Honoured Commissioners. I commend you for taking this initiative on Canadian Governance and Corporate Accountability and thank you for the priviledge of addressing you directly.
I am here representing the International Association of Educators for World Peace, a non government organization with formal relations with the United Nations through ECOSOC, the Economic and Social Council, UNICEF, UNESCO and UNDPI. I am the Vice President of North American Affairs, and one of six Special UN Envoys of the IAEWP representing 25,000 educators world wide. I am also here championing the Culture of Peace Initiative of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and its Educational programs which I trust is of interest to the substance of this commission. My presentation has the support of many International Organizations.
My oral presentation is
in addition to a number of writings I am presenting to the Commission separately
including:
1) thoughts written in 1998 on this issue of Accountability,
2) thoughts upon hearing of this Commission,
3) perceptions after reading your discussion paper.
I am also bringing additional researched documents which I trust you may find of interest when you make your final determinations. These are perceptions on the issue of Common Law as it relates to Crown Corporations by Morris Manning Q.C, on the issue of The Need for Responsible Government, and the Bill of Obligations by Morriss Schumiacher Q.C, and the issue of the Psychology of Corporate Governance by Gail Regan. Last, and by no means least I would ask you to review intensively the Declaration of Madrid Document and the 1% Solution Program of a Culture of Peace. We also have provided a list of International organizations that are participating, and a list of Canadians that are currently considering a role with the project.
I trust you will understand the relationship between the 1% solution and the areas that you are addressing in your discussion paper. For clarity here I would like to bring to your attention that we live in special time to-day.
It is called JUMP TIME by Dr. Jean Houston an internationally renowned a philospher and social artist working in the field of human and cultural development She identifies so clearly that JUMP TIME is the coming together of six forces that are affecting our psyches to-day. I think that she is so clear on her perspective that I feel the need to share her perspective with you in order that you have this awareness. The six forces coming together begin with our conscious awareness of human nature. We recognize this in ourselves: and that individual awareness becoming developed has enabled co-incidentally the full development of technology that interconnects us on a moment by moment basis. This converging energy gives rise to a global patterning of our minds. We experience this physically through the convergence of all media, and the development of mega media mergers and the development of the Internet.
We know that which we know is right - intuitively. The golden rule. Not he who has the gold rules. It is not that. We acknowledge that receiving for the purpose of sharing is a fundamental notion that interconnects us with each other and the planet through our breath. We are connected no less through science, ethics, economics, ecology, health, and the very idea of energy itself. All intermingled.
The amazing thing that Dr. Houston reports in a matter of fact language is our new spiritual learnings and yearnings that prove in an authentic manner the sacredness of all life forms. From these points of inter-related notions of human nature, technological development, global patterning, economic relationships, spiritual transformation all are cross fertilized to the point that brings us to: JUMP TIME.
It is with the knowledge and awareness of "what time it is" that you must bring to your deliberations. You dare not use the mindsets that got you here. It is JUMP TIME.
A quote from the Marid Document which is going to be networked "both at the national and international levels, principally through the creation of a multi facetted network which includes education institutions, the media, associations, foundations and public and private organizations of all persuasions." and I quote " ... We warn of the need for urgency in adopting these measures".
It was the coming together
of the Peacemakers in Madrid in December 2000 that World Peacemakers agreed
on a program and process to move us towards a Culture of Peace, working together.
This was unique in the Peace movement - well beyond what was conceived by
the Hague Appeal for Peace called in May of 1999. They did not know they were
in JUMP TIME. They did know that it was obvious we had to actualize change
through education.
From the Madrid Document: "As underscored in the "United Nations
Millennium Assembly" held at the United Nations, we declare the necessity
of promoting a global plan of endogenous development, based on four "new
contracts" that have been discussed during this Conference: a new social
contract that recognises people as the protagonists and beneficiaries of economic
growth; a new natural or environmental contract, which includes a long-term
view and the urgent adoption of measures to protect the world's ecosystem;
a new cultural contract, to prevent cultural uniformity and the loss of the
infinite diversity and creativity which are mankind's common heritage; and
a new moral or ethical contract, to ensure the full implementation of values
and principles which comprise the foundation of our individual and collective
code of conduct. In summary, we seek to promote global endogenous development,
based on internal knowledge and capacities.
The Peace movement has recognized that this has to be taught. It is time for that. and it is a new time. It is JUMP TIME.
To have you understand our new time it would be good to look at our third proclamation - Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) has been renamed and Proclaimed Greenwich Peace Time GPT. And this was not done by a bureaucrat sitting in his/her office deciding this might be a good thing to do. This was an high spiritual event. It took place at the 10th World Congress of the IAEWP in Greenwich England at the Intenational Date Line performed in a high spiritual manner that involved elders from many indigenous communities world wide. North American traditions were honoured in the ceremony by bringing the energy of the White Buffalo Calf and the energy of the Peacemaker with the planting of the Tree of Peace Ceremony. It is JUMP TIME. It is time for peace.
I would like this Commission to consider this in their report - this Proclamation about time. This Commission is addressing an important question for the people of the world - and Canada as one of the most Multicultural economies of the world, and the country positioned for greatness into the 21st Century, the country that has the fewest people per square mile in an overcrowded world. It is a shame that the President of Canada's International Development Research Center (IDRC) in a March 2001 UNDP Document (CHOICES), she crys poor and states: "for budgetary reasons Canada's contribution to International Development was severely cut in the '90's". What she was really doing was covering up Canada's internal mismanagement. Let this commission lead the way into the new time. JUMP TIME.
