In my years of being a Board Member and active participant in the Vancouver Branch of the World Federalists I have discovered the amazing energy that is created when like-minded people get together to work towards a common goal.  It has been an honour to be involved with this organization. The experience, years of dedication and commitment that members of this branch have, speak volumes of their passion for the ideals and aims that World Federalism encompasses.  Motivated by the enthusiasm and support that fellow members have shown me, I have decided to run for President of this branch.  In doing so I understand the responsibility that this entails as well as the honour that it is to represent this Organization and its philosophy.  I wish to take the time to express my gratitude for Leonard Angel who has set a marvelous example of what a great president of any association should be.  His example is one I respect and hope to live up to. 

 As President of the Vancouver, Canada branch, my vision is to promote World Federalist ideals and educate the public and political figures as to the benefits of supporting our missions.  My goal is to increase our exposure with the aim that those in the higher echelons of power who harness the ability to affect and change political policies will adhere to our World Federalist principles.   In doing so, they will hopefully ratify the necessary legislation to bring British Columbia, Canada and the whole planet under one unified Global Government capable of dealing with the issues that affect everyone who inhabits this Earth. 

The Vancouver branch is one of the most active of Canada; if the zeal and enthusiasm of its members have shown me anything, is that it does not take many to create the type of positive change we envision.  Margaret Mead’s words come to mind whenever I think of the World Federalists I have had the pleasure of working beside: “never doubt that a few committed citizens can change the world; in fact it’s the only things that ever has”.

So, I wish you join me and fellow World Federalists in our endeavours so that together we can create the ripples of change that eventually become the waves of transformation not only politically but also in the ways of thinking of all our human kin.  Thank you once again for your support and with gratitude I look forward to seeing the more peaceful, safe and just world that we all desire. 

Vivian Davidson-President (2013-)

WFM-C Vancouver 

Some of the campaigns and NGOs that WFM-C supports and works with include:

Canadian Council for International Cooperation, based in Ottawa, supports more effective Canadian international development assistance. The CCIC coordinates Canadian efforts in the worldwide “Make Poverty History” campaign.

Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (CNANW) links Canadian organizations advocating more effective Canadian and international efforts in support of nuclear arms control and disarmament.

Climate Action Network (CANET) links Canadian organizations concerned with the effects of climate change and advocates Government of Canada policies to implement the Kyoto Protocol and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), based in New York and The Hague, supports effective functioning of the new International Criminal Court and coordinates civil society efforts to contribute to the work of the Court.

Halifax Initiative is a coalition of development, environment, faith-based, human rights and labour groups that are the Canadian presence for public interest work and education on international financial institutions (IFIs).

International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) brings together NGOs from all regions of the world to strengthen normative consensus for RtoP, further the understanding of the norm, push for strengthened capacities to prevent and halt genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity and mobilize NGOs to push for action to save lives in RtoP country-specific situations. 

Women, Peace and Security Network Canada (WPSN - Canada) is a group of Canadian organizations and individuals committed to promoting and monitoring efforts of the Government of Canada to implement and support the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on women, peace and security, as well as providing a forum for exchange and action by Canadian civil society on issues related to women, peace and security (broadly interpreted).

After devastating destruction of a second world war that less than thirty years  prior was sworn never to repeat, in 1948 a group of progressive thinkers in Montreaux Switzerland  committed to endeavour to address the common good of all citizens on the planet over any and all nation-state agendas.

Peace is more than the absence of war.

As George Soros once proclaimed, “human sovereignty must supersede national sovereignty”.

Globalization and the integration that the planet is facing is unprecedented; everything from technology to climate changes are global in scope and effect except the political structures we currently have at the international arena.

Nation states are designed to procure for their national interests and the good of their citizens above any else. This is natural and the World Federalist Movement (WFM) understands and honours this.  But a WF Parliament is a step beyond that where issues affecting human family as a whole and the well-being of the planet are dealt with.

