South Africa's envoy to Ottawa is urging Canada to help broker an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, arguing that sending arms to Kyiv will only prolong a dangerous conflict that is aggravating hunger in developing countries.
"We have all the instruments of human agency to stop this war, but we just simply don't want to," Rieaz Shaik said.
In a wide-ranging interview, he said Russia needs to be held accountable, but urged the Trudeau government to drastically change course on its most central foreign-policy issue.
"I just hope they could stop for a moment and reflect (on) how much Canada has contributed to peace in the world. And why throw that away?"
South Africa is among 32 countries that have abstained from United Nations votes calling on Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine.
While Canada and other G7 countries have said they will support Ukraine for as long as it takes, the majority of the world's population lives in countries that have opted against outright condemning Russia for the invasion.
Some of them depend on trade with Russia, while others want good relations with Washington, Moscow and Beijing. Many have voiced contempt for European concerns taking away attention and development dollars from longer-lasting conflicts elsewhere.
Soviet support decades ago for anti-colonial movements also prompts some to voice support for Moscow, even though Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union.
South Africa is ruled by the African National Congress, a political party that grew out of an anti-apartheid organization that had members trained by the Soviet Union in military tactics.
Shaik insists South Africa's motives are to defuse the conflict.
"Let me just say it categorically: South Africa is opposed to the invasion of Ukraine. The violation of the UN Charter is unacceptable to us. The territorial integrity of Ukraine must be maintained," he said.
"The only part where we are saying we have an alternative voice is that we do not believe that the solution to those violations lies in war, or counter-war or anything else."
Shaik said the United Nations Security Council must broker a resolution to the conflict, even if it requires a reform of an institution that has largely followed the same rules since 1945 and gives Russia veto powers.
He argued this approach would bear more fruit than Ukraine and its Western allies refusing to undertake peace talks with Moscow until Russia returns all occupied territory.
"If you put an outcome of a negotiation as a requirement to negotiate, then you're not going to have negotiations," he said.
As an activist in the anti-apartheid struggle, Shaik said it was Nelson Mandela who convinced him to push for gradual change instead of ultimatums.
For example, the movement accepted the argument of the country's former president F. W. de Klerk, who said he needed a mandate from a referendum to discuss the dismantling of apartheid -- through a vote in which only white people could have a say.
"That is insulting. But we agreed, because we understood that once we are committed to the process of peace, it's an irreversible process," Shaik said.
The referendum passed with majority support in 1992, and apartheid was dismantled two years later, through a series of compromises. The country launched a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that examined atrocities meted out by both the racist government and resistance movements.
The ambassador said the world could better acknowledge that Moscow has security interestsand make commitments to alleviate its concerns. In exchange, Russia would be subject to agreed-upon mechanisms to ensure it respects Ukraine's borders.
That was the exact idea behind the 2014 and 2015 Minsk ceasefire agreements that he argues both sides didn't respect, but which Ukraine argues left the country vulnerable to further invasion. Russia claimed it could not order separatists to respect the deals, despite emboldening these groups.
"If Putin's fear of NATO expansion is making Europe fragile, then remove that fear," Shaik said.
He argued that's a much more productive response than having leaders ponder whether Russia is trying to re-establish the Tsar, or if Putin is mentally unstable, as Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has suggested.
"The only thing that the bogeyman narrative does is create fear. And we must never forget that fear produces cruelty."
Shaik added that any reconciliation process must look at the wrongdoings of both sides. "It is hard to believe that in war, only one side committed atrocities," he said.
The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has documented mistreatment of Russian prisoners of war, though the reports are far less common than documented abuse at the hands of Russian soldiers, and Kyiv more often follows through with criminal investigations.
South African authorities will have to grapple with whether to enforce an International Criminal Court warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin if he follows through on plans to attend the BRICS Summit -- which also includes Brazil, India and China -- this August in Johannesburg.
