Centre Ice

Hi everyone!

First off, I want to apologize for neglecting this blog over the past while. Since arriving in Tallinn, the pace of life has swung between extremes several times, though it seems that the pendulum sometimes gets a tad bit stuck to one particular extreme. I still haven’t decided if that’s the better of the two, but I’ll keep you updated if I reach any substantive conclusions.

In any case, I’m blithering and there’s a lot of material to pass on here, so I’ll cut straight to the chase.

We recently revised the LYPC Constitution, which is a major achievement in itself. I know I've congratulated our group on the revision a few times in the time that has passed since we put it to a vote, but I can't begin to stress how this distinguishes us further from the other parties in the Canadian Youth Assembly. We have established a strong framework for our internal activities, indicating our strong sense of direction. Meanwhile, none of the other groups have established a similar document. You need to have a roadmap, a compass, a sense of where you've been and where you're going, if you want to get anywhere. So while our less-fortunate partners find themselves in increasingly uncertain waters, we, as an association of like-minded young liberals, are plotting a course for the LYPC and for the CYA as a whole.

Max Naylor, a leader in every sense, continues to do us proud, protesting the School Resource Officer program in Toronto. While the LYPC has not adopted a formal stance on the issue, given that this is exclusively a local issue as opposed to a federal matter, I think we can all appreciate the work that Max has been doing in his community. If you'd like to read up on it, I highly recommend this article: http://thevarsity.ca/articles/21746

I'd also like to take this opportunity to share with you some of my experiences from a recent visit to Helsinki. On October 18th, at the invitation of a good friend involved in youth advocacy and politics in Finland, I hopped a ferry from Tallinn to meet with members of Svensk Ungdom. Svensk Ungdom, for those not familiar with Finnish politics, is the youth organization of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, a party that upholds liberalism and multiculturalism in that country.

During my studies at the University of Calgary, I had learned a little about the status of the Swedish language in Finland. The role the League of Nations played in resolving disputes over the Åland Islands was touted as one of the successes of that ill-fated international organization. Aside from this academic knowledge, however, I lacked much in the way of a practical understanding of Finland's bilingualism. So, when Lena (that dear friend I mentioned previously) made me the really generous and hospitable offer to speak with the International Committee and experience Helsinki, I couldn't possibly pass on the offer, perhaps especially so because I wanted to understand where Finland is with respect to its linguistic minority.

Whether it was in the boardroom or on the streets of Helsinki, I can say I learned a great deal from all the people I spoke with. There's one particular conversation I want to single out, though. While meeting with the International Committee of Svensk Ungdom, I remembered a few lectures I had back in Calgary. A professor of mine posited that the birth of the separatist movement in Québec and the start of some of the political divisions we see in our country lies in the Conscription Crises of 1917 and 1944. There might be some truth to that, though I think many other factors and events have played a role. But, regardless, this made me curious to know whether any divisions within Finnish society might be wrapped up in the memory of the Second World War, when the Soviet Union sought to conquer the country only to be delivered a good thrashing by an admirably defiant people who defended their homes against all odds.

As it turns out, the Second World War is not a source of division in Finland. For Canadians, the fight against Nazi Germany was something taking place far away. It was easier for some to oppose sending troops to Europe. For the people of Finland, whether their mother tongue was Finnish or Swedish, it was not so easy to advocate non-intervention and isolation. In fact, it was impossible. As I was told by those present, every person rallied together to defend the country. Those living far from the frontlines opened their homes to those fleeing the horrors of war. Finnish of both linguistic backgrounds took up the fight. For them, the Second World War holds only memories of unity and the understanding that unity brings strength- strength enough to overcome the odds and win lasting victories.

It was inspiring to hear their words then, I felt inspired thinking about those same words on the ferry back to Tallinn, and those words still inspire me now.

As one question always seems to lead to another, I now find myself wondering if this kind of unity can only be achieved in times of war. Can a sense of fraternity be established between a group of people, even if they are not comrades-in-arms? I tend to think this is the case. Can a national identity only be forged in the heat of war? Must we be faced with a big bad wolf in order to set aside our differences with our neighbors? I don't think that's the case.

