won (or ran uncontested) because we had a strong brand as being fair, reliable, an advocate for peacekeeping, aid, nuclear nonproliferation, peace in the Middle East, a principled voice against the Apartheid...

But in the past few decades, that brand has come undone. We never lived up to the Pearsonian principles we preached internationally. In the Chrétien/Martin years we cut aid. We reduced our diplomatic footprint. Our record on climate change began to undermine our credibility.

Then came the Harper years with an agressive posture against diplomacy itself. More cuts. Ideological positions against women’s right to choose. Climate denial. Refusing to sign treaties we used to advocate for or walking out of international organizations...

We showed that we’re more complicated than the good guy image everyone had of Canada. And even though Trudeau promised that Canada was back, the rest of the world needed something more solid than reassuring words.

Canada at UNSC helped bring some of the most progressive and effective ideas for global peace and security to life. The world doesn’t see us playing that role again. Instead of dismissing that feedback, we should think about how we can do better. At home and abroad.

One last word to all the good folks who worked so hard to win the seat: Sorry we didn’t make it. Thank you for doing your best to represent our country. Losing sucks. I know how disappointed you are.