Fletcher attends community of democracies fifth ministerial conference in Lisbon

July 14, 2009

(July 14, 2009) Winnipeg – Steven Fletcher, Canada’s Minister of State for Democratic Reform recently represented Canada at the Fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Community of Democracies in Lisbon, Portugal to reinforce Canada’s commitment to advancing democratic values abroad.

“Canada’s Government is strongly committed to supporting democracy, human rights and the rule of law around the world,” said Fletcher. “The initiative to create a new non-partisan democracy promotion agency builds on our current efforts in this area by supporting the development of broad-based, democratic political parties.”

Founded in 2000, The Community of Democracies is an intergovernmental organization of democratic countries that is committed to strengthening democratic values around the world, with a focus on engaging civil society actors in the process.

At the Lisbon conference Minister Fletcher attended a roundtable session on the impact of the world economic crisis on democratic development and also held several bilateral meetings with representatives from foreign democracy institutes and other NGOs.
 
“I appreciated the opportunity to meet with experts on democracy assistance and government officials to share Canada’s commitment to take on a more active role in supporting democracy on the world stage,” said Fletcher.