In what has been described as a "broadside" and a "blistering attack," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird criticized the United Nations in his speech to the General Assembly earlier this week. Whether these views are simply borrowed from conservative thinkers to the south, or whether they are motivated by animus at perceived snubs such as Canada's failure to win a Security Council seat in 2010, they were sufficiently offensive that former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney offered rare public censure of the Conservative government. If our government perceives that it is being snubbed by the United Nations, perhaps it should look at foreign and diplomatic policies instead of going to New York to pick up its proverbial marbles and return home.