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And he would, of course, be entirely right.

There is much work to do if we are to restore the lustre to that 1950s UN insignia that I still have in my home. And Canadians can now take part in that work.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has boldly claimed that “Canada is back.” After a decade of disdain for multilateralism, Canada is engaging with the world again, and even seeking election to the UN Security Council in 2020. As part of our re-engagement, let’s help make UN peacekeeping once again a source of hope for people in vulnerable countries and pride for the member states who support it.

We can start by demanding an end to the UN’s culture of cover ups. Let’s insist on real accountability for sexual abuse and exploitation by UN personnel. And let’s lead by example when Canadians are alleged to be perpetrators.

We must also press the UN to respond justly to the cholera crisis in Haiti.

As five of the UN’s own human rights experts have recently stressed, the UN’s inaction on cholera in the face of overwhelming evidence of responsibility “undermines the reputation of the United Nations, calls into question the ethical framework within which its peacekeeping forces operate, and challenges the credibility of the organization as an entity that respects human rights.” It is high time for the UN to accept responsibility for the outbreak, provide compensation to victims, and fund efforts to put an end to the epidemic through clean water and sanitation.

So let’s rebuild the world’s trust in UN peacekeeping. Let’s learn the lessons that emerge from past failures. Let’s invoke the idealism that sent my father to the Sinai Peninsula, to Haifa and Port Said those many years ago.

By demanding justice for Haitians, and by addressing the scourge of peacekeeper sexual abuse, our Prime Minister can help protect the rights of the world’s most vulnerable, while showing that Canada really is back, and for the better.

Allan Rock is president of the University of Ottawa and a former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations.