Canada PoliticsCanada’s Ukraine observers involved in pay dispute: report
The Harper government is being accused of short-changing a group of Canadian observers — currently in Ukraine — to monitor that embattled country's up-coming presidential election.
Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Canada would send approximately 500 observers, 150 of which to participate in the Organization for Security Co-operation (OSCE)'s contingent.
An advance group of 15 — facilitated by CANADEM, a non-profit organization that deploys Canadians around the world for democracy building assignments — are embroiled in a dispute of how much they should be getting paid for their service. According to the Toronto Star, new rules "reduce their financial compensation by two-thirds."
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That has some observers — who are already in Ukraine — accusing Ottawa of reneging on their promise and complaining that they might have to pay out-of-pocket.
Who's to blame for the 'mix-up' is up for debate.
The Star says that CANADEM is blaming Foreign Affairs.
CANADEM Executive Director Paul LaRose-Edwards apologized to the group in an email obtained by the Star, saying, “We are as caught out as you.” The initial agreement, he wrote, was based on “verbal communication” and an email exchange with officials at Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD).
“We mistakenly relied on (the government promises),” LaRose-Edwards wrote. “And despite our sustained efforts to get a legal confirmation, DFATD is now saying no.
The Department has a different characterization.
"CANADEM’s email to stakeholders is misleading and unfortunate, and the head of the organization acknowledged to DFATD officials last week that this payment error was their mistake," a spokesperson from DFATD told Yahoo Canada News in an email exchange.
"The provisions for reimbursement was clearly stated in the contribution agreement with CANADEM before observers were deployed, and this was further clarified with the organization two weeks ago. As is standard practice, travel expenses are reimbursable up to the National Joint Council Travel Directives.
"Both CANADEM and the Forum of Federations, who directs CANEOM, are receiving funding from the Government of Canada to do important election observation work in Ukraine. This is a pivotal time for all Ukrainians, and we are proud to support them in strengthening their democracy."
Yahoo Canada News did reach out to Mr. Larose-Edwards for a response to the DFATD email. As of press time, we had not received a response.
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CANADEM and DFATD had a split, of sorts, last week.
While CANADEM is involved in the Ukraine's OSCE contingent, they failed to win the contract to organize Canada's main contribution of observers despite having done so in 2004, 2010, 2012 and 2013.
Larose-Adams told CBC News that he was "very disappointed" about that.
The Ukraine presidential elections take place on May 25th.
(Photo courtesy of The Canadian Press)
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