OTTAWA — Canada is putting a stop to future support for UNESCO now that the United Nations agency has accepted the Palestinian Authority as a full member.
Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says the decision is not in the best interests of peace in the Middle East, and so Canada is freezing all future voluntary contributions to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Canada contributes about $10 million a year to the agency.
The United States has also announced it will pull its US$60 million in funding from UNESCO, which depends heavily on American funding — Washington provides 22 per cent of its budget — but has survived without it in the past.
The UNESCO vote represented a fallback plan for the Palestinian leadership after its bid for UN recognition as a state and full membership in the global body floundered in September.
Israel has fiercely opposed the bid, and it has no chance of passing because the Obama administration has promised to veto any resolution in the Security Council.