Yet here we are. While our Canadian Forces are fighting for the future of Afghanistan, our country is at relative peace. Beneath the surface, there's a lot of division and disunity. Some demagogues still argue for the dissolution of Confederation. Some still claim Canada is nothing more than a coalition of convenience that has now become inconvenient. Some are still willing to listen to this message of contempt. How do we strengthen our ties? How do we maintain our inclusive society? How do we make sure compassion wins out over contempt?

My theory, following my visit to Helsinki, is that we need a "Great Project". The Soviet invasion mobilized everyone for a common cause and a set of shared values. In the War of 1812, Canadians did the same as our forefathers fought against the American invasion. The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880's also, in many ways, united Canadians in peacetime. But there is no one left among the living who can remember what those days were like. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us, the new generation, to develop and introduce a new Great Project. What young Canadians need right now is a banner to rally around, an ambitious and difficult task that, once completed, we can all, whether we be from Prince Edward Island or British Columbia, look to with pride and say, "We did that. We did that together."

Accordingly, I'd like to invite LYPC members to post on our section of the CYA forums, sharing with all of us your ideas for this Great Project. What do you think can be done to help strengthen our community spirit? What idea do you have, amongst your many, that is so incredibly awesome, its awesomeness can't be contained within the purview of a Policy Committee? It's a dialogue Canada needs. And it's a dialogue that will further demonstrate that the LYPC is the party that best reflects the interests of all Canadian youth.

In closing, I want to express how proud I am of Svensk Ungdom and the service they perform for Finland. To my colleagues in the LYPC, I want to thank you all for the hard work you are doing for our country. You understand that, while the words might be in French or English or Punjabi or Hausa, the message of Canada is the same, and that message is one of compassion and peace. I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!

Best wishes,
Paul Pryce
LYPC Federal President

While the Canadian media obsesses itself over Michael Jackson's death and a rather droll meeting between the Governor General and the Emperor of Japan, this is going on: http://www.osce.org/item/38636.html

Naturally, I'd comment at greater length on the results of the election (given that I'm writing an article on the elections for the academic journal "Electoral Studies", and given that I have friends in both the MRF and GERB ) but it's awfully late- even here in Calgary.

On a somewhat unrelated note, the search for a Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation continues. If you're reading this and headlines like "Parliamentary Elections in Bulgaria" get you all excited, hit me up and we'll see if there are opportunities for collaboration.

As we start to kick into high gear in the Model Parliament, I thought it best to share with you all one of the Bills that I've been working on and which I'm hoping to table soon in my position as Minister for Strengthening Canada's Global Role. If you've happened across the Draft Legislation section of the forums, you've probably already seen it (as well as some of the lengthy discussion between Coady and I on the topic). But if you haven't yet had the opportunity to read it over, here it is:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR
Calgary North

Summary:
1. To bring the quality of Canada's contributions toward International Election Observer Missions in line with standards exercised by this country's international partners.

2. To demonstrate Canada's commitment to promote democratization efforts abroad.

3. To improve current opportunities for Canadian youth to become engaged in the political process through meaningful work in the field of international development and diplomacy.

TITLE:

An Act to Amend the Personnel Secondment Process for International Election Observer Missions

INTERPRETATION AND APPLICATION

Whereas the importance of election observation to the fostering of democratic development throughout the international community is becoming increasingly evident,

Whereas the opportunity to serve with International Election Observer Missions (IEOM’s) can help to start youth along meaningful careers in international relations and/or public affairs,

Whereas the CIDA’s current arrangement with CANADEM not only hinders Canada’s ability to contribute to the facilitation and maintenance of healthy democracy abroad but also restricts the number of opportunities available to interested youth,

Be it resolved that the responsibility for secondment of Canadian personnel for IEOM’s shall be shifted from CANADEM to DFAIT, in line with widely held international standards.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Naturally, this is only an untitled draft and I'm looking forward to receiving input from my fellow Members so that we can better strengthen the spirit of the Bill. But, in case you're a little lost by all this obscure talk of NGO's, STO's and all those acronyms, I have written up a bit of background, which follows.

I first came across this issue while working with the OSCE earlier this year. I was asked, quite unexpectedly, by the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly to deploy to Montenegro for about ten days, where I would work as the Assistant to the Head of the International Election Observer Mission there. Our responsibility was to monitor the country's parliamentary elections to ensure that they were carried out in line with democratic principles. It was a pretty important test for the country as, depending on how far the country had come since the severing of the State Union with Serbia, there could be significant rammifications for Montenegrin ambitions to join the European Union.

