Sample Letter to Support Democracy

Here is the text of a letter that I sent to our Area and Council Commissioners. Feel free to copy, modify, bend, staple or fold to suit your needs

—Scouter Ted

Dear Scouter,

I support the initiative of our Chief Commissioner, Mike Scott, (see his letter http://scouts.ca/inside.asp?cmPageID=619) concening how the democratic deficit in Scouts Canada might be addressed and rectified. He has appointed Keith Martin, Scouts Canada Board of Governors member from British Columbia to prepare a report and recommendations to the Board The membership needs to have a say in who becomes Area and Council Commissioner and those who get to be the three Voting-members from our Council on the National Council. We need a democratic process in place so that the membership can have real influence over the selection of those who will occupy these important positions. Scouting is a movement, it works from the grass roots. The World Organization of the Scout Movement says:

A voluntary movement depends upon participation of all its members, ... in the decision-making process. As part-owners, or "stakeholders" in the Movement, they must be actively involved in managing its affairs in a democratic manner. (The Essential Characteristics of Scouting, page 26.)

WOSM also said it most plainly in a resolution adopted at the 1993 World Scout Conference in Bangkok: "Scouting is a movement based on democratic principles."

I am urging you to support the initiative of our Chief Commissioner to address the current democratic deficit.