{"id":790143,"date":"2026-07-09T08:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T08:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/790143\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T08:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T08:44:16","slug":"canadas-un-envoy-touts-primacy-of-global-law-as-advocates-say-ottawa-pulling-punches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/790143\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada\u2019s UN envoy touts primacy of global law as advocates say Ottawa pulling punches"},"content":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2014 Canada is putting international law as one of its top priorities at the United Nations \u2014 as others accuse Ottawa of pulling its punches.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s UN ambassador David Lametti says international rules are \u201cunder strain\u201d by major and regional powers, and that Ottawa is alarmed by countries killing civilians, aid workers and UN staff.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u2019s attacking humanitarian law,\u201d he told The Canadian Press in a recent interview. \u201cThey\u2019re not being attacked directly, they\u2019re being undermined indirectly. And so it is the task of the rest of us to call that out, and to keep that international legal order alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lametti said he and Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand are both former law professors who want to advance defending and shaping global rules \u2014 which are particularly important for protecting countries that aren\u2019t superpowers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a crying need, and Canada\u2019s particularly good at it,\u201d Lametti said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not unrealistic; I see what\u2019s happening in the world. But I do think that, for example, a number of middle powers can band together and put humanitarian law in the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lametti said this is being done in concert with middle powers through formal declarations and statements at UN forums as well as \u201ctalk in the corridors of banding together, organizing, but also making clear that we disagree with certain things that are happening on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lametti\u2019s comments come after sustained criticism from human rights activists, legal scholars and former federal ministers Lloyd Axworthy and Allan Rock, arguing Ottawa isn\u2019t doing enough to stand up for international law.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to grandstand, but you can certainly defend your end of the of the ring, and that I think we\u2019re not doing enough,\u201d said Sabine Nolke, a former senior Canadian diplomat whose career focused on international law.<\/p>\n

Nolke said she\u2019s puzzled by Lametti\u2019s suggestion that international law isn\u2019t under attack, citing a series of examples.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absolutely under attack from a number of quarters, including some unexpected ones,\u201d said Nolke, who represented Canada at The Hague as ambassador.<\/p>\n

She said this includes the Chinese delegation at UNESCO pushing for less obligatory language around human rights, and then advocating for the same in other UN forums.<\/p>\n

She also said the U.S. has flip-flopped between the two Trump administrations and that of Joe Biden on upholding global rules.<\/p>\n

Advocates have argued the Carney government has held back on direct criticism of U.S. Donald Trump, who brushed aside international law in a January interview, after the U.S. captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a brazen military raid.<\/p>\n

That month, Anand said her government\u2019s approach to human rights and international law shouldn\u2019t be compared to that of her predecessors, because Canada faces \u201cmarkedly different\u201d threats than in any other era.<\/p>\n

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has rejected \u201cstupid rules of engagement\u201d that Nolke noted are based on centuries of international law and obligations under the Geneva Conventions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a fairly concerted strategy through the language of discourse and decision-making in international fora, to roll back the level obligation that states have agreed to through binding international treaties,\u201d Nolke said.<\/p>\n

She said Canadians should be particularly concerned about Hegseth\u2019s statements because of how many Canadian soldiers work alongside American forces.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Canada should have spoken out when the U.S. bombed a school in Iran, Nolke said, apparently because it was operating on outdated information.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaw doesn\u2019t just protect nuns, it protects criminals as well. And if we want to speak about the rule of law, then the rule applies equally \u2014 not just to the people we like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Advocates have been particularly alarmed by Prime Minister Mark Carney\u2019s response to the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran. At the start of the war in February, Carney broke with most European allies by unequivocally supporting American strikes.<\/p>\n

He later said the war seemed \u201cinconsistent with international law\u201d but more recently has said the war was \u201cworth it\u201d to reduce nuclear threats.<\/p>\n

In the interview, Lametti said international law has \u201cnormative weight\u201d because countries still claim to follow it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a resiliency in international law and international humanitarian law that\u2019s demonstrated by the fact that even when there appears to be a flagrant transgression, the transgressor will often \u2014 virtually always actually \u2014 try to frame the action in legal terms,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lametti gave the example of invoking UN rules around naval navigation to justify military action to open the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean the justification is right, but there\u2019s always an attempt to justify things in terms of international law. I think that demonstrates that there is still a great deal of currency there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nolke said Canada should instead focus on calling out violations.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t sit back and say \u2018yeah, well, they still mention IHL and therefore it still exists.\u2019 No, you must stand up for it. I mean, a law is not useful when it is not being enforced,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Nolke argues cabinet ministers have missed chances to directly call out violations of international law when asked by reporters. Ottawa can also join multi-country statements calling out clear violations of international law, she said.<\/p>\n

She gave the example of two decades ago when Canada publicly objected to Saudi Arabia trying to exempt cultural practices from a UN convention on discrimination against women.<\/p>\n

Nolke said Ottawa\u2019s concerns about upsetting Trump can be managed, such as by issuing more joint declarations with middle powers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can make your point but still stay on the tight wire. And that is something that we\u2019re not doing enough of at this point,\u201d Nolke said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish (diplomats) would be called on more frequently to craft statements that will make our position clear without stepping on anybody\u2019s feet. I mean, that\u2019s what diplomacy is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nolke said that if Ottawa doesn\u2019t change course, it risks being seen as lax on international law. That could leave Ottawa struggling to get other countries to stand up for Canada \u201cif Trump decides he wants our water\u201d and starts coercive activity to take freshwater resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t protect the rule of law vis-a-vis more vulnerable states, what happens to us?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 9, 2026.<\/p>\n

Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\t\tKeep it Factual<\/p>\n

Add CityNews Halifax as a trusted source on Google to see more local stories from us.<\/p>\n

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