Was Canada's role in the United Nations positive or negative?

Is the role of President of the United Nations Security Council simply a ceremonial role or does it have a real responsibility?

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_Nations_Security_Council leaves me believing the role has no real purpose. Am I wrong?

• Answer:

  Being president of the Security Council is one of those things where, most of the time, the occupant is pretty much acting in a ceremonial capacity; there is a purpose to the role as the council needs to have someone at the top to fulfill basic administrative functions, but, so as not to advantage any one nation in particular, the powers are generally curtailed and the position handed off in a proscribed manner regularly. The president's powers are, largely, thus: The president has the power to call a meeting of the Security Council. As a practical matter, this is not an exclusive power since the president has to call a meeting whenever another Security Council member asks for one, or when a matter is referred to the Security Council via outside mechanisms. The president has limited power to setting the speaking order. Most of the time, this isn't something that comes into play as the speaking order is largely governed by the order in which members of the Security Council indicate that they have something to say. The only time the president really has much leeway is when dealing with non-council members; the president can effectively choose to call on them before everyone else of after everyone else. This, obviously, is something that has a vastly limited effect, but it can be helpful in giving a country the "last word". The president acts as the primary parliamentarian. If a member thinks that some procedural rule has been broken, they can make a point of order and the president must issue a ruling. As noted above earlier, there is an effort to keep any one nation from getting an advantage, so the ruling can be challenged (the Security Council has the ability to overrule the president), but, in the right circumstances, this is something that can afford a president some level of actual power. So, yes, the president of the Security Council is a role that is largely ceremonial. And that's largely by design, but there is some level of actual power to position.