Harper government quietly leaving UN droughts and deserts convention

OTTAWA – The Harper government is pulling out of a United Nations convention that fights droughts in Africa and elsewhere, making Canada the only country in world outside the agreement.

The federal cabinet last week ordered the unannounced withdrawal on the recommendation of Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

The abrupt move caught the UN secretariat that administers the convention off guard, which was informed through a telephone call from The Canadian Press.

The cabinet order “authorizes the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take the actions necessary to withdraw, on behalf of Canada, from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in those Countries Experiencing Severe Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa.”

Canada signed the convention in 1994 and ratified it in 1995.

Baird’s office referred questions to the Canadian International Development Agency, which did not respond immediately.