Forum Newsletter

In this issue

Country programs

Global programs

Visitors and headquarters activities

Coming Forum Events

 

 


COUNTRY PROGRAMS

 

Forum assists Mexican President-elect's visit to Ottawa

Mexican President-elect Felipe Calderon visited Ottawa on Oct. 26 to 27. During Mr. Calderon's visit, Forum President George Anderson coordinated briefings to the president-elect on Canada's energy and forestry sectors. Mr. Calderon was elected on July 2 to succeed President Vicente Fox. He will be sworn in as president on Dec.1, 2006. Ms Maria Teresa Garcia Segovia de Madero, Mexico's Ambassador to Canada, also took part in the meetings. Ms Madero recently retired from the board of directors of the Forum of Federations

For more information: Mexican President visits Canada

 

Canada and the Foreign Relations of Federal Countries

On Oct. 25, representatives of Canadian federal, provincial and territorial governments and members of the diplomatic corps in Ottawa joined in a discussion with international experts on the topic of Foreign Relations of Federal Countries. Participants at the Forum event came from a number of federal countries, including Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the United States.

For more information: Forum hosts International Roundtable

 

Germany to become ninth partner country of the Forum

On Oct. 19, 2006, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble signed a letter of intent stating that Germany would become a partner country of the Forum of Federations. The signing took place in Berlin during the conference on competitive vs. co-operative federalism in Germany. The joining of Germany will bring the number of partner countries to nine, including Australia, Austria, Canada, India, Mexico, Nigeria and Switzerland and Ethiopia (which has indicated that it will sign in December).

For more information: Germany to become partner of Forum

 

Competition vs. co-operation in German federalism

Competition vs. Co-operation: German Federalism in Need of Reform was the title of a conference held in Berlin from Oct. 18 to 20 by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and the Forum of Federations. Speakers included the German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble; Dr. Bernhard Vogel, Chair of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation; Thorsten Alsleben of the South German Television network  (ZDF);  Dr. Cheryl Saunders of the University of Melbourne; and Prof. Arnold Koller, Chair of the Forum of Federations.

For more information (in German only): http://www.kas.de/publikationen/2006/9417_dokument.html

 

Forum plans devolved governance for water project in Sri Lanka

Rupak Chattopadhyay of the Forum and Dr. B. K. Joshi, Chair of the Fiscal Planning Committee of the Government of the State of Uttaranchal, India, visited Sri Lanka from Oct. 1 to 4 to assess opportunities for the Forum of Federations to collaborate with World Vision Canada in designing a project on devolved governance as part of a rural integrated water, sanitation and hygiene project in Sri Lanka with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency.

 

Fiscal Federalism and the Future of Canada

The Forum of Federations was one of the organizers of the conference on Fiscal Federalism and the Future of Canada, hosted by the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations of Queen's University from Sept. 28 to 29, 2006. The Forum provided for the participation of Anwar Shah of the World Bank Institute and Dr. Wolfgang Rentsch from the University of Magdeburg, Germany, in the conference.

 

Government of Norway supports Forum work in Sri Lanka

Norway's Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs has contributed $350,000 to assist the Forum in its development assistance work in Sri Lanka. The ministry informed the Forum of the funding on Sept. 19, 2006. It is meant to cover the costs of developing a Sinhala and Tamil lexicon on federalism; to hold courses focused on models of power sharing within countries, and to translate a number of Forum publications into Sinhala and Tamil. The Forum will be carrying out these activities with the Colombo-based Centre for Policy Alternatives.

 

Inter-municipal seminar in Mexico

The Forum sent two experts to an international seminar on inter-municipal management of urban services. The seminar, hosted in Guadalajara from Aug. 28 to 31, examined mechanisms of cooperation between district and city councils that were set up to improve urban management and to boost regional development. The two international experts sent by the Forum were Sergio Favot, Mayor of Belgrado and President of the Municipal Association of Cordoba in Argentina; and Paula Ravaneli, Senior Advisor of the Interior Ministry in Brazil. The seminar was organized by the Forum's Mexican partner institution, the National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (INAFED). 

 

Iraqi journalists trained by Forum

Professor David Cameron of the University of Toronto, an expert on federalism, delivered three days of federalism training in Baghdad to about 25 Iraqi journalists and regional media representatives from Aug. 23 to Sept. 2, 2006. The training was part of a Forum governance project in Iraq funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.  Marc Lemieux, the Forum's Iraq project director, assisted in the mission.

For more information:  Forum begins governance project in Iraq

 

 


GLOBAL PROGRAMS

 

Book on legislative, executive and judicial governance published

On Oct. 25, 2006, the Forum launched its new Global Dialogue book, Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Governance in Federal Countries, edited by Katy Le Roy and Cheryl Saunders. The book is Volume Three of the Global Dialogue series.

For more information:  Forum Publications


Indian official meets Swiss to prepare for 2007 international conference

Forum Vice President Raoul Blindenbacher accompanied Mr. Amitabha Pande, the new Secretary of the Inter-State Council of India, to meet with his counterparts in the Swiss federal and cantonal governments on Oct. 16 to 17, 2006. The purpose of the meeting was for Mr. Pande to discuss the next International Conference on Federalism, which is to be hosted by India in November 2007 in New Delhi. He also met with the Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation, which is working closely with the Inter-State Council to enhance the participation of developing country experts in the conference in 2007. Switzerland hosted the 2002 conference.