To describe my experience while there with the utmost brevity, I would have to say it was awesome. Absolutely awesome, in fact, and I was left hooked. My previous work in Vienna was wonderful, but actually being in the field was something that I really enjoyed. So, once I became aware that the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights was looking for participating States to second observers for the elections in Albania, I was ecstatic. I'd briefly had the opportunity to visit Ulcinj, in Montenegro close to the Albanian border, and saw how Montenegro went about engaging the substantial Albanian minority in the political process. Naturally, I was curious to find out how the Albanians went about doing the same thing for the Montenegrin minority in Shkodra, not far from Ulcinj but on the Albanian side of the border.

This is where I need to take a break from my story to explain what "secondment" means. For a fair number of positions in international organizations like the OSCE or the UN, positions are not contracted but seconded. That is to say, candidates for announced vacancies don't apply directly to the institution for which they wish to work for but instead apply to their government's relevant ministry (in Canada, one would think this to be DFAIT). The ministry then selects its best qualified candidate from the pool of applications it receives and then passes it on to the international institution. This allows a country to demonstrate its commitment to a given institution by exercising quality control. Other countries, like the US or the UK, have also been known to use the secondment process as a means to withhold applications from its own nationals in order to allow under-represented countries a better shot at getting some folks into positions where they have a say about the way things are done.

Back to the story, I eagerly approached the Canadian delegation in Vienna to see if I could secure secondment to work as a Short-Term Observer with the IEOM in Albania. Surprisingly, I was told that the delegation didn't handle secondments, nor did DFAIT. Instead, CANADEM- a small NGO that receives funding from CIDA- handles all secondments for IEOM's and tends to choose not to put forward any applications.

Not to be discouraged, especially as the delegation felt that I'd be a perfectly viable candidate, I submitted my application to CANADEM.

Again, I feel need to break from this story to explain the composition of IEOM's (based on the model developed by the OSCE and now used by the UN, EU, AU and CIS). At the top, one tends to have a parliamentary delegation (ie Senators and MP's from various countries, one of whom is appointed as Head because she/he is respected enough by all involved to be an honest arbitrator). Accompanying this parliamentary delegation also tends to be some staff, like the position I filled in Montenegro.

Just beneath, or perhaps alongside, the parliamentary delegation is the Core Team. The Core Team tends to be made up of ten bureaucrats, each an expert in his or her field. There's such positions as the Gender Analyst (ie Are parties making honest efforts to engage women in the political process?), the National Minorities Analyst (ie Are some parties campaigning on platforms based on ethnic hatred?), the Legal Analyst (Are the courts acting as fair and neutral arbitrators?), etc.

Under the Core Team are the Long-Term Observers. These folks tend to have a lot of experience in election administration and/or diplomacy, but they're also an intentionally diverse group. They can have as little as two years experience or as much as ten. They're split up into teams of two and sent to every corner of the country a full month before E-Day to monitor the campaigning but to also pave the way for the arrival of the Short-Term Observers.

The Short-Term Observers are the grunts of IEOM's. Basically, they're scrutineers but they carry the legitimacy that comes with the backing of, in the case of OSCE observers, 56 countries. They're non-partisan and serving in a quasi-diplomatic character. So, unlike domestic scrutineers, they're held in a great degree of trust by those living in countries where the democratic process can sometimes be a little less than fair. Usually, those who serve in this capacity only have 1-2 years experience. They're also only in the country for a week. Since they're quite inexpensive and there's often a lot of ground to cover on E-Day, IEOM's request huge numbers of STO's. For the Albanian elections that I was intending to observe, the OSCE/ODIHR requested 400 STO's.

Basically, these are the key things to keep in mind at this point: STO's are rookies, many STO's were needed in Albanian, and I was a presumably qualified candidate to serve as one of those 400. After submitting my application to CANADEM, I was promptly informed by CANADEM that I would only be considered for secondment as an STO if I had 3-5 years of experience observing internationally, thus discounting any experience I might have on Canadian soil. I was informed, however, that CANADEM offers an internship for those wishing to reach an 'acceptable' level of experience. Upon research, I discovered that Canadian youth are actually expected to pay CANADEM for the internship, rather than be paid for any hard work the organization might get out of a person during this vaunted six-month excursion of what seems to amount to voluntourism.

