On this day in ...... 1945 (65 years ago today), in a classic example of half-empty/half-full, occurred an event reported in very different ways on either side of the northern North America border. According to a site maintained by Toronto's Globe and Mail, Canada's Parliament unanimously ratified the U.N. Charter and accompanying Statute of the International Court of Justice. According to The New York Times, a week of debate in Ottawa "terminated" in the Parliament's "acceptance without a vote." The latter article included coverage that underscored issues still current in the United Nations. Its headline:
CANADA EXPRESSES DOUBT ON CHARTER; Although Accepting UNO, Many Deplore Preponderance of Power Given to Big 3
Why join despite those doubts? In answer, The Times quoted the country's Justice Minister:
'Canada is prepared to take whatever risk may be involved in joining this organization because the other risk -- that of not having an international organization -- is something of such consequence that one dare hardly envisage it.'
