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.]

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Government dismisses rumours Canada will pull out of Euro security group

Rumours are swirling around Ottawa's diplomatic and political community that Canada is planning to leave an international organization aimed at maintaining security in Europe. But the government says it isn't pulling out of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

One diplomat said that the United States, Britain, Germany, and Nordic countries had raised the issue with the Canadian government.

"We are aware that Canada's membership in the OSCE has been the subject of some discussion at the OSCE of late," wrote Rick Roth, a spokesperson for Foreign Minister John Baird, in an email to Embassy. But he went on to say that, "Canada is not withdrawing from the OSCE."

The chatter comes at a time when the federal government is looking to slice nearly $170 million from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade's budget over the next three years.

In its March 29 budget, the government noted that "Canada will also examine its participation in some international organizations to ensure that they are relevant to Canada's interests and priorities."

While Mr. Baird announced last month Canada's decision to withdraw from the United Nations World Tourism Organization, a June 11 government response to an NDP MP's written question on the international organizations review stated: "Any future decisions that may be made as a result of this review will be announced in due course, and as appropriate."

Value in membership: Supporters

Peter Goldring, a former Conservative MP who now sits as an Independent Conservative, said he believes Canada is being effective in its membership in the security group.

The organization, made up of 56 countries from Europe, Central Asia, and North America, says it's the world's largest regional security organization. It's a forum for countries to make decisions on security issues such as conflict prevention, crisis management, and post-conflict rehabilitation. Its consensus-based decisions are politically, but not legally, binding.

The group's roots are tied to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, founded in the 1970s as a space for dialogue between East and West during the Cold War.

Independent MP Bruce Hyer, formerly with the NDP, described it as being a "diplomatic parallel organization to NATO."

Canada was set to pay $11.9 million in membership dues to the OSCE in 2012-13, up about $540,000 from the year before.

Mr. Goldring told Embassy on June 25 that Canada's involvement in the group has bubbled up in discussion among some members of Parliament in recent months.

Two weeks earlier, Mr. Goldring submitted an opinion piece to Embassy. His message was clear: Canada's continued participation in the OSCE is important.

"While there are those who suggest that Canada's participation in the OSCE is no longer necessary in the post-Cold War period, [I disagree]," wrote Mr. Goldring, who has been involved with the organization since 2004, including as a Canadian representative to the OSCE and an OSCE election monitor in Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

During a time of budget cutbacks, it's best to analyze all involvement in international organizations, he said, but it is because of this that he wanted to put forward a case for the value of the OSCE.

"I didn't decide to do this article because everything was free-flowing. I sense some hesitation, and I want to be sure that we put forward a good case to why, in this specific organization, we definitely should be involved."

He said the OSCE provides a "very real service" in observing whether elections are conducted fairly. It also gives the Canadian government the chance to promote its views on issues such as the seal hunt.

A Canadian delegation is set to attend a meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in Monaco next month. Mr. Goldring said while he won't be going, he had wanted to attend so that he could put forward two resolutions, one of which was in support of the oil sands.

Mr. Hyer and NDP MP David Christopherson also said they supported Canada's continued involvement in the group.

"Canada has a long history of being very involved in diplomatic missions around the world and I think it would be a good thing if that continued," said Mr. Hyer, who is a member of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association and has previously been an active participant in the OSCE.

Meanwhile, Mr. Christopherson said the chatter on Canada's role in the organization reached as far as Vienna, where he attended a meeting of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Feb. 23 and 24.

He said that it was "part of the buzz that was floating through" and "pure rumours." There was talk that pulling out of the OSCE was part of the cost saving measures the Canadian government was looking at, he said.

When told of the government statement falsifying the rumours, Mr. Christopherson said he was relieved.

Mr. Christopherson, who has gone on six OSCE election observer missions since 2004, described his missions as "phenomenal" experiences.

"To now see parts of the world coming there to help them reclaim their own country through the democratic process, to see the look in their eyes, to see what it means to them and to hear from them, that makes every ounce of effort more than worth it," he said.

Meanwhile an OSCE spokesperson said that there had not been any communication on the issue.

Rumours reach diplomatic community

While MPs involved in the OSCE were secretive about who exactly was questioning Canada's role in the security group, the chatter on whether Canada would be leaving also found its way to Ottawa's diplomatic corps these past few weeks.

One diplomat, who spoke on condition on anonymity, said that the United States, Britain, Germany, and Nordic countries had raised the issue with the Canadian government. When contacted, a spokesperson for the British High Commission noted that the United Kingdom was "strongly supportive" of the OSCE's work.

Embassy was unable to receive comment from the other missions before press time.

"If Canada, with a heavy emphasis on human rights, would leave, that would be a very strange situation, that would seriously damage the organization," the envoy said.

While Irish Ambassador Ray Bassett said he hadn't heard anything official on the matter, he acknowledged that he had heard these rumours within the diplomatic community.

Mr. Bassett said the rumours might have surfaced in the context of recently announced cutbacks from the Canadian government.

"The Canadian foreign ministry is going through a phase of cutbacks so I can imagine every mission is being looked at, it's the same in every foreign ministry...we're all looking at our distribution of missions at the moment," said Mr. Bassett, whose country currently holds the OSCE chairmanship.

He said he thinks the group is useful particularly on issues such as human rights and democracy, and offers a forum to discuss matters like Internet freedom.

"We feel that OSCE reports are important pressure points in keeping countries within the bounds of operating within the rule of law and respecting individual human rights," he said.

Original Article
Source: embassy mag
Author: Sneh Duggal

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