Canada and the United Nations

Impact on the World- Essay

From 1939-1945 was a very dark period. This was due to the mass execution of Jews by
Hitlers Nazi. Many leaders did not want history to repeat itself, so on October 24 1945 they
came up with an organization known as the United Nations. Before the United Nations there was
the League of Nations. The League of Nations was created for one reason, which was to ensure
no war such as like World War One occur. Yet they failed, twenty years later Germany invaded
Poland and World War Two began. Due to the failure of the League Nations, the leaders from
Canada, USA, Great Britain, and the other countries founded the United Nations. The
organizations main objective was to maintain international peace and they were successful. One
country that played a key role in the involvement with the United Nations and impacted the
world was Canada, because they played a major part in resolving peace, helping the refuges and
finally the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
One example on how Canada involvement with the UN impacted the world in creating
peace was during the Korean War.
On June 25 1950 North Korea armed forces invaded South Korea and this out broke a
war known as The Korean War. Due to this act by North Korea, the United Nations were
involved in this situation. In addition Canada played a major role in the military aspects of
Korean War. Since the UN wanted the North Koreans out of South Korea, they decided to work
with the (The Republic of Korea) ROK. Canada was a key country because there military
worked with the ROK under United Sates military leadership. During the war, they were mostly
war patrols, which is basically going through towns and neighbourhoods for security purposes.

Also one of Canadas biggest military achievement took place during the Korean War, which was
the Battle of Kapyong. About seven thousand Canadian troop went to defend crucial hills against
five thousand Chinese soldiers, but at first they struggled. A former Canadian soldier Gerald
Gowing recalled this moment and said We were surrounded on the hills of Kapyong and there
was a lot of fire. We were pretty well out of ammunition and out of food too. We did get some air
supplies dropped in, but we were actually surrounded . . . that was a scary moment, let me tell
you1 and due to their determination and thrive they defeated the Chinese. But unfortunately
roughly ten Canadian lives were token. Eventually in 1953 a ceasefire was agreed which means
there will be a suspension in fighting, which still is still currently active till this day.
Another example of Canada involvement with the UN occurred during the year of 1956. A
problem occurred between the British, the French and the Egyptians, which is formally know the
Suez Canal Crisis. At that time Gamal Abdel Nasser was the president of Egypt and he decided
to nationalise the Suez Canal. But the Suez Canal was under the control of the British and
France, in addition this was also a key trading route. The Suez Canal is a route thats leads from
the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. So Britain and France bombed the Canal Zone without the
informing USA and Canada. This was when Canada and the United Nations played took action.
As the UN their main goal was to maintain peace, so they wanted to stop Britain and France
from continuing to bomb Egypt. That was when Lester B Pearson who was Canadian came up
with an idea called the (United Nations Emergency Force) UNEF. Pearson said Peace is far
more than ceasing to fire2 when he was talking about the UNEF to the United Nations General
Assembly. These were peacekeeping forces that would stay in Egypt until a negation was made.
1 The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Battle of Kapyong last modified

12/16/13http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-kapyong/

Eventually a deal was made and Pearsons idea was successful by withdrawing the enemy forces.
Due to Lester B Pearsons outstanding achievement in resolving the Suez Canal Crisis he was
rewarded with Nobel Peace Prize and became one of the greatest Canadians. As you can see
Canadas involvement with the UN impacted the world in keeping the world in peace.
The second reason how the involvement of Canada and the United Nations impacted the world
was by helping the refugees. After WW2 a goal was set out to protect as many people who were
conflicted during a war. Canada had a horrible history of allowing refuges into their country,
such as the incident in 1939. In 1939 roughly about 903 German Jews fled Germany and begged
the Canadian government to allow them into Canada as refugees. But unfortunately William
Lyon Mackenzie King, who was the prime minister at that time did not accept the German Jews,
due to the fact that he believed that it will cause violence. But after joining the UN they began to
allow refuges more often.
One example occurred at the year of 1956 when Hungry was occupied by the Soviets due
to the aftermath of WW2. At that time the government of Hungry wanted the Soviet armed forces
to negotiate with them so they can leave Hungry, yet they didnt. This provoked them to cause a
revolution against the Soviets, so on October 23, 1956 they began their revolution. But the
civilians were in danger, so they fled Hungry to search for a place as a refugee where they can
stay. Surprisingly Canada accepted 37,000 Hungarians since they had a lot skills that Canada was
in need.

2 The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Suez Crisis last modified

03/04/15http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/suez-crisis/

The second example on how the UN and Canada helped the refugees was saving the
Chilean Refuges. At that time Chile had a socialist type of government, which means everything
is owned by the government who is named Salvador Allende. But do to the fear of socialism and
communism spreading, the Chilean military took the government and became a dictatorship.
Ever since that incident the Chileans suffered a lot due to the fact that they were living in a
dictatorship type of government. The Human Right Foundation said He shut down parliament,
suffocated political life, banned trade unions, and made Chile his sultanate. His government
disappeared 3,000 opponents, arrested 30,000 (torturing thousands of them)3.This influenced
the civilians to flee the country, which they did and they went to Canada. Canada accepted
roughly about 13 000 Chileans and increased the immigration of Canada by 2.5% thats
ludicrous.
Finally the third reason on how Canadas involvement with the UN impacted the world was by
creating the (Universal Declaration of Human Rights) UDHR. This was created by Eleanor
Roosevelt and the draft community due to the atrocity that occurred during World War Two. In
addition Canadians played a key role in creating the UDHR especially John Peters Humphrey
who was the director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights. Humphrey and Roosevelt
collaborated to create the UDHR and it was eventually adopted on December 10, 1948.In
addition Humphrey described this creation of the UDHR as the most exhaustive documentation

3 The Intellectual Devotional Pinochet: Proof that Evil People Never Die
Younghttp://www.theintellectualdevotional.com/blog/2010/12/20/pinochet-proofthat-evil-people-never-die-young/

on the subject of human rights ever assembled4. The Declaration was used as the guidelines and
a rules that every human should follow .The UDHR was a milestone document because it was
the first ever Human Right document accepted. In addition the declaration was unveiled at the
United Nation General Assembly at Paris after long debating. Also The Universal Declaration
made history by being the human rights law that was ever accepted. As you can see due to
Canadas involvement with the UN it impacted the world by creating the UDHR.
As you can see the evidence is overwhelming. Due to Canada involvement with the
United Nations it impacted the world because Canada played a major part in resolving peace,
helping the refuges and finally the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
BY: Barankathan Parameswaran

4 The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Universal Declaration of Human Rights last modified

03/04/15http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rightsfeature/

Work Citation
Website: UN News Center, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UDHR, Declaration of
Human Rights, Human Rights Declaration, Human Rights Charter, The Un and Human Rights
http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/
Website: The Canadian Encyclopaedia, United Nations
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/united-nations/
Website: LESTER PEARSON & THE SUEZ CRISIS, LESTER PEARSON & THE SUEZ
CRISIS
http://www.suezcrisis.ca/summary.html

Website: The Intellectual Devotional Pinochet: Proof that Evil People Never
Die Young
http://www.theintellectualdevotional.com/blog/2010/12/20/pinochet-proofthat-evil-people-never-die-young/

Website: The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Universal Declaration of Human Rights last modified
03/04/15
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-universal-declaration-of-human-rightsfeature/
Website: The Canadian Encyclopaedia. Battle of Kapyong last modified 12/16/13
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/battle-of-kapyong/

Website: Government of Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Communications Branch

Canada: A History of Refuge
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/games/teachers-corner/refugee/refuge.asp