Thank you for that question.
Let me deal with the second part first. It was Lord Howell, the British minister responsible for Commonwealth affairs, who said, at a meeting of the Commonwealth foreign ministers at the UN three weeks ago, that one of the reasons countries want to be in the Commonwealth is that membership implies a certain stability of government, a certain respect for the rule of law, and a certain respect for human rights.
Quite frankly, when companies are thinking about where they want to invest, where there is the stability to advance their shareholders' interests by building infrastructure or making other kinds of contributions, Commonwealth membership counts. Therefore, one of the most significant leverage points that the Commonwealth as an organization has on any of its members that might drift off the core values is the fact that, in the end, they can be excluded.
This is what happened in the battle over apartheid. This is what happened with respect to Rhodesia. This is what happened with respect to Fiji. When that exclusion takes place, it does have a significant impact. That point of leverage is the way in which those countries that are very much in support of this report—and I think they are a strong plurality—are working on some of their colleagues who are not quite so well disposed.
The points of anxiety for the countries that are not well disposed really very much to the commissioner or human rights, rule of law, and democracy. I think they fear that the commissioner would be an individual who would pass judgment publicly on the quality of their democracy and cause them more grievances, more international difficulties. For some, I know, the word “commissioner” implies a commissioner of police
The truth of the matter is that whether the commissioner is called a high representative or a special envoy or a special ambassador matters less than the fact that they have a clear mandate to engage on these issues and to work, not only.... As we've seen in some recent African elections, there was an observer team looking at recent elections, such as, for example, in Uganda. That observer team was headed by former Deputy Prime Minister Mrs. Billie Miller from Barbados, and she said election day went well. On the counting of the ballots and the structuring of the vote, all of that seemed to go according to Hoyle, or according to the rules.
But there are some core issues with respect to a level playing field on party finance and the way in which that part of the system operates. So now there's an agenda on which the Commonwealth can work with our Ugandan colleagues to improve the quality of their election laws in a fashion that strengthens their circumstances.
So we see the Commonwealth commissioner that we have called for working in that kind of constructive way. Can it lead in extremis to the exclusion of a country? Yes, it can, but our view is that it need not be the case if there is a common will on both sides to make real progress.
On the financial side, some countries will worry that the cost of our recommendations will be too high. It is our view around the table—the view of those of us who worked on it from the different countries and regions—that when you have a budget of about $80 million Canadian a year, the ability to reallocate about 5% to meet the new obligations that Commonwealth priorities might require is not onerous. It is doable.
Of course, that requires a secretariat that's both fit for purpose and prepared to make changes. All over the world, the governments that send money to the Commonwealth are making changes because of the fiscal and economic circumstances we all face. We don't think the secretariat should be immune from that.
Monsieur LeBlanc, those are the two areas where the strongest opposition has been launched. So far in the public domain, the only country to speak publicly against recommendations is Sri Lanka; I think that's been recorded in some Sri Lankan newspapers today. Otherwise, I think there's a bit of back-and-forth negotiation going on, even as we speak. I can't give you a prediction on how it will come out, but I understand the discussions are quite robust.