Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Cuts reduce Foreign Affairs' representation

Canadian diplomats were forced to scale back the country's representation at a major international summit on Afghanistan in December because of slashes to the Foreign Affairs Department's travel budget, documents obtained by Postmedia News show.

The revelation comes less than a week after the federal budget warned the department, which has reported negative impacts during previous reductions to travel and hospitality allowances, will be facing more such cuts.

This past October, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird was asked to approve the size of Canada's delegation to the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan, which was held in Germany on Dec. 5 and focused on prospects for long-term security in the country.

"Mindful of the need to reduce travel expenditures, the proposed size (7 persons) of the Canadian delegation to the Bonn Conference is smaller than the 2010 Kabul Conference (8) and the 2008 Paris Conference (11)," reads the accompanying memo to Baird, obtained through access to information.

"However, the complexities and challenges of the Bonn Conference are likely to be as great, if not greater than these two previous conferences, given the highly fluid political situation in Afghanistan and the region."

The memo goes on to add that unlike in Kabul and Paris, which both had large Canadian embassies upon which the delegation could draw from, "there is not Canadian diplomatic presence in Bonn."

The federal budget last week promised the Foreign Affairs Department would see its budget reduced by $170 million, or about seven per cent, over the next three years.

In addition to selling property and extending diplomatic postings, the government said allowances for Canadian diplomats posted abroad would be targeted.

A Baird spokesman, Chris Day, said in an email that the foreign affairs minister has reduced the size of delegations to all international meetings and encouraged the use of local Canadian diplomats since last year in an effort to save taxpayer dollars.

"We're looking to do things differently, using technology where possible, and reducing travel budgets so we can focus our resources on protecting Canada's interests and promoting Canadians' values in all our dealings," Day added. Former Canadian ambassador Paul Heinbecker, however, lamented the reductions, saying successive governments have laid down strict guidelines on how money can be used, which prioritizes specific programs but has undermined the department's core capabilities in the long term. Three years ago, the government halved the amount of money available for diplomats to travel around their countries of responsibility and wine and dine foreign officials. While the funding was reestablished to varying degrees the following year, a number of internal reports noted those cuts and others that had preceded them had dramatic ramifications on Canada's representation abroad.

Original Article
Source: ottawa citizen
Author: Lee Berthiaume

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