As World Federalists we accept and celebrate the diversity of ethnicities, cultures and other forms of individualism yet we acknowledge that the commonality of the human species isn’t adequately or sufficiently considered within the present nation-state system. 

A World Federal Parliament (WFP) would be one where each person would e considered the global citizen that she/he is and would be given equal voice regardless of what nation they were born and or reside in.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights would no longer be a dream-they would be a reality. The current status quo of international institutions and nation-state organizations dealing with global affairs is not an option-there IS an alternative: World Federalism.

Thinkers, activists, writers and even musicians and politicians of left and right political parties in different countries around the world have all supported the idea of a World Federal Parliament.  From Plato to Einstein, Pope John XXIII and Gandhi have agreed that a system of global governance needs to be established if the issues, and more importantly, crises of today’s planet are to be addressed. 

Clearly, World Federalism (WF) is not a new idea; yet the reason why it hasn’t been implemented and has become a much silenced idea is because national governments and the many institutions upon which they rely and vice-versa, see WF as a threat to their own agendas.  Yet, the time for a WFP has never been more demanding and the circumstances never more ripe for this type of globally-conscious system.  As evident from the ever accelerating and exponential and undeniable destruction of our climate, the escalating monetary and human costs of war, the easily preventable diseases that still claim millions of lives each day and other such injustices, we cannot afford to wait any longer for a governance system that acts on the behalf of all the 7 billion brothers and sisters we coexist with in this marvelous planet of ours. 

Giving primacy to interests higher than those of the nation state.

As a branch of the World Federalist Movement - Canada (WFMC), the Vancouver Branch supports:

strengthening international law,

an effective International Criminal Court,

reforming the UN to make it a more effective peacekeeper,

reforming the operations of the WTO to create democratic input and accountability,

creation of appropriate global parliamentary assemblies for the WTO and the UN,

the design and implementation of treaties, including:

 - the landmines treaty,

 - disarmament treaties,

 - arms trading restrictions,

 - ecological environmental treaties,

 - treaties to protect diversity and local authority.  

WFM – Canada advocates a much larger role for Canada in support of United Nations peace operations.

Canada and Peacekeeping

WFMC also advocates for the creation of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS), that would provide the UN with a permanent rapid reaction capability.

United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS)

WFM – Canada has joined with other civil society organizations to advocate changes in Canada’s draft legislation to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Cluster Munitions

WFM - Canada participates actively in the Campaign for the Establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations (UNPA).

Campaign for a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly

World Federalists are part of a growing civil society mobilization behind the objective of democratizing governance – nationally, regionally, and at the global level. In the introduction to “An Agenda for Democratization,” former United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali wrote, “Democratization is a process which leads to a more open, more participatory, less authoritarian society. Democracy is a system of government which embodies, in a variety of institutions and mechanisms, the ideal of political power based on the will of the people.”

Since the end of the Cold War, the basic idea of democracy has gained support around the world. Although many states are still not governed democratically, the democratic ideal is now accepted as a universal value. And in an era of globalization, when many of the decisions affecting the lives of citizens are taken by international organizations that are not democratically accountable, there is a pressing need to democratize global governance.

RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT (R2P)

WFMC monitors and supports the progressive development of the Responsibility to Protect normative framework and is a supporting member of the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP).

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

United States Interagency Atrocities Prevention Board

WFMC advocates the creation of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS), that would provide the UN with a permanent rapid reaction capability.

United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS)

On October, 2014 at the World Federalist Movement-Canada Annual General Meeting in Ottawa, a resolution by the Vancouver branch was passed that asked UN General Assembly to consider returning responsibility for international peace and security to the UNGA from the UN Security Council. Noting that the UNSC has the same five Permanent members with veto as in 1945.  Vancouver branch adopted this as a branch project. A mailing went out to all 193 UN ambassadors 1st Dec 2014 with this resolution from WFM-C Ottawa and a covering letter from President Vivian Davidson.