Ottawa has told developing countries that Russia is to blame for driving up living costs and distracting the global community from dealing with climate change. Canada's ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, often makes the case that not laying such blame will set a precedent for other countries to violate sovereignty.
"There is no grand conspiracy against Russia. The international community is not anti-Russian. Russia is facing the consequences of its own actions," Rae told the General Assembly last October, shortly before its latest vote to condemn the invasion.
Yet Shaik lamented that the war is "tearing the world apart into camps" that communicate with each other less and less, raising the risk of miscalculations.
"The polycrisis just requires one idiot to do the wrong thing, and then we are almost in the beginning of nuclear war," he said.
"Have the leaders of the world truly lost the ability to reflect of how close we are to absolute catastrophe?"
He expressed disappointment that Canada has not entertained the idea of peace talks, stressing that Canadians still earn respect in South Africa for their "enormous" contribution to the anti-apartheid struggle.
At the time, Ottawa pressured the country's regime to leave the Commonwealth, and Shaik saw firsthand the role the International Development Research Centre, a Canadian Crown corporation, played in helping the liberation movement negotiate with former oppressors.
"It is Canada who empowered us, who gave us the knowledge and the mechanism to rethink the question of our own conflict, and made us default towards peaceful resolution," he said.
"You can imagine how shocking it is for us," he added, to be "unable to dialogue with Canada" on Ukraine.
As the economic ripple effects of the invasion continue to unfold, Shaik argued against Washington's push for "friendshoring," which holds that allies should rely on each other to make supply chains more resilient and defang hostile actors from taxing or withholding goods.
He called it a "chauvinistic, anglophone imposition on the rest of the world" and said it prevents collaboration on issues such as climate change.
Shaik also contended that Canada and the U.S. are wrong to limit China's role in mining the critical minerals needed to move the world off fossil fuels.
After Canada ordered three Chinese companies to divest from Canadian projects on national-security grounds, the U.S. military is now investing in the Canadian industry.
"We have a very short and unique window in which current trajectories of the world would lead to the weaponization of the critical-metal energy sector. It's already happening in part in Canada," Shaik said.
For South Africa, this comes at a time when climate change is wreaking havoc on rain patterns, and rising food prices due to the war in Ukraine are deepening inequality.
"We are stuck in a kind of forced helplessness, because the dominant players in the world don't want to talk. And that angers me."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2023.
The headline on this story has been clarified to more accurately represent the comments of the South African envoy to Canada. He said Canada's lack of dialogue was "shocking," not its stance on the war.
Hurricane Milton is nearing Florida's shore but remains a Category 4 storm. Power outages have already been reported across the state, even before the hurricane makes landfall.
A Turkish Airlines jetliner headed from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after the captain died on board, an airline official said.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are being recalled in Canada due to a steering-related issue that could increase a driver's risk of crash.
The leader of the Bloc Quebecois says his party 'might play a role' in helping the Liberals get House of Commons business rolling again — after days of Conservative-led debate on a privilege matter — but that his assistance would come at a cost.
A Claude Monet pastel painting stolen by Nazis during World War II, which vanished for decades only to show up with a Louisiana art dealer, was returned Wednesday in New Orleans to the descendants of its original owners.
Two Orange County women are speaking out after they say they were kicked off of a Spirit Airlines flight because of what they were wearing.
A 42-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with human smuggling following an investigation near a Canada-U.S. border crossing in Manitoba.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the administration of former U.S. president Donald Trump had sent COVID tests to Russia but it denied reports that Trump had spoken at all to Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office.
A B.C. woman who was recorded praising Hamas as 'heroic and brave' can return to protest rallies, authorities confirmed this week.
A B.C. woman who was recorded praising Hamas as 'heroic and brave' can return to protest rallies, authorities confirmed this week.
A 42-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with human smuggling following an investigation near a Canada-U.S. border crossing in Manitoba.
Liberal MP Yvan Baker says there should not have been different punishments doled out to him and to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for comments each of them made in the House of Commons.