 

Canadian roundtable on local governments and metropolitan regions

On Oct. 16 in London, Canada, the Global Dialogue Canadian Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries took place at the University of Western Ontario (UWO). The roundtable was co-sponsored by Infrastructure Canada and the UWO.

For more information: Canadian roundtable on local government

 

Young professionals meet in Switzerland to plan role in conference

A meeting of the Forum's Young Professionals Steering Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Federalism 2007 took place in Lilienberg, Switzerland, from Oct. 13 to 15, 2006. The committee brought together young professionals from the Forum's international network and India to plan their participation in the International Conference on Federalism 2007, which will take place in New Delhi in November 2007.

 

Forum staff member attends dispute resolution event

The Forum's Asia program manager, Rupak Chattopadhyay, participated in the seventh meeting of the Consultative Group for the Study of Intergovernmental Relations and Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Federal Democratic Countries. The meeting was organized by the Inter-State Council secretariat of the government of India on Oct. 12, 2006, in New Delhi. It was held to discuss the group's participation in the Fourth International Conference on Federalism, scheduled for Nov. 8 to Nov. 10, 2007.

 

Fiscal Federalism booklet published

A new Forum booklet giving a snapshot of fiscal federalism in 12 federal democracies is now in print. Dialogues on the Practice of Fiscal Federalism: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Raoul Blindenbacher and Abigail Ostien Karos, has just been published by the Forum and is available from McGill-Queen's University Press. The booklet, published on Aug. 1, 2006, is part of Volume Four of the Global Dialogue series. 

For more information:   Forum Publications

 


VISITORS AND HEADQUARTERS ACTIVITIES

 

Swiss students visit Forum to learn about federalism

Seventeen Swiss students visited the Forum office on Oct. 12 from the Carrefour-Suisse program of Collà¨ge Edouard-Montpetit in Montreal to learn about Canadian federalism.

 

Young professional from Spain joins Forum board

Violeta Ruiz Almendral, an Associate Professor of Tax and Finance Law in Madrid at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, became a member of the board of the Forum of Federations on Sept. 10, 2006. Ms Almendral's main area of research is fiscal federalism. She has also participated in a number of the Forum's activities including missions to Iraq and Sri Lanka and the second International Conference on Federalism, hosted by the Swiss Government and the Cantons in 2002 in St. Gallen, Switzerland. She has also written articles for Federations magazine.

 

Grassroots Federalism: Developing local government in South Africa

Mr. Coel Kirkby, a returning Forum intern in South Africa, gave a luncheon presentation on developing local government in South Africa on Sept. 6, 2006. Mr. Kirkby, a law graduate, worked for the Community Law Centre in Cape Town from September 2005 to March 2006. His tasks there included training many newly-elected local city council members.  The Centre has been crucial in helping South Africans implement democracy in the cities and towns in a nation which became a parliamentary democracy in 1996. The Centre pays special attention to the treatment of women, children and other vulnerable groups.

For more information: Forum interns in South Africa, Sri Lanka and Nigeria 2005/2006

 

COMING FORUM EVENTS

Nov. 13-19, 2006 - Abuja and Jos, Nigeria

Meetings of President George Anderson with government officials, academics and civil society from Nigeria and with diplomats from partner countries

                       

Nov. 17, 2006  -  Jos, Nigeria

Nigerian Global Dialogue Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries. Partner: Institute of Governance and Social Research

                       

Nov. 17-19, 2006- Amman, Jordan

Some of the Forum's international experts - Violeta Ruiz Almendral, David Cameron and Richard Simeon -  review a draft course curriculum on democratic federalism with representatives from Iraq universities, civil society and government.

                       

Nov. 18-30, 2006 - Khartoum and Juba, Sudan

Inaugural training and dialogue program design

                       

Dec. 1, 2006 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazilian Global Dialogue Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries. Partner: Institute for Urban Planning, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro

                       

Dec. 7-8, 2006 - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Ethiopia signing a framework arrangement with Forum. Ethiopia will become the Forum's eighth partner government.

                       

Dec. 9, 2006 - New Delhi, India

India's Global Dialogue Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries. Partner: Institute for Social Sciences, New Delhi

                       

Dec. 11-15, 2006 - Ottawa and Quebec City, Canada

Study Tour in Canada for the Fiscal Forum of the Brazilian States

                       

Dec. 21, 2006 - Bern, Switzerland

Swiss Global Dialogue Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries. Partners: Conference of Cantonal Governments, University of Lausanne

                       

Jan. 14-16, 2007- Gatineau, Canada

International Conference on Post-Secondary Education. Partner: Human Resources and Social Development Canada

 

Jan. 26, 2007- Madrid, Spain

Spanish Global Dialogue Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries. Partner: Instituto de Derecho Local

                       

Feb. 9, 2007- Sydney, Australia

Australian Global Dialogue Roundtable on Local Governments and Metropolitan Regions in Federal Countries. Partner: Centre for Local Government, University of Technology, Sydney

                       

Feb. 21-23, 2007 - New Delhi, India

Pre-conference for Fourth International Conference on Federalism 2007

                       

Nov. 8-10, 2007 - New Delhi, India        

Fourth International Conference on Federalism. Partner: Government of India