Canada, Commonwealth and the key to relevance
Posted by DannyRCS - 22/07/09 at 06:07 pmToday I had an opinion piece published in the Globe and Mail, a Canadian Newspaper, about what our poll results mean there… “The Commonwealth turns 60 this year, but the results of global polling suggests there isn’t much to cheer about. Surveys in seven of its states indicate that knowledge of what the 53-member association does is very low and that support for it is lukewarm at best. While the Canadian figures may be the bleakest, Canada may also hold the key to the Commonwealth’s continued relevance.
Despite being a founding member, supplying the association’s first secretary-general and continuing to be one of its major funders, Canada seems to have fallen out of love with the Commonwealth. Less than a quarter of Canadians could name anything the Commonwealth does, and only a third would be upset if Canada withdrew its membership…”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON THE GLOBE AND MAIL WEBSITE.
And then let me know what you think below.
Category : Director's Blog
Tags: Canada, Commonwealth Conversation, monarchy, poll
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July 30th, 2009 at 10:01 am
I think the key thing to get out of here is the ‘latent goodwill’ within the Commonwealth. It is a shame that the bitter and twisted anti-British or anti-Monarchical minorities in member states are dictating policy.
Note that there is no constructive rationale to anti-Commonwealth feeling. Nobody is going to put up anything in its place. Nothing will actually be gained by its end.
Ignorance is the key here. There is no participatory element to the commonwealth – the Secretariat is a closed club and national policies do not affect its activities.
Note the inherent imbalance: An organisation which stands for democracy has no democratic element to it! There are no referendums, no elections… how could there be when India has enough people to outvote all other member states put together?
Something must be done to make the Commonwealth more accessible. I was amazed to visit the Secretariat’s website and find that I could only volunteer in the name of the Commonwealth if I was a qualified professional with years of experience! As an unqualified student, or postgraduate without anygreat work experience, the Commonwealth gave me no opportunities when, really, it should have done – and not just for me, but for all those across the Commonwealth who want to see the world, especially those with no other way out.
Part of the fall of the Empire was due to the deathof the British ‘gentleman amateur’. If the Commonwealth cannot place more faith in youth, or in enthusiasm, then it will fall too.
As India has demonstrated, countries with hope and ambition are more likely to suport the Commonwealth.
By contrast, all the news coming out of Canada, Australia, and I know the attitudes in Britain, are introverted and self-obsessed. “What does the Commonwealth do for me?” “How does the Commonwealth help my life?”
If I couldn’t find any way to get involved in the Commonwealth when I wanted to help others, how is the Commonwealth supposed to make itself revelant to me, let alone those in Britain, Canada and Australia who care only for themselves?