IntenseDebate - canaidreform

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Rights and Democracy: ... · 0 replies · +10 points

Its hard to decide which is the more depressing; the breathtaking arrogance and incompetence of the R&D Board; the complicity and cynicism of the Harper government; or the spinelessness of the Foreign Affairs Committee in its failure to defend its authority?
Is this the form of "rights and democracy" we hope the rest of the world will emulate? God help us all!

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Safe haven for an alle... · 0 replies · +3 points

An excellent example of the kind of investigative journalism we rarely see. Thank you Michael. I hope you will follow up the story with more details describing how Horace managed to come to Canada and what can be and is being done to bring him to justice.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - The real trouble at Ri... · 0 replies · +8 points

How is it that DFAIT's most recent audit of R&D contained not even a whiff of a concern about the "rogue management" that Sen. Frum seems to think is at the heart of the problem? Not only is she attacking the staff of R&D, she is implying that the former governors were negligent in their duties to ensure "due diligence". If memory serves, Aurel Braun's predecessor as Chair was Janice Stein, Director of the prestigious Munk Centre for International Studies at the U of T. Maybe Janice Stein and her then colleagues on the Board are to blame? Why wasn't she able to see the dastardly deeds of the R&D management that Mr Braun manged to unearth? Or maybe it's those #@*##@ DFAIT bureaucrats who have been providing the bulk of funding for all these years?

No, Senator Frum. When things go as badly as they have at R&D - whatever the reasons - there is only one group who shoulders the responsibiity - the current Board of governors who, after all, have ultimate responsibility for stewarding the affairs of the organization. In that, they have failed spectacularly. They should all resign.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - The ministerial oral p... · 0 replies · +3 points

Its a sad comment on the quality and competence of the Canadian Ministry when Lawrence Cannon has to rely on Bev Oda to come to his defense.

Oda says "we will reach a level of international assistance never reached by any other government before in the history Canada".

Nonsense.

The agreed measure of commitment to foreign aid isn't spending in current dollars; its spending relative to GNI (Gross National Income). By that measure, Canada is at 0.3% well below the 0.5% achieved under a previous administration. But don't get too puffed up you Libs. That high point wasn't reached during a Trudeau, Chretien or Martin government but in '85-'86 when Mulroney was PM.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Harper's G8 "maternal ... · 2 replies · +5 points

Here is what UK Prime Minister Cameron will say to PM Harper when they meet at the G8 Toronto meeting in June.

"Around the world 200 million women who want to control their reproduction still do not have access to modern contraception. With the exception of a few oil-rich states, no country has risen from poverty
without lowering their birth rates. Giving women choice over whether they have children is incredibly important and helps open the door to economic progress.And as prosperity spreads, the economic need
for parents to have large families diminishes.We will place renewed emphasis on empowering women to take decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. "

Source: The 2009 UK Conservative Party platform on international development.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Rights and Democracy: ... · 0 replies · +8 points

If there is a journalism award that reader's can nominate you for, Paul, just let us know. I suspect that almost everyone who has been reading your posts about R&D would gladly co-sign. But I disagree that you have been "wasting your breath"; far from it. If nothing else, you have demonstrated how central to democracy is an independent and unfettered media.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Rights and Democracy: ... · 1 reply · +2 points

M Gauthier, Braun et al rather conveniently neglect to mention the more recent (August 2008) review of R&D undertaken by its principal funder - the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT). The 5 year review concluded that:

"The overall results of this Review / Organizational Evaluation are positive. The data gathered and interviews held with various stakeholders in Canada and in partner countries have confirmed the effectiveness and relevance of R&D's activities in the field, as well as their compliance with R&D's mission".

Braun et al now claim that " board members were appointed to bring governance to Rights & Democracy". And yet, there was no suggestion in the 2008 DFAIT evaluation that governance had gone "missing". In fact, none of the report's findings or recommendations even hinted at the need for improved governance.

So how did governance emerge as such at problem at R&D between August 2008 and March 2009 when Aurel Braun was appointed Board Chair? Might it have anything to do with the fact the the interim Board Chair between August 2008 and March 2009 was - Jacques Gauthier???

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - UPDATED: Rights and De... · 0 replies · +7 points

Langlois, Wodzicki, Tremblay and Galetti deserve our respect. Imagine. Standing on principle for something you believe in - even though it will almost certainly lead to their dismissal. I wish more of our political leadership demonstrated that degree of courage and gumption.

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - Rights and Democracy: ... · 2 replies · +7 points

Pity the poor, long suffering staff at R&D. They must now report to a man whose commitment to rights, democracy and Canada, itself, seems tenous, at best. Latulippe will most likely use the forensic audit (which, no doubt, will find nits to pick) as an excuse to replace the R&D staff with clones of himself. It will become know as the strategy to "clone the odium".

14 years ago @ Macleans.ca - UPDATE: Rights and Dem... · 0 replies · +5 points

Gauthier claims that the purpose of the audit is "to guarantee full transparency in the proper spending of Canadian taxpayers dollars". The hypocrisy of his statement is breathtaking. He and his colleague, Braun, have done everything possible to obfuscate and obscure the truth. But, it is the federal government, not R&D, that has the ultimate responsibility to ensure proper spending of taxpayers dollars. Follow the money, and it takes you right back to Lawrence Cannon who appointed Gauthier, Braun et al to the R&D board and whose department, DFAIT, provides most of its funding. Why is Lawrence Cannon ducking his responsibility???

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