I have informed the Commision that my Oral presentation will cover your third point so I guess I should get to it: Encouraging Social Responsibility via Contract Compliance. How would such a system work for Canadian corporations whether working at home or abroad? Simply put. Our 1% Solution and the Culture of Peace program answers this question very directly.
To overview the 1% Solution. It is a 1% voluntary global tithe brought forward through a Brand Label Marketing Program. In the Research Phase, virtually any corporation will be permitted to participate subject to some very minor limitations. During this Research Phase, we are developing a designation for a new level of Accountant. Global Accountant. This designation will be earned through a University Training Course (developed through the Pythagorean Olympic Universty - via distance learning and perhaps with the Schulich School of Business if they choose to become more involved). This Designation will have the qualities that will enable the expression of an opinion on financial statements as to compliance with a variety of socially responsible qualities, the most dominant of which will be particpation in the 1% solution. Also within the statement of those Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of a Global Accountant will be an expression of opinion on compliance in the area of environmental responsibility, human rights and responsibilities, consumer protection, health and safety awareness, and tax laws within a framework of guidelines established through a Standards Committee in each area of global concern.
The Research Phase will enable the development of sectoral Standards of Participation. More important will be the development and implemention of a Quality of Life Measuring index that will track Quality of life performance from year to year in corporations.
We should point out, if it is not obvious, that this activity will be encouraging to the field of Accountancy as it opens up whole new fields of expertise to be applied. The greatest fear of accountants is that they are redundant. The activity they enjoy least is the expression of an opinion; and yet that ability to express an opinion on financial statements is their defining quality.
It is our perspective that larger issues are at stake here than what is implied by the language of the Corporate Accountability and the growing divide in Canadian Democracy document. While your paper points out some of the concerns of the Canada Business Corporations Act, I refer you to the document of Mr. Morris Manning Q.C. where he lists forty five (45) provincial "Acts" that present a debilitating perspective on how the legal system precludes responsible behaviour as a very construct of our social structure which is based upon these Acts. It is my understanding that the basic premise of Mr. Mannings' 1980 paper is still valid through the application of Common Law.
I also enclose a presentation by the esteemed Canadian Moriss M Schumiacher Q.C. entitled A Need for Responsible Government. I bring to your attention the "Bill of Obligations" drafted in 1974 with a recommendation to implement in the new Millennium. One could only imagine how our lives would be different had the recommendations been followed through by Civil Society. It is JUMP TIME.
Thirdly, I enclose a Psychological Perspective analysis written by Gail Regan who has made a study Corporate Governance - her perspective is unique from years of direct Corporate Governance experience and deserves investigation at deeper levels.
It is true to say we are involved in an experience of trusting that those in charge will make decisions for the greater good, notwithstanding the FIG priciple that operates fully within our society. FIG is FEAR IGNORANCE and GREED. Mme Regans suggestion is that there are some very specific tools to use to identify breakdowns in the Corporate Governance model. This Commission might do well to analyze itself in the context of the hypothesis.
We trust that Corporate Society will change itself through individual change motivated by his/her highest self, and a desire to receive for the purpose of sharing, at our seed level of human experience.
It is through education that this change may occur, and this education is seed level through a culture of Peace, and I encourage you, as educators to formally declare that Educators are educators for Peace, and that as Educators for Peace you recommmend that individuals corporations, insititutions, and Nations states shift their buying habits to support a Culture of Peace and the 1% Solution.
If it is the intention of this Commission to achieve a greater level of Accountability in our system, both at home and abroad, the Commission must look to the very processes of our education system. I do not believe you will be able to legislate moral behaviour. It must come from teachings of elders and wise people. Political policies and legislation are tools to achieve goals of the corporate bureaucracy and as you can see by this Commission, change will not come easily through this process. I can only imagine all the differing proposals from every level of self-interest. But remember it is JUMP TIME.
Look deeply at what is being put in front of you: educational models founded on pedagogical principals that I am certain you will understand and support as you support the Socratic method as a teaching process, global thinking as a principle to be applied, and have these attributes of JUMP TIME be adopted by this Commission in its efforts to promote global endogenous development based upon internal knowledge and capacites.
To do any less would be a disservice to the world community.
To acknowledge JUMP TIME would be something else.
Summarizing my requests:
1) Consider deeply the implications of the Research papers in front of you
2) Endorse the Proclamations and bring them forward as a Private Members Bill
to the Government
3) Recommend to our government the Madrid Document in a formal manner
4) Please explore the 1% solution fully
5) Acknowledge JUMP TIME in your report.
Regarding your objective: Encouraging Social Responsibility via Contract Compliance. How would such a system work for Canadian corporations whether working at home or abroad? I believe the 1% Solution will facilitate the achievement of your objective. I trust you will come to the same conclusion.
On behalf of my elders, my grand fathers and the wise people that have assisted me in bringing this presentation to you we thank you again for this priviledge of Being Socially Responsible.
May peace prevail on Earth.
(not for publication until after April 4, 2001)