World Federalist Movement-Canada

On Sept. 13, 2013, the WFMC organized the release and publication of a booklet of essays by 18 former diplomats, cabinet ministers, and foreign affairs experts spoke out against Canada's diminishing relationship with the United Nations. Their views were published in an accompanying booklet of essays, compiled and published by the WFMC, titled: “The United Nations and Canada: What Canada has done and should be doing at the UN“.[2]

The WFMC advocates a much larger role for Canada in support of United Nations peace operations, and releases biannual updates on this topic.[3]

"UN peace operations provide unparalleled legitimacy to international efforts" said Walter Dorn in a WFMC statement to The Globe and Mail “That’s why Canadians, as shown in many polls, continue to support peacekeeping, even when Canada is at an all-time low in contributions of personnel.”[4]

The WFMC also advocates for a United Nations Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) to provide the UN with a permanent rapid reaction to conflict.[5]

In 2012, the WFMC joined other civil society organizations to lobby for changes in Canada’s draft legislation to implement the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6]

Modern communications and technological change and the end of the Cold War have contributed to a growing recognition of the need for strengthened democratic governance around the world. In addition to the need for greater democratic governance around the world's nations, World Federalists call for the democratization of global governance. One practical program supported by the World Federalists is the Campaign for the Establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly at the United Nations.[7]

The organization also closely monitors and comments on the UN's Post-2015 Development Agenda. They suggest “one world goals," and an agenda that can be addressed in all countries.[8][9]

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).[10] WFMC is also a member of NGO networks that correspond to the organization's international goals, including the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, the Canadian Network to Abolish Nuclear Weapons and the Climate Action Network - Canada.

Toronto lawyer and political icon Lewis Duncan lost his only child on a Dutch battlefield, a month before the end of the Second World War. In the wake of this loss, Duncan used his local connections to assemble a group of prominent individuals into a new public-service organization called the World Government Association, Dec. 1945. The group became associated with the larger movement as the philosophy of federalism began to gain traction globally.[11][12]

James Lewis Duncan (1892-1960). Photo from The Law Society of Upper Canada.

With more of a political edge than their Toronto counterparts, the Ottawa world federalists took advantage of their location in the national capital. In 1949, the group was successful in drumming up support for world federalism from seven CCF Members of Parliament and two PCs, including leader John Bracken. In response to a speech by Prime Minister Mackenzie King, Bracken said "our path as Canadians is clear. Collective security for humanity is possible only in international collective agreement.[...]That price is the sacrifice of some degree of national sovereignty."[12][13] The Hon. Lester B. Pearson, Liberal Secretary of State for External Affairs, congratulated the Ottawa group "...on its work to extend and consolidate international cooperation..."[12]

In April 1949, ten world federalists who had been meeting since Fall 1948 organized themselves into the Saskatoon World Government Association. It was modelled after the Toronto group, and was active in lobbying Saskatchewan Members of Parliament, and even interested Premier Tommy Douglas in world federalism. Douglas was inspired enough to make several speeches on the subject, advocating for an international court, police force and parliament. He also devoted one of his famous weekly fireside chats to the topic of world federalism. The Saskatoon world federalists spread their message by sending speakers throughout the province, and having a letter to the editor published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix.[12]

After a Dec. 1949 talk by Toronto world federalist Charles Millard at the Winnipeg YMCA, 18 members of the YMCA Citizen's Forum Group and the Phoenix Club formed a world government group. Dr. Bernard G. Whitmore, associate professor at the University of Manitoba Department of Physics, was elected chairman of the Winnipeg World Government Association. The group was successful in holding several public meetings and debates, and received support from Liberal MP Ralph Maybank, CCF MP Alistair Stewart, and later PC MP Gordon Churchill.[12]

In Vancouver, Elmore Philpott worked with Lewis Duncan on his national initiatives, and even ran as an independent candidate in a provincial election, campaigning on a world government platform and achieving a close second place finish. Between 1949 and 1950, other coordinated world federalist activity went on in Halifax, Hamilton, and Norfolk County.[12][14]

While the Ottawa, Montreal, and Saskatoon groups called for a national meeting, the Toronto branch was reluctant to pursue a Canada-wide union after their bad experiences with the World Government Association under Duncan's leadership. The Toronto world federalists were committed in assisting the other Canadian groups, but it eventually fell to Winnipeg to organize them into what Whitmore proposed as a "...loose national organization...for the purpose of making joint pronouncements and representations if for nothing else."[12]

By March 1951, Toronto has softened and a news sheet called "Canadian World Government News" was ready for distribution among the groups. On February 5, 1951, Winnipeg discussed a draft national constitution at its first annual general meeting. And on July 28, 1951, Whitmore arranged a meeting of the different regional groups at the Ottawa YMCA. Representatives from Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Winnipeg attended, with Saskatoon representing itself by correspondence. The assembly reviewed and adopted Winnipeg's draft constitution. The Toronto group had already applied for membership in the World Movement for World Federal Government and turned their application over to the new national association.[12]