While I certainly acknowledge a useful purpose for the Commonwealth of Nations and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, I believe that purpose could be served more effectively and efficiently if these organisations were transformed from inter-governmental organizations into non-governmental ones.
I can also understand that some other member countries might want to maintain its inter-governmental status. In that case, one solution could be for interested Canadians to establish a non-governmental Commonwealth organization and a parallel Francophonie organization in Canada which could have a consultative albeit not necessarily voting status at these organizations.
I believe some of the advantages of this would be the following:
1. Since the government of Canada would no longer be a member of these organizations, it would thus no longer be required to provide any taxpayer funding for them wither.
2. Since Canada would allow for parallel NGOs to form in Canada, here at least the Commonwealth would become more grassroots and responsive to the needs of the people, especially since its funding would come from voluntary contributions from the people, and any involvement would come from the people too, with the Canadian government standing aside.
3. It would help to eliminate the elitist reputation both of these organizations have been developing of late.
Now of course there is also the possibility that owing to lack of interest, the organization simply disappears altogether from the Canadian map. Somehow I doubt this would happen though; I believe many Canadians are interested in these organizations, and so if the Canadian government transformed the Canadian branches of these two organizations into NGOs, my guess is they'd survive, albeit possibly in a scaled-down version, if they really are relevant to us. And if they don't survive, then it's because they weren't that relevant in the first place.
Any thoughts on this?
I can also understand that some other member countries might want to maintain its inter-governmental status. In that case, one solution could be for interested Canadians to establish a non-governmental Commonwealth organization and a parallel Francophonie organization in Canada which could have a consultative albeit not necessarily voting status at these organizations.
I believe some of the advantages of this would be the following:
1. Since the government of Canada would no longer be a member of these organizations, it would thus no longer be required to provide any taxpayer funding for them wither.
2. Since Canada would allow for parallel NGOs to form in Canada, here at least the Commonwealth would become more grassroots and responsive to the needs of the people, especially since its funding would come from voluntary contributions from the people, and any involvement would come from the people too, with the Canadian government standing aside.
3. It would help to eliminate the elitist reputation both of these organizations have been developing of late.
Now of course there is also the possibility that owing to lack of interest, the organization simply disappears altogether from the Canadian map. Somehow I doubt this would happen though; I believe many Canadians are interested in these organizations, and so if the Canadian government transformed the Canadian branches of these two organizations into NGOs, my guess is they'd survive, albeit possibly in a scaled-down version, if they really are relevant to us. And if they don't survive, then it's because they weren't that relevant in the first place.
Any thoughts on this?