Canadian Coalition for Democracies
The Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD) was a Canadian political action organization that advocated greater support for
The CCD strove to maintain a non-partisan, issue-oriented approach to its objectives. Its Executive Director was a former Conservative Party aide and its founders included two future Conservative cabinet ministers, but its founders also included a number of lifelong Liberal party supporters.
CCD was formed in 2003 as a result of a number of perceived stumbles by the then-Liberal government in its foreign policies and its approach to the US government, culminating in demonstrations organized in Canada by supporters of the
Omar Alghabra controversy
The group made news in 2005 when it accused federal Liberal candidate
Pro-Israel advocacy
The CCD placed particular emphasis on calling for the
Pro-India advocacy
The CCD also promoted greater support for India; in 2004 then-Executive Director Naresh Raghubeer penned an opinion piece advocating that India be given a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.[3].
The CCD also supported India's claims to Kashmir and successfully advocated for Canada to establish a trade office in
Other issues
CCD advocated that Canada take a hard line against countries such as Iran and North Korea, and supported continued Canadian involvement in Afghanistan.
It was also vocal in its opposition to the
In 2006, the CCD organized a demonstration in support of Denmark against criticism for publishing cartoons depicting Muhammad.[5]
The CCD generally supported the policies of the Conservative Party government of Stephen Harper, and the organization's leadership has urged its members to view support for the Conservative Party of Canada as equivalent to support for Israel. When it finds fault with Conservative policy, as for example it did when Canada did not change its votes significantly on fall 2006 UN General Assembly resolutions relating to Israel and the Middle East conflict, the CCD issued a press release that was critical but that avoided any of the more strident rhetoric directed against the Liberals.
Membership
Among the supporters of CCD was Canadian cabinet minister, Conservative
CCD founder and former executive director Naresh Raghubeer is a former aide to former Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP and federal Conservative Party candidate Raminder Gill. Raghubeer was formerly National Policy Director of the Canada India Foundation.
The CCD's Senior Fellows were
References
- ^ "CCD Regrets Errors in its December 19 Press Release". Archived from the original on 2008-03-28. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
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: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Membership Form". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24.