A Winnipeg landlord is facing $9,000 in penalties following a mass eviction at a Winnipeg apartment block this summer.
Another beluga whale has died at Marineland and four years into a provincial probe, Ontario's solicitor general is saying little about the investigation's progress.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Canadians in Florida should leave and people planning to travel there should postpone as the state braces for the impact of Hurricane Milton.
Steady rain fell and winds began to gust in the Tampa Bay area Wednesday morning as a mighty Hurricane Milton churned toward a potentially catastrophic collision with the west coast of Florida, where officials sounded urgent warnings for residents to flee inland or face grim odds of surviving the storm's surge.
The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the administration of former U.S. president Donald Trump had sent COVID tests to Russia but it denied reports that Trump had spoken at all to Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving office.
Since Joe Biden ended his reelection bid, Kamala Harris swiftly secured the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination, brought in hundreds of millions of dollars in new campaign donations and surged past Biden’s poll numbers from earlier this year. And yet, Democrats are increasingly anxious over Harris' fate. Why?
An auction house in England has withdrawn human remains, including shrunken heads and ancestral skulls, from sale following an outcry.
Two Orange County women are speaking out after they say they were kicked off of a Spirit Airlines flight because of what they were wearing.
A Claude Monet pastel painting stolen by Nazis during World War II, which vanished for decades only to show up with a Louisiana art dealer, was returned Wednesday in New Orleans to the descendants of its original owners.
Canada is adding another $15 million to its humanitarian aid package for Lebanon after an escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
The leader of the Bloc Quebecois says his party 'might play a role' in helping the Liberals get House of Commons business rolling again — after days of Conservative-led debate on a privilege matter — but that his assistance would come at a cost.
The national security and intelligence adviser is rejecting the notion there are traitors in the House of Commons, despite an eyebrow-raising report from a spy watchdog that flagged questions about politicians' loyalties.
COVID-19 could be a powerful risk factor for heart attacks and strokes for as long as three years after an infection, a large new study suggests.
The Ontario Ministry of Health says four people have been sickened after consuming beef tongue believed to be contaminated with listeria.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetimes, according to the American Cancer Society. Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States, with 42,000 women dying every year from this cancer.
In a storyline better befitting a melodrama than a popularity vote, Grazer won her second Fat Bear Contest on Tuesday by defeating the male behemoth that killed her cub this summer.
The research that won Geoffrey Hinton a Nobel Prize for physics was the product of plenty of work carried out before artificial intelligence was the buzzword it is today.
As if the largest bug to ever live – a monster nearly nine feet long with as many as 64 legs – wasn’t terrifying enough, scientists could only just imagine what the extinct beast’s head looked like.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs wants to go to trial on sex trafficking charges next spring, lawyers for the jailed hip-hop mogul told a judge on Wednesday.
A controversial film about the rise of Donald Trump is coming out this week, despite his campaign calling it 'election interference by Hollywood elites' and threatening to file a lawsuit.
Jenna Fischer is highlighting Breast Cancer Awareness Month by sharing that she is now 'cancer free' after she was diagnosed with the disease in October 2023.
Siskinds LLP says a $70.25 million class-action settlement has been reached with TD Asset Management over commissions paid to discount brokers.
A new report says growth in average asking rents across Canada last month slowed to the lowest rate since October 2021, at 2.1 per cent year-over-year.
A new report says condo inventory is on the rise in most major Canadian markets as more sellers are listing their properties in anticipation of growing demand from buyers.
An elevator mechanic mistakenly threw out a piece of artwork, made to look like empty beer cans, assuming it was litter, a Dutch museum revealed earlier this month.
Have you ever seen videos of hovercrafts online or on TV and thought, 'Wow, I wish I could ride one of those.' One Alberta man did, and then built his own.
A wildlife rescue in B.C. is caring for two orphaned bobcat kittens who have become as inseparable as 'real sisters' even though it's highly unlikely they are actually from the same litter.
