Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird brought a blunt message to the United Nations on Monday, saying Canada would no longer participate in "endless, fruitless, inward-looking exercises" and would instead focus on action.
Baird spoke to a sparse crowd Monday at the UN General Assembly in New York, an appearance scheduled after Prime Minister Stephen Harper turned down an opportunity to speak to the world body last week, despite being in town to receive a statesman of the year award.
Baird said the United Nations "must spend less time looking at itself and more time looking at the problems that demand its attention."
The organization has a preoccupation with procedure and process that must yield to a focus on substance and results, Baird said.
"I believe the United Nations spends too much time on itself. It must now look outward," he said, adding that his comments were made in a "positive spirit."
The minister added that if the UN focuses on its true goals, such as prosperity, security and human indignity, internal reform issues will work themselves out.
Baird also took the UN to task over its handling of the ongoing violence in Syria, saying "the United Nations has failed to impose binding sanctions that stem the crimson tide of this bloody assault," in the nation.
He called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, and warned that history would judge member states that had failed to act and instead "allowed these atrocities to continue."
Later Monday, former foreign affairs minister Lloyd Axworthy said he “agrees fully” with Baird’s frustration over the bloodshed in Syria. But he said his comments at the General Assembly won’t rally the international community.
“The United Nations is a building with bureaucrats in it and agencies working out in the field. But the real politics of the United Nations is not the bureaucrats in the building, it’s the politicians, it’s the governments of the nation states that really drive the agenda,” Axworthy told CTV’s Power Play.
“But to throw spitballs at the building or at the institution and not really target who is responsible, I mean if you really want to say who’s standing in the way, you should be talking about the veto of Russia and China and the Security Council.”
Axworthy said the federal government has an opportunity to take the lead on the Syria file, as the Americans are caught up in an election campaign and European nations struggle with an economic crisis.
“There is a bunch of people standing on the ringside holding the towels, rather than getting into the ring and trying to stop the massacre,” Axworthy said.
“And Canada should be taking a lead because a lot of other countries are really advocating because of their internal politics. But we don’t have that. I think there’s a lot of Canadian support for a stronger stand.”
Baird also focused on Iran in his speech, saying the state, under the leadership of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, represents "the most significant threat to global peace and security."
"It refuses to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions, it routinely threatens the very existence of the state of Israel, it foments hatred against the Jewish people and it incites genocide," Baird said, warning that Iran should not be allowed to achieve nuclear capability.
He then trumpeted the steps Canada has taken against Iran, such as closing its embassy in Tehran, imposing sanctions and listing the country as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Baird also said Canada's commitment to the UN has been tested and remains true, and reminded the General Assembly that Canada is the 7th largest contributor to the organization -- a possible jab at the organization after Canada was denied a seat on the UN Security Council in 2010.
