Recently, the government of Canada announced that they are scrapping the Rights and Democracy agency (or, for googling purposes, better known as The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development). According to the website, the agency was created in 1988 “to encourage and support the universal values of human rights and the promotion of democratic institutions and practices around the world” (source). This was interesting timing for the agency’s creation, as it was right towards the end of the Cold War and the Western powers’ fight against communism.
CBC outlines the turmoil that arose within the agency in 2010, when government-appointed board members challenged the funding of three human rights organizations because they were anti-Israel.
The controversy stems an interesting conversation about the supposedly non-partisan nature of the agency. Traditionally, non-partisan has been associated with intra-national politics. With increasing internationalization, countries are faced with the challenge of maintaining this non-partisan stance on a global level.
While the government says it will simply absorb the work of the agency into other departments, it will be interesting to see whether or not Canada’s role changes within international politics.
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