Saskatchewan’s Jessica Campbell has made hockey history, becoming the first ever female assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning have left Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton to practice the rest of the week.
RJ Barrett will miss the rest of the Toronto Raptors' pre-season with an injury.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are being recalled in Canada due to a steering-related issue that could increase a driver's risk of crash.
Mercedes-Benz has partnered up with the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN) and the provincial government to launch a new “incubator programâ€. One of the first three locations is Windsor, with the other two going to Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo.
New data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) shows that even though claims for auto theft dropped in the first half of 2024 compared to their 2023 peak, the rates of reported theft remain well above those of years prior.
Have you ever seen videos of hovercrafts online or on TV and thought, 'Wow, I wish I could ride one of those.' One Alberta man did, and then built his own.
Saskatchewan’s Jessica Campbell has made hockey history, becoming the first ever female assistant coach in the National Hockey League (NHL).
A B.C. couple is getting desperate – and creative – in their search for their missing dog.
Videos of a meteor streaking across the skies of southern Ontario have surfaced and small bits of the outer space rock may have made it to land, one astronomy professor says.
A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.
Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.
Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.
Manitobans are in cleanup mode after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province this weekend.
A B.C. woman who was recorded praising Hamas as 'heroic and brave' can return to protest rallies, authorities confirmed this week.
The leaders of B.C.'s main political parties sparred over health care, housing, and affordability Tuesday, pitching competing visions for how to address the most urgent issues facing the province in a debate punctuated by a few feisty exchanges.
A suspect remains at large after an assault sent a man to hospital with serious injuries in Nanaimo, B.C.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow is expressing regret for not attending a massive vigil held earlier this week where the city’s Jewish community commemorated one year since the October 7 terrorist attack. But her explanation isn’t adding up, event organizers say.
Hurricane Milton is about to hit Florida and Toronto Pearson International Airport says several flights to the state have been cancelled as a result.
A 36-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder after his elderly father was found dead at a home in Toronto.
Alberta Health Minister Adriana LaGrange announced a new tentative compensation agreement for resident physicians Thursday as part of a push to recruit, train and keep more physicians in the province.
An Airdrie resident is facing several charges after police say they were caught in possession of several stolen vehicles.
Alberta's police watchdog says the Medicine Hat police officers who were involved in an in-custody death in August 2023 acted reasonably and with appropriate force in dealing with a suspect armed with a machete.
As the LRT's new north-south line prepares to open, many Barrhaven transit users will still have to use buses and transfer to commute downtown.
As one of the most powerful hurricanes threatens to make landfall in Tampa Bay, residents brace for the impact.
A new report from Rentals.ca and Urbanation shows the average cost to rent an one-bedroom apartment was $2,042 a month in September, down from $2,044 a month in August.
Three young people aged 17, 19 and 20 were arrested after shots were fired late on Tuesday near Old Montreal.
Canada's official languages commissioner is expressing concern over Quebec's decision to cap the number of students who can enrol in the province's English-language junior colleges.
Encouraged by a recent poll, the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ) says it is feeling a groundswell of support among the population. A Leger opinion poll published in the Quebec media on Wednesday suggests that if the PLQ chose Pablo Rodriguez as its leader, it would be first in the polls.
A cougar was spotted early Wednesday morning within the city of Lloydminster, police are warning the public.
Randy Boissonnault, MP for Edmonton Centre and the federal minister of employment, workforce development and official languages, has been named the ministerial lead of Jasper's rebuild.
Students in the village of Myrnam get a lot of hands-on experience with renewable energy in an award-winning program.
Premier Tim Houston said he was notified on Monday morning that funds had been allegedly stolen from the Pictou East Riding Association.
Former CTV Atlantic employee Eric Bungay who now works for a CBS affiliate in Tampa Bay is bracing for Hurricane Milton's arrival.
Hurricane Milton is nearing Florida's shore but remains a Category 4 storm. Power outages have already been reported across the state, even before the hurricane makes landfall.
