A narrow 6-5 decision by Vancouver's city council earlier this month to cut funding for components of the World Peace Forum has sparked outrage across the country.
"We have people who have already booked tickets; we have people who have already applied for visas to come to Canada for this event. It is profoundly embarrassing," councillor David Cadman told The Epoch Times .
While it appears possible that the forums may face cancellation, organizers of the Peace Forum continue to seek out alternative sources of funding before making any further decisions.
Last March, Vancouver's previous council unanimously passed a resolution for funding $50,000 to host the International Association of Peace Messenger Cities (IAPMC) and Mayors for Peace. Former mayor Larry Campbell had earlier invited the two organizations to hold their events alongside the World Peace Forum, taking place in Vancouver this June. $150,000 was also secured for the Peace Forum. The new council, headed by Mayor Sam Sullivan, cut the $50,000 two weeks ago.
"We are facing some very tough decisions in the 2006 budget process and I was not prepared to put Vancouver taxpayers on the hook for additional costs," said Sullivan after the cut.
Mayors for Peace is an organization made up of 2000 mayors from around the world calling for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020. The annual Peace Messenger Cities, a separate organization, focuses on establishing a culture of peace within municipalities. Vancouver is one of its founding members.
The World Peace Forum is a first—a consolidation of many organizations working towards ending war and building peace. The IAPMC and Mayors meetings were to provide much of the content. An estimated five to ten thousand people are expected to participate.
According to the new mayor, no comprehensive plan or budget for the events was available when he took office in December 2005. The mayor then asked city staff to develop a budget.
The report, dated January 23, 2006, concluded that hosting would cost roughly $200,000, plus additional costs for security.
"Totally bogus," says city councillor Cadman.
According to Cadman, the IAPMC has clearly communicated what the past three conferences have cost—always within $50,000. When the mayor asked Cadman for information about the conference, he says he promptly gave the city a file, which was subsequently 'lost'.
The city report states $27,000 is needed in staffing, as well as $15,000 for use of the Plaza of Nations. But according to Cadman, the conferences "don't need to be attended to by large numbers of staff," and the Plaza of Nations had agreed to allow the use of its space for free. Furthermore, the conferences are not expected to be controversial and are unlikely to need policing.
"So the object of the exercise from the get-go was to inflate the budget, say it wasn't provided correctly for, and therefore we can't host these people in the manner they should be hosted, and therefore we're cancelling it and withdrawing the invitation."
Mayor Sullivan offered to have the city host a scaled-down half-day meeting, to stay within $50,000. IAPMC president Alfred Marder refused.
Cadman continues, "Marder said, 'We've been planning this annual meeting for two years in Vancouver. You can't simply ignore us and then call one day and say 'fly in from around the world for a half-day meeting and dinner, and then leave.'"
Marder has written four letters to Mayor Sullivan and has asked to speak with him by phone. Sullivan has not responded as of the time of this article.
When he was still a city councillor, Sullivan voted in favour of funding the peace forum, and again last November for an $8000 deposit securing the hotel.
Jef Keighley, executive director of the World Peace Forum, told The Epoch Times that one of their main goals is to raise public consciousness. "My bet is that the vast majority of Canadians have never heard of either organization, but if they did, they'd be saying 'What a good idea!' and going to their own city councillors and saying, 'How come our city isn't participating in this as well?'"
For David Cadman, last year's IAPMC conference in Slovenia was an eye-opener. Representatives from war-torn areas of Yugoslavia sat down and talked openly to each other.
"I think that this is what this organization is all about. It's people coming together and meeting on a common basis of dealing with the same problems, and trying to prevent the peace from being broken."
Cadman believes that when it comes time to provide the next $50,000 instalment to the forum, the city may not feel obliged to uphold its commitment.
"People from around the world have been emailing and they are simply shocked. They cannot believe that it has to do with the money. I think it is doing more negative damage to the reputation of this city than [the council] can possibly estimate or understand."
Jef Keighley mentioned that one man from Ontario was so appalled at the funding cut, he sent him an email stating that he was prepared to give $10,000 to make sure the Peace Messengers could come to Vancouver.
"We are looking at ways to try and get the city of Vancouver to reconsider. We're hopeful we can get that sober second thought."
The mayor's office did not return calls from the Epoch Times by the time of this report.
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