DIALOGUE CANADA

RAPPORT DU PRÉSIDENT    2003    PRESIDENT'S REPORT
Jon Legg, Dialogue Canada

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Bonjour chers membres de DC,

I would like to thank you very much for coming to today's meeting. Your presence, in spite of the good weather, and in spite of the relatively good state of Canadian unity, is a good sign, as far as I am concerned.

I interpret your presence as a steady concern for the state of our federation, that is, a concern that continues in spite of the fact that, for the moment, there is a federalist government in Quebec City. Your healthy concern, perhaps the word "vigilance" is a good one to use here, is shared by the members of your Board.

Mon rapport concernant le travail de votre conseil d'administration sera assez court. Nous avons accompli sept choses qui méritent votre attention :

Premièrement, nous nous sommes réunis une fois chaque mois pour discuter des questions qui pourraient affecter l'unité du Canada. Ces discussions sont fascinantes, mais mieux encore, elles nous aident à mieux comprendre la situation. Nous sommes ainsi mieux préparés pour intervenir et favoriser une meilleure compréhension de la part de nos concitoyens.

Sometimes the discussions are the product of the knowledge of some of our Board members. Recently, for example, we learned of the serious potential pitfalls lying in wait for the Charest government because of the dis-amalgamation (défusion) question. Any development that might seriously affect the credibility of the Charest government is of course of concern, since we obviously prefer a federalist government in Quebec City to a sovereignist one.

Secondly, we contributed $700.00 to the federalist Internet organization, "uni.ca" as a help to prevent their going under financially. The fact is that we count on this sister organization to keep our own website on the Net, and we have never contributed to them before. You can be pleased, in my view, that some of your past membership contributions have been contributed to a good cause. You might be interested to know that the Encyclopedia Britannica rated uni.ca as the best website in existence on Canadian federal-provincial questions. Even more impressive, Le Devoir, a newspaper with a clearly sovereignist bent, has rated uni.ca, a clearly federalist website, in an equally complimentary way.

Troisièmement, nous avons tenu le site web de DC à jour, avec l'aide de nos amis de uni.ca, et nous avons ajouté un texte intéressant au Livre des Citoyens, qui apparaît sur le site. Il s'agit d'un texte de Benoît Pelletier, ministre québécois délégué aux Affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes et aux Affaires autochtones.

Je vous signale que vous trouverez notre site en cliquant sur " uni.ca " ; notre site vous sera évident dès que la page d'ouverture s'ouvrira.

Fourthly, we have started the process of getting back some or all of the funds that are in the bank account of a former chapter of DC. The full amount there is about $5,000.00, as I recall, and we believe that our Board of Directors should have control of it.

Cinquièmement, nous avons réussi à réviser les statuts et règlements de DC.

Sixth, we have had the pleasure of welcoming new members onto our Board. This is a very welcome development. New ideas are essential for the continuing vitality of the Board.

Seventh, and last, we have placed all the past records of DC with Canada's National Archives, thus ensuring that they are in safe hands, and will available to future historians. Your Board will ensure that it will continue to have access to these records.

Maintenant, j'invite vos questions, vos commentaires, et vos suggestions.