A 42-year-old Winnipeg man has been charged with human smuggling following an investigation near a Canada-U.S. border crossing in Manitoba.
A Winnipeg landlord is facing $9,000 in penalties following a mass eviction at a Winnipeg apartment block this summer.
Dreams Take Flight participants embark on a one-in-a-lifetime adventure to California
The Saskatchewan New Democrats are touring the Parkland region, vowing to end rural emergency room disruptions if they form government this fall.
Those who are interested in running for mayor, city council or school board in Regina's upcoming civic election have until 4 p.m. this afternoon to submit their paperwork.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged in connection with multiple incidents in late September that saw two Regina houses shot at during the overnight hours.
One person was struck by a GO train, near the Kitchener station, on Wednesday morning.
Another beluga whale has died at Marineland and four years into a provincial probe, Ontario's solicitor general is saying little about the investigation's progress.
The new Sports and Entertainment Centre is set to be built in an empty parking lot, right next to the existing Civic Centre arena, which is where the Bulldogs play.
Dozens of people gathered at Saskatoon city hall Tuesday to voice their concerns about the growing issue of homelessness in our city, and to offer their own solutions.
The province’s consumer watchdog is investigating a Saskatoon company selling luxury vacation condos in Mexico.
The Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is renewing public calls for help catching Timloh "Butchang" Nkem, a man deemed the city's most wanted man.
Hurricane Milton is nearing Florida's shore but remains a Category 4 storm. Power outages have already been reported across the state, even before the hurricane makes landfall.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are being recalled in Canada due to a steering-related issue that could increase a driver's risk of crash.
An annual international mining conference is underway in Greater Sudbury, Ont., marking the first time the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Conference of Mining Regions and Cities has been held in North America.
The province is boosting enrollment in Basic Constable Training at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer by 80 recruits per year.
The widow of a London firefighter who died from cancer is applauding a federal commitment to study its prevalence.
Riding the roller-coaster of being a Toronto Maple Leaf and becoming the first Muslim player to win a Stanley Cup are chronicled in Londoner Nazem Kadri's book "Dreamer: My Life On The Edge".
The jury reached a verdict on Wednesday in the 1994 Katherine Janeiro murder case, finding her former boyfriend, Bruce Ellis, not guilty.
Provincial police are investigating reports of an armed robbery in Amaranth Township that sent one person to the hospital in critical condition.
Police arrested a man they say is responsible for a rash of robberies at convenience stores in Barrie over the last 10 months.
Dozens of cars were pulled out of the Detroit River in west Windsor on Tuesday, causing many questions for Windsorites.
The Windsor Police Service (WPS) has arrested one suspect in connection to a child exploitation investigation.
Tecumseh residents were able to give their input on Tuesday regarding a proposed residential development in their area.
A suspect remains at large after an assault sent a man to hospital with serious injuries in Nanaimo, B.C.
The leaders of B.C.'s main political parties sparred over health care, housing, and affordability Tuesday, pitching competing visions for how to address the most urgent issues facing the province in a debate punctuated by a few feisty exchanges.
While the high school hallways were empty of students, Alison Calder was full of questions about her teaching career.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.
Charges have been laid against a 44-year-old man following a traffic stop in Brocket, Piikani Nation RCMP said Tuesday.
A metal fabrication company west of Medicine Hat has been fined by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) following a workplace fatality in 2023.
A Lethbridge police officer involved in a scandal involving former Lethbridge New Democrat MLA Shannon Phillips has been reprimanded.
Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
A woman in Greater Sudbury, Ont., said "It doesn't get more Canadian than this" when she spotted a black bear dumpster diving at a Tim Hortons last month.
The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities (FONOM) is the latest organization to call on the Doug Ford government to re-open dialogue with an airline service that transports lower-income Canadians to crucial medical care far from home.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
The Shopping Trends team is independent of the journalists at Â鶹´«Ã½. We may earn a commission when you use our links to shop. Read about us.
