Evidence of meeting #36 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was issues.
A recording is available from Parliament.
9:30 a.m.
Bloc
Francine Lalonde Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Chair, I will be sharing my time with my colleague.
I would like to thank you for your presence here today as well as for your excellent reports. Rights and Democracy is a source of pride for Canadians. I am sure that everyone knows that and, if not, they should. When you consider the work that is done to develop democracy, through the development of a country's own institutions and experience, Rights and Democracy—and you have indicated this on a number of occasions—is a unique institution.
At a time when Canada wants to develop democracy, and when substantive debates are taking place as to how democracy should be developed and the way in which countries that have recently obtained their independence can transition toward a government for and by the people, your experience appears outstanding to me. I have been convinced of that by following the work done by a number of your officials. That is why I believe that the committee should agree to your request for more long-term funding, which would help you to better use the skills and knowledge of your organization and workers.
Mr. Beauregard, how can longer-term funding, together with tighter controls, better help you serve the cause of development and democracy?
9:35 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rights & Democracy
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
It is important to recognize that the work we do is long-term. We cannot go into a developing country that is experiencing difficulties and think that we can solve all its problems within a year by making a few investments.
The long-term funding that you refer to has an impact on our strategic planning and decision-making. People often ask us why we are not involved in certain countries. Working in a country where we have no prior experience requires between one and a half and three years of preparation. We have to establish contacts, understand the environment and make sure that our future partners are reliable. An entire network has to be established before we can become involved.
Having done work of that kind over a number of years on the continent of Africa, I am increasingly wary of sporadic interventions. You cannot simply sprinkle a series of measures over a problem and think that the work has been done. That is why it is important that we receive long-term funding of this kind.
My colleague is asking me to give an example. The best example that I can give is that of Haiti. Over the last 40 years, each time there was a crisis there, we would allocate a few resources and, as soon as the situation seemed to return to normal, we would move elsewhere and wait for the next crisis.
9:35 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rights & Democracy
Yes, and we moved from one crisis to the next. Each subsequent intervention cost more than the previous one. In my conversations with the Prime Minister during my last two missions, she said that she hoped that Canada would be there for the long term because their problems could only be resolved over an extended period of time. This is not only a question of money, but also of time and effort. That has to be taken into account when we design our involvement.
9:35 a.m.
Bloc
Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
Thank you.
I would like to follow up on Ms. Lalonde's comments. Let us talk about Haiti. Uncertainty is also caused by delays, in receiving funding from CIDA, amongst other things. This can undermine Rights and Democracy's credibility and, as a result, Canada's credibility.
9:35 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rights & Democracy
As the Inspector General pointed out, there was a lag in operations when we submitted our programming for Haiti. Fortunately, the issue was resolved rather quickly. What the Inspector General was indicating was that, once we have begun rolling out a program, there has to be funding to back up the commitment. Otherwise, our involvement is absolutely in vain. For us, this has also been a useful exercise. Before a project ends, whether in Afghanistan or Haiti, we already begin to look forward to our next submission so that we can ensure continuity.
9:35 a.m.
Bloc
Johanne Deschamps Bloc Laurentides—Labelle, QC
You receive annual funding from CIDA, but always with an element of uncertainty; and funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs every three years. How can you ensure effective management and planning? It must be quite difficult to deal with—
9:35 a.m.
Director, Administration and Resources, Rights & Democracy
It is very difficult. We operate on assumption. We assume that lawmakers want us to have that level of funding. So we operate as if the funding has been confirmed, even though approval is still pending. It is always quite unsettling, but that is how we operate.
9:35 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Thank you, Ms. Deschamps.
We'll move into the government side. Just before that, I have a question for you. You said in your presentation that “While our headquarters are in Montreal, we are opening an office in Ottawa”. I'm wondering when you anticipate this being opened.
9:40 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rights & Democracy
The office will open on November 1, to the immense chagrin of VIA Rail, because we're probably one of their best clients on the line between Ottawa and Montreal.
The fact is that our host ministry, the Department of Foreign Affairs, is in Ottawa. There are so many meetings we have to attend in Ottawa, so we're coming and going all the time between the two cities. We felt that having a one-person office here at some point would be useful. We're going to try it out and see how it works. Just in terms of cost and efficiency, even though we like Montreal, the business is very much in Ottawa.
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
These are the only two offices in Canada. Do you have other offices? I assume in Kabul there's a Rights and Democracy office with a sign on the wall, and in Haiti....
9:40 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rights & Democracy
We have an office in Kabul made up of Afghan staff. Unfortunately, there's no sign on the door, and you can understand why. It's a simple bungalow where people go to work. The cars are not identified, or anything like that.
The identification in Haiti is different. We have an office made up of Haitians. We also have an extension of our Montreal office--similar to the one we'll have in Ottawa--in Geneva, because there's so much going on in Europe with human rights activities, the UN system, and many of our international partners. Two years ago we decided to try it out for two years to see if it was efficient to have an office in Europe in Geneva. We're doing an evaluation of this project now, and we'll see whether this is something we will want to continue.
9:40 a.m.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Rights & Democracy
No. We have projects, and our agents travel. For example, we're doing a mission in Colombia next week with some of our colleagues. Most of our field agents who participate in managing different projects go to these countries about twice a year. I'm also expecting to go to Zimbabwe in January to launch the media training activity. I will be going to China because, as you know, we have an important program in China with the school of the Communist Party.
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Kevin Sorenson
Is Canada getting the credit for all those other ones besides Kabul? Is there a flag and a Rights and Democracy sign on the wall so they know we have a presence in all those other countries?
October 29th, 2009 / 9:40 a.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for being here today. We appreciate your involvement and reporting to us today, and the good work that Rights and Democracy is doing in many parts of the world.
You were here recently to report to us on Burma and corporate involvement around the world. We know that Rights and Democracy is representing Canada in a lot of very important files around the world.
I see that your involvement is domestic as well as international. I notice from your report that 20 Rights and Democracy student delegations are active on student campuses across the country, from Nanaimo--which caught my attention because it's my home riding--to Moncton. You say that every year these delegations act directly in their communities “to put the world to rights in their own way”.
I wonder if you could start by briefly explaining the involvement of Rights and Democracy domestically. Is there a plan or strategy involved in engaging Canadians?
9:40 a.m.
Razmik Panossian Director, Policy, Programmes and Planning, Rights & Democracy
That's a slogan we use to mobilize students to work on human rights issues on their campuses. The domestic involvement is at the level of university students in order to encourage them in their education on human rights issues.
9:40 a.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
I see.
Is there a plan or strategy to engage more Canadians in the process?
9:40 a.m.
Director, Policy, Programmes and Planning, Rights & Democracy
Yes, that's only one small element. As Mr. Beauregard mentioned, our flagship event is the John Humphrey Freedom Award, which is given in December. There is a cross-country speaking tour for the recipients. There is also a cross-country dialogue series, where in the next five years we'll be going to every province and territory to talk about the programming and the human rights issues we work on. So there is a lot of work pertaining to that. There is the work we do with the media in communications--putting out press releases, op-eds, and the usual things.
9:45 a.m.
Conservative
James Lunney Conservative Nanaimo—Alberni, BC
Let's go back to the international scene now.
I understand that you have an office in Geneva, as you mentioned. I saw something in your report about having a partnership with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. It seems that the Human Rights Council has inherited some of the dysfunctionality of its predecessor. I'm wondering if you can explain Rights and Democracy's partnership with the UN High Commissioner and the HRC.