Small steps

About 3 months ago I posted my criticisms about the leadership of CFI Canada. A little debate ensued and then the issue essentially died as I ran into school and focussed less on it.

In mid-October Justin Trottier issued his formal response on behalf of CFI Canada, by means of his blog ironically (considering it isn’t CFI affiliated, but I’ll admit the optics are better putting it there than on the front page of http://cficanada.ca).

The best news out of this is the following (long overdue, but that’s Canada’s system of red-tape):

As proof of how far we have come, I am pleased to announce the Centre for Inquiry is now a charitable organization in Canada and ready to issue tax receipts.

He also removed his blog postings from his Facebook profile, which further separates CFI from his men’s rights views.

Unfortunately, my concerns about the democratic nature are left unaddressed, however, it’s well worth noting that each CFI branch in Canada tends to operate as a self-directed organization. This means that CFI Vancouver (or Calgary or Montreal) almost entirely run themselves, and have access to the resources of the CFI umbrella.

CFIs board remains unelected, and I see that remaining as is for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile Humanist Canada’s elected board has undergone some internal strife recently that culminated in the resignation of board president Pat O’Brien (who spoke at the BC Humanist board meeting a couple weeks ago). I’ll avoid the gossipy details since I didn’t take notes.

Humanist Canada has kept an elected board for years, however, with declining active membership, their board essentially becomes election by acclamation (which is hardly different then appointments anyway).

In the new year I’ll likely be actively involved in both Humanist Canada and CFI Canada, and advocating for greater cooperation between both groups for the good of freethought in Canada.