Experts in international law say that Prime Minister Mark Carney’s stance on the war on Iran reveals the lack of clarity in his widely celebrated Davos speech.
By expressing support for the American-Israeli war, and then saying he does so with “regret,” Carney is failing to take any stance at all — and calling into question what Canada actually stands for, experts consulted by The Maple said.
“Really what we’ve got now is Canada’s trying to say both things at the same time, and therefore really says nothing,” said Alex Neve, the former secretary general of Amnesty International Canada.
“We’re expressing some concern, but we’re not calling it out. We’re not changing our position of support. So what do we stand for?”
Carney’s stance on the American-Israeli war on Iran seems to change every time he talks about it. First, he said he supported the war without mentioning that it is widely viewed as illegal.
A few days later, he told reporters that Canada’s position of support was taken “with regret.”
“We take the world as it is, not as we wish it to be,” the prime minister said. “So in the context of what’s happened, what’s been begun, we support the efforts to end the Iranian nuclear program and its decades-long process, the regime’s decade-long process, of state-sponsored terrorism. But we remind that international law binds.”
He said the American-Israeli attacks appeared to be “inconsistent” with international law.
Then, on Wednesday, Carney declined to rule out Canada’s participation in the war.
The muddled position, Neve and another expert said, follow a speech at Davos in January that outlined multiple conflicting priorities.
Speech Open To Interpretation
In the speech, Carney said that Canada would be both “principled and pragmatic.”
“Principled in our commitment to fundamental values: sovereignty and territorial integrity, the prohibition of the use of force except when consistent with the UN Charter, and respect for human rights,” he said.
“Pragmatic in recognizing that progress is often incremental, that interests diverge, that not every partner will share all of our values. We are engaging broadly, strategically, with open eyes. We actively take on the world as it is, not wait for a world we wish to be.”
If listeners interpreted the speech as saying that Canada would stand up for international law, “you were right,” said Mark Kersten, an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice who has written a book about the International Criminal Court.
But if a listener interpreted the speech as saying that Canada would act in its own narrow self-interest, “you were also right,” he said.
“Effectively, we’re trying to do both by expressing support for American action in the Middle East, then belatedly also expressing a degree of consternation over the fact that it violates international law, leaving, I assume, everyone to a certain degree unsatisfied,” Kersten said.
Neve also said that Carney’s speech in Davos could be read in multiple ways. But now, he said, the prime minister’s actions are speaking for themselves.
“What we’re hearing right now, at a time when it really matters, is … that we’re giving in,” Neve said. “We’re not prepared to be that bold leader in that ‘middle power’ space. Instead, we are capitulating to the ‘might is right’ world that Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are intent on forging.”
The Most Important Principle
Both Neve and Kersten said Carney would be wrong to think that standing up for international law is just a principle.
“We’re talking about arguably the most foundational principle of international law that was associated with the founding of the United Nations, this notion of respecting territorial integrity, of not using military force against other nations was, in many respects, the very reason why the United Nations was created,” said Neve.
Kersten said that defending international law “is not just a principled stance anymore” now that Trump is threatening Canada’s own sovereignty.
“It is in our direct interest,” he said. “If the time comes where we need to ask the rest of the world, our allies and friends, to stand with us, because our territorial integrity is being threatened by the United States, it’s so much harder if you didn’t stand with others that whole time.”
With a file from Alex Cosh.
