Montgomery Blair High School

WMHSMUN XXVIII
SOCHUM
Canada
Topic 1: Right of Self-Determination
Canada has strong connections with the aboriginal self-government in Canada.
Aboriginal people may claim an inherent right to self-government; they do not seek to
be granted self-government, but simply to have their pre-existing right recognized in
law. Therefore, Canada feels it necessary to have an elastic and comprehensive policy to
be implemented in international law regarding the rights of self-determination to be
granted to groups. The final resolution should incorporate the precise definition of the
right of self-determination, its content, its bearers, and the proper means for its
implementation.
Canada believes in a holistic evaluation of different groups situations through a
multi-faceted approach that takes both the group or colonys initial reason to secede as
well as numerous aspects such as but not limited to a) economic stability of the colony or
group b) political situation of group and/or sovereign country, c) group or colonys ties
and/or relationship with sovereign country, d) groups independent identity compared to
the sovereign nations and e) geographic distance. These aspects are not independent of
each other but are interrelated. Canada proposes the creation of a sub-committee of
SOCHUM to evaluate these different factors.
The economic stability of a colony or group is critical to its self-reliance and
development after claiming sovereignty; therefore, it is important for the country to have
sufficient economic activity The region must have a strong base, which can be calculated
through the private sector GDP. The private sector GDP is the critical indicator because
public sector GDP can be skewed by central government spending, and it best represents
the aggregate activity of businesses, thus indicating the employment capacity of the
region (how well it makes and keeps jobs). Also, it conveys the regions ability to obtain
taxed revenues to create reserves for the new government and and illustrates how well the
group will be able to compete externally with worldwide trade. Subordinate factors
include but are not limited to: a) the size and strength of the financial system (because for
any economic activity you need a good banking system) b) the calculation of GDP/capita
(because low GDP/capita shows low levels of education, productivity). This can be seen
within Canadas borders in Quebecs; Quebec wished to secede but decided to remain
with Canada because they felt it would benefit them more economically that way. A
group within the UN subcommittee led by top UN economists to analyze the economic
sustainability of said region.
The political situation in both the group and the sovereign country and their
relationship with each other are extensions of their historical relationship. However, the
analysis of political situation is not a binary study, and therefore cannot be quantified or
qualified in black and white. Canada feels that if the political situation in either area is
tense because of a hostile relationship between the group and the country, the situation
should be evaluated differently from if the relationship is a neutral one. However, factors
that should be taken into account in the evaluation are but not limited to: a) the history of
the group - regarding the Crimea issue, the fact that the Crimea was once part of Russia

Montgomery Blair High School

WMHSMUN XXVIII
SOCHUM
Canada
and still has ties with that country affected the political stability and ties it had with
Ukraine - b) the political independence of the group - if the group is not included in the
mainstream politics of the sovereign nation, it is looked more favorably upon for that
nation to secede.
Similarly to a political situation, the social situation of a country is not a
straightforward study. It is, however, majorly linked to the geographic distance between
the sovereign country and the group. Regarding Bangladesh and Pakistan, when
Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, although the two areas had a common religion, Islam,
Bangladeshis as a society were very different from Pakistanis, They were excluded from
the political, military, and social structures of Pakistan, and were distinctly poorer.
Bangladeshis were known to be a very different ethnic group than their sovereign nation,
Pakistan. The distance between the island of Bangladesh and mainland Pakistan could
have been a conduit for the Pakistani-Bangladeshi war which lead to Bangladeshs
succession. The common identity of the group that wants to secede and its sovereign
nation therefore is a major impetus and indicator of whether it is beneficial for that group
to secede.
By synthesizing the sub-committees holistic evaluations, the UN should
recommend whether there is sufficient basis for the group to pursue a possible secession.
If the country decides to pursue a possible succession, Canada would recommend the
following process be adopted: 1) depending on the political situation of the group, if there
is insufficient amount of trust between the sovereign nation and the group, there should
be a UN conducted and monitored referendum to prevent suspicion of coercion 2) after
the secession, the established sub-committee should continue to monitor the political,
social, and economic status of the group for a decade after its secession to ensure its
welfare.

Montgomery Blair High School

WMHSMUN XXVIII
SOCHUM
Canada
Topic 2: Preservation of Cultural Heritage Sites
Canada has, in record with UNESCOs list of cultural heritage sites, 17 different
sites. In 2011, Canada won the Gift to the Earth award from the World Wide Fund for its
conservation leadership and its globally outstanding repertoire in creating new protected
areas. Canada has also worked to implement knowledge of cultural heritage sites into its
education system. A cultural heritage site is any natural site, or intangible culture that
contains historical or aesthetic significance and value. These include well-known
monuments such as the Taj Mahal, as well as entire cities, such as Damascus, a 2,000year-old city. These sites contribute to the determination of a country or regions identity,
and foster core values of that area.
There are several factors that affect the degradation of natural heritage sites. The
two main causes for natural site degradation are warfare and environmental
consequences. There are other factors such as tourism that contribute to degradation in
certain areas. Canada proposes a plan to protect heritage sites from such causes of
destruction both in the short and long run. Canada also proposes innovative ideas to
rehabilitate the sites and prevent them from further damage.
Canada accedes that protection of heritage sites against warfare is outside of
SOCHUM viable capabilities. Therefore, Canada looks more towards the restoration of
heritage sites after experiencing damage due to warfare.
For the restoration of these sites, Canada looks to work with NGOs such as WMO
and ICOMOS. ICOMOS is a network of experts that benefits from the interdisciplinary
exchange of its members, among which are architects, historians, archaeologists, art
historians, geographers, anthropologists, engineers and town planners. ICOMOS works
for the conservation and protection of cultural heritage places. It is the only global nongovernment organization of this kind, which is dedicated to promoting the application of
theory, methodology, and scientific techniques to the conservation of the architectural and
archaeological heritage. Canada looks to use this organizations resources to evaluate
each heritage site on UNESCOs list and determine appropriate recovery methods for it.
Canada proposes that the UN use this evaluation to determine what steps need to
be taken to a) anticipate future adverse conditions for the heritage sites such as climate
changes, and b) restore the cultural site. The evaluation will yield the certain stresses that
are contributing to the atrophy of the natural sites. An example of a strain that had to be
eliminated to preserve a cultural site can be seen in the Taj Mahal. Around 20 years ago,
the fumes from an oil refinery threatened to harm the Taj Mahal; India closed the refinery
to prevent damage to this site. States should take all and any necessary steps to prevent
damage to their cultural sites.
States should actively monitor the impact of tourism on these natural sites. If there
are negative impacts, the states should take steps to mitigate or counteract these effects.
For example, by limiting the amount of tourists allowed, or limiting the proximity of the
tourists, the state can ease the adverse effects of over-tourism. In extreme cases, the state

Montgomery Blair High School

WMHSMUN XXVIII
SOCHUM
Canada
should also take steps to move cultural heritage sites if they are potable. This can be
observed in the history of the cultural heritage site of Abu Simbel in Egypt. The rising
waters from the construction of the Aswan High Dam would have had an adverse effect
on the temples; an archaeologist team from the UN eventually effectively broke apart
critical parts of the temple and relocated them.