An Excerpt From Canada’s Ambassador Bob Rae’s Address to the United Nations on the 80th Anniversary of the Signing of the United Nations Charter
Posted July 10th, 2025 on Niagara At Large
(A Brief Foreword Note from Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper – I am posting an excerpt from an address Canada’s UN Ambassador Bob Rae delivered this past June because I believe it contains messages that we should all give serious thought to in the world we live in now.)
Canada’s UN Ambassador Bob Rae
The following is an excerpt from the address delivered by Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, on June 26, 2025 on the 80th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter.
“Let us take this moment to renew the vows we made in 1945, and upon the acceptance of the Charter by every member state since then, to fight hate, tyranny, and the poverty that afflicts too many. And to renew our commitment to freedom, sovereignty and equality under law.
There are forces in the world that spread messages of despair. Let us resolve to join together in the fight against misinformation and lies, and to take back the dark night that denies the light of truth, rationality, and science.
We did not find perfection in 1945 and we do not have it (now).
What do we have?
The dedication of the doctors and nurses who care for the sick and wounded, the refugees struggling to find the pathways to education and work and who never give up; the women refusing to accept the autocracy of gender apartheid; the innovators and entrepreneurs excited by the potential of new technologies and new discoveries.
We have the courage and heart of good people. We have the skills of good builders and the persistence of those who have taught us never, ever, to relent in the face of cruelty, neglect, complacency and cynicism.
Dear friends, let us avoid the tendency to seek perfection and then beat ourselves up because some say we have failed.
Let us rather embrace the beauty of the broken, to see that failure is the essential step in learning how to pick ourselves up and succeed. The poet and singer Leonard Cohen told us to “ring the bells that still can ring” and said “forget your perfect offerings. There is a crack in everything — that’s where the light gets in”.
Let us continue to learn, to repair, to heal, to forgive, and yes, to love and to treat each other and the world we are in with dignity and respect. Let us continue to find the places where the light gets in.”
Bob Rae, a former Premier of Ontario and the only NDP premier the province so far had, is Canada’s representative to the United Nations and a Policy contributing writer.
To hear Canada’s own Leonard Cohen sing the song that Bob Rae quoted words from, click on the screen immediately below. It is well worth the listen –
About the United Nations Charter – The Charter of the United Nations is the founding document of the United Nations. It was signed on 26 June 1945, in San Francisco, at the conclusion of the United Nations Conference on International Organization, and came into force on 24 October 1945.
The United Nations can take action on a wide variety of issues due to its unique international character and the powers vested in its Charter, which is considered an international treaty. As such, the UN Charter is an instrument of international law, and UN Member States are bound by it. The UN Charter codifies the major principles of international relations, from sovereign equality of States to the prohibition of the use of force in international relations.
Since the UN’s founding in 1945, the mission and work of the Organization have been guided by the purposes and principles contained in its founding Charter, which has been amended three times in 1963, 1965, and 1973.
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