OTTAWA - Foreign aid and the future role of the Canadian Forces will form the backbone of the country's bid for a seat on the Security Council, says Canada's ambassador to the United Nations.
Marc-Andre Blanchard tells The Canadian Press that's part of the reason why the government has embarked on major reviews in two key areas of foreign policy: international development and national defence.
Blanchard says it is still early days in what will be a four-year campaign for the 2020 vote, a bid to secure a two-year term on the UN's most powerful body that would begin the following year.
Still, he says, the groundwork is currently being laid, by both the internal policy reviews, and the early interactions of diplomats on ground.
Blanchard says he's had more than 50 bilateral meetings with fellow ambassadors at the UN since taking up the post earlier this year, and for now he's in a listening mode to get feedback about Canada.
He says the country faces a tough fight against two like-minded countries and allies -- Norway and Ireland -- when 2020 rolls around, so work is underway to carve out a platform that can highlight Canada's comparative advantage.
