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Should we try to reduce the number of weapons and limit them to stable, rational states? Sure. Should the international community work to secure existing stockpiles and prevent “loose nukes”? Of course. But strive for the absolute elimination of them? Even if such an effort wasn’t futile, it would still be foolhardy.

And I’m glad Canada sees it that way, even if others don’t. Peggy Mason, of the Rideau Institute and a former diplomat specializing in disarmament, thinks that Canada should have at least abstained. A no vote “is not in keeping with a country that is seeking election to the UN Security Council in 2021,” she told the National Post. (Actually, when you consider that all five permanent members of the Security Council are packing nuclear heat, maybe it’s exactly in keeping.) Paul Meyer, another former diplomat and today a fellow at Simon Fraser University, agrees Canada should have abstained, noting, “As a good international citizen, it’s important to recognize that when the General Assembly has established a process, that you should participate in a constructive fashion, and obviously use the process to continue to advocate for your preferred positions.”

With all respect to Mason and Meyer, they’re mistaken. And here’s why.

Canada is not simply another member of the international community. We are a member of the Western alliance and a founding member of NATO. Yes, we set our own path internationally on many issues, but fundamentally, we’re a proud part of what are colloquially called “the allies” — always have been and, hopefully, always will be. Starting in the 1960s, and until the 1980s, that meant arming Canadian units with American-built nuclear weapons, so that we could help effectively defend North America and our European allies from possible Soviet attack. We chose to phase out nuclear weapons eventually, but as a member of NATO, remain a part of the alliance’s defence plans. Those include, if necessary, the use of nuclear weapons. We are also protected by the American nuclear deterrent — if attacked with nuclear weapons, we would expect the Americans to retaliate in kind on our behalf. That’s the deal — grim as it is.