Podcast: Bob Rae knows people

Turns out Canada's ambassador to the UN remembers that thing I wrote

This week’s episode of The Paul Wells Show opens with Bob Rae, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, pushing back pretty hard against a column I wrote criticizing Rae’s appointment to the job in 2020. Always glad to meet another happy reader.

As things have turned out, Rae has been an outspoken advocate for democracy in a world where too many people act against democracy. He’s also often quite a bit more pointed and emphatic than most members of the government he represents. He does some of that on the show: he argues that Ukraine should have been given a roadmap to NATO membership in 2008. And he suggests that, after two straight defeated attempts to join the UN Security Council, Canada should be in no hurry to try again.

He and I discuss Ukraine, of course, and other trouble spots, and the balancing act required of a man with activist instincts representing a government that hasn’t always reached detailed positions on the topics the UN debates. As you’d expect from a champion talker, Rae has a lot of thoughts on these topics. Here’s The Paul Wells Show on Apple Podcasts:

Here’s information on finding it on a bunch of other platforms.

Here’s the part where I say thank you.

We’ve been getting fantastic support from our Founding Sponsor, Telus, and our mighty local Title Sponsor, Compass Rose. The institutional basis for this work is my post as the inaugural Journalist Fellow-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. Our Ottawa partner is the National Arts Centre. The brilliant team at Antica Productions handles production. The Toronto Star and iPolitics distribute and promote The Paul Wells Show. Kevin Breit recorded and performed the music.

Thanks to them all.