On June 28th, the Albanian elections took place and the IEOM did observe several areas of concern. Not a single Canadian was operating under the auspices of the IEOM on that important day in Albania. When Albanians needed Canada most, Canada wasn't there because an NGO felt that the opportunity to turn a profit was more important than offering a gesture of solidarity between countries.

I was perplexed by all of this and have since been checking with friends and contacts to see just exactly how their respective countries handle the secondment of international election observers. From Iceland to Germany to Kyrgyzstan, these secondments are handled by the OSCE desk officer at their respective Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Of all 56 OSCE participating States, it seems Canada is the only country which has outsourced this responsibility to an outside, and relatively unaccountable and intransparent, NGO.

I hope this helps to explain the background of this proposed Bill and makes evident its intent. Interested and capable Canadian youth should be able to present themselves for secondment. They should be able to enjoy the same enriching experience I had in Montenegro if they're thinking of a diplomatic career. And their contributions at home, in a country where political apathy is already a problem, should never be discounted.

Hey, presto!

Just like that, we have a Wiki page up and running as well. Check my bio out at: http://cya.wikidot.com/paul-pryce

Premièrement, j'aimerais simplement m'excuser pour mon français. C'est horrible, je sais. Mais j'habite à l'Alberta, donc... Tout est expliqué

Secondly, I'd like to apologize for having neglected this blog for the past few months. I know I requested it. I know I went on about how I was going to seize this opportunity to give back to the Canadian Youth Assembly community. Now that I'm back on Canadian soil (we'll get to that in a minute) and I have a bit more leisure time, I intend to pay a bit closer attention to this thing in the future.

Now, having apologized for the dereliction of duty, I'd best get about explaining what I've been up to. Some, especially my LYPC colleagues, may have noticed that I vanished not too long after my proposed Bill C-4 (Job Protection for Canadian Forces Primary Reservists) was introduced and rather well-received in our Model Parliament. Well, for those who were unaware, I was serving as a diplomatic aide with the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Parliamentary Assembly from October 2008 until the beginning of April this year. Vienna was wonderful. Even better was the opportunity to serve our country of Canada on the international stage, advising my Ambassador, as well as parliamentarians from the OSCE's 56 participating States, on a variety of political and military issues.

The work could be a bit demanding sometimes. For one thing, missing the opportunity to spend Christmas with my family by staying in Vienna to help with emergency negotiations over the unfolding crisis in Georgia was a tough point for me. But, all in all, I had enough time to log onto the CYA forums at least once a day to follow discussions and sometimes throw my own two cents in.

But, with scarcely two weeks left in my term, I was asked to accompany one of the OSCE PA's many election observation missions. So, just as my Bill C-4 seemed set to be pushed through in our Model Parliament, I was whisked away to Montenegro to serve as the avant-garde of the mission. It was tiring, but it was an absolutely awesome time and I only wish more Canadian youth could enjoy such an experience.

So, now I'm back in my homeland and ready to dive back into Model Parliament. In the midst of our elections, it's not yet clear which party will emerge as Government. Naturally, we all know with whom I'll be placing my bet. But regardless of what role the LYPC will play in the Model Parliament, regardless of what position my Leader thinks I'll be best suited to, I look forward to being able to work with other caring, compassionate and ambitious youth to develop innovative solutions to the problems our country is facing at the dawn of this new century. Just like that election observation mission in Montenegro, I think the CYA Model Parliament is something that more Canadian youth should enjoy and experience.

So, to all who read this, I have a challenge for you. Think of your most politically-minded friend. If that person is already a CYA member, think of your second most politically-minded friend. If that person is also already a CYA member, you're an amazing recruiter and need to think of your third most politically-minded friend. Once you have a mental image of that person framed in your mind's eye, think up as many means as possible to seduce, cajole and convince that person to join the CYA and its Model Parliament. Then employ those means. Ruthlessly.

Well, it's just about midnight here in Calgary. It's been nice chatting with you and I'm looking forward to working with you (and your many, many recruits).