Réponse du C.C.C à la décision
de la F.C.I.
Voici la réponse du C.C.C face à
cette situation désasteuse:
"Le 30 décembre 2006, une lettre portant
la signature de M. Dwain McLean, président, au nom des membres
du Conseil d’administration du CCC, a été envoyée
à M. Hans Müller, président de la Fédération
Cynologique Internationale (FCI). La lettre a exprimé les
regrets du Conseil quant aux événements ayant mené
à la Circulaire 125 de la FCI et a affirmé que le
Conseil a pris les mesures appropriées pour s’assurer
qu’une situation aussi déplorable et embarrassante
ne se reproduira pas."
"Les trois questions soulevées par la
FCI ont été étudiées et une suite a
été adressée à chacune d’elles.
Il a été noté que le Conseil du CCC est d’accord
que le fait que les juges canadiens se présentent comme «juges
toutes races de la FCI» constitue une représentation
trompeuse des titres de compétences du CCC. Cela est inacceptable.
Le 10 décembre, le Conseil a adopté une modification
aux directives pour les juges de conformation qui interdit aux juges
du CCC de se présenter comme étant accrédités
par une organisation ou un organisme étranger agréé,
à moins d’en avoir reçu l’autorisation
expresse de l’organisme étranger en question."
"La question soulevée par la FCI concernant
la non-reconnaissance de certains pays membres de la FCI par le
Club Canin Canadien exigeait des explications plus complexes. Il
a été noté que le CCC reconnaît un grand
nombre des pays membres de la FCI et qu’en vertu des procédures
existantes, il est toujours possible d’accepter des chiens
de tous les pays membres de la FCI au registre canadien, à
condition que l’enregistrement original respecte les exigences
énoncées dans nos Règlements administratifs
et dans la Loi sur la généalogie des animaux. Il a
également été noté que, sous la direction
du Conseil, le personnel étudie actuellement les options
disponibles pouvant faciliter une reconnaissance plus étendue
des livres d’origine, tout en respectant les principes en
vertu desquels notre organe d’enregistrement fonctionne depuis
1888. Une liste de tous les livres d’origine reconnus de la
FCI a été solicitée, et lorsqu’elle sera
reçue, le CCC communiquera avec les pays membres de la FCI
qui ne fonctionnent pas actuellement selon le principe de réciprocité
avec le CCC et leur donnera les renseignements nécessaires
au développement de la réciprocité en question."
"Dans sa lettre du 30 décembre à
la FCI, le Conseil a officiellement demandé que la FCI songe
à interrompre la Circulaire 125 lors de sa prochaine réunion
(soit en mars 2007), sinon plus tôt. “This step would
be significant in re-establishing a normal dialogue between our
two organizations to the benefit of dogs and dog fanciers world
wide.” («Cette étape serait sera de grande portée
dans le rétablissement d’un dialogue normal entre les
deux organismes».)"
Malheureusement le C.C.C n'a pas fourni une
traduction de la lettre, la voici donc en anglais:
CANADIAN KENNEL CLUB
December 30, 2006
Hans Müller, President
Fédération Cynologique Internationale
13 Place Albert Ier
B – 6530 Thuin, (Belgique)
Dear Herr Müller:
We are writing concerning the recent decision of the General Committee
that was
recorded in FCI Circular 125/2006, a copy of which was officially
communicated to
the Canadian Kennel Club by letter dated November 30, 2006.
Members of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Kennel Club wish
to formally
convey to the members of the General Committee our sincere regret
for the events
that led your Committee to make this decision. While some correspondence
was
apparently never received by the CKC’s Head Office, the failure
to respond to the
correspondence that was received is inexcusable as was the failure
to bring that
correspondence to the attention of the Board of Directors. The Board
has since taken
appropriate administrative sanctions and also directed a review
of our internal office
procedures to ensure there is no repetition of such an unfortunate
and embarrassing
incident.
With the cooperation of your Executive Director, in late November,
the Chair of the
CKC Board of Directors received duplicate copies of all letters
previously sent to the
Canadian Kennel Club on behalf of the General Committee. In this
letter, we will
address the issues raised in your correspondence.
The Board of Directors met in regular session on December 9 and
10, 2006 and had
an opportunity to review the FCI correspondence.
One of the issues over which the General
Committee had expressed concern had to do with CKC judges representing
themselves as all-breed FCI judges. Our
Board fully agrees that we have not licensed CKC judges for breeds
that we do not recognize and that representation of CKC credentials
as “FCI all breed” amounts to
misrepresentation of their credentials by those judges. The fact
that this practice
involved a very small minority of our judges does not make it any
more acceptable
and the Board of Directors has taken immediate action to resolve
this concern. An
amendment to the Guidelines for Conformation Judges was adopted
by the Board on
December 10, 2006. The amendment prohibits any CKC accredited judge
from
representing himself or herself as being licensed by any foreign
accrediting body or
organization unless that judge has express permission to do so from
that body or
organization. Our judges are currently being informed of this.
The other issue raised in your correspondence
is more complex. You had asked why the
registries of certain FCI member countries were not recognized by
the Canadian Kennel Club. We do want to note that we recognize the
registries of a large number of FCI member countries. Attached to
this letter is a copy of chapter IV of our Policy and Procedures
Manual, and we refer you to Appendix 5 (p. 4:65) which sets out
the studbooks that are currently recognized by the CKC. Our procedure
for adding new stud books to that list has been in place for a number
of years and involves the
making of a request by the foreign kennel club that wishes its stud
book to be
recognized. Those requirements are explained in section P.3 of Chapter
IV.
Dogs of a recognized breed that are imported to Canada with a pedigree
certified by a
non-recognized stud book may still be registered provided the conditions
set out in the Special Regulations approved by the Canadian government’s
Department of Agriculture are met. These regulations are set out
as section F.14 of chapter IV (p. 4:17).
Under one or the other of these procedures, it has always been possible
for dogs
from all FCI member country registries to be accepted in the Canadian
registry
provided the original registration meets our By-law requirements
and those of the
Animal Pedigree Act. As directed by the Board, staff are currently
reviewing the
options open to us that could facilitate studbook recognition generally
while
respecting the principles under which our registry has operated
since 1888. One of
the options we will examine may involve reciprocity with any FCI
member country
registry. In order to explore that last option more fully, we would
need to know what
the requirements of the FCI are with respect to the registries of
member countries.
More particularly, how does the FCI ensure that the operating rules
of the registry of
each new member provide a reasonable assurance as to the accuracy
and integrity
of the registry and the pedigrees it issues?
The Canadian Kennel Club is incorporated and operates under the
authority of the
federal Animal Pedigree Act and of by-laws that are adopted by the
members of the
CKC, subject to the approval of the Minister of Agriculture and
Agri-Food. In the
conduct of its registry operations, the CKC must abide by the principles
of the Act
and the requirements of the By-laws. We also attach to this letter
an excerpt from a
Manual issued by the responsible federal department that sets out
guidelines for the
recognition of foreign registries, including the criteria under
which full, partial and
conditional recognition may be granted.
We expect that a great many of the FCI members’ stud books
are not recognized
simply because the kennel club involved has not asked for recognition,
perhaps due
to a lack of information concerning the procedure involved. If we
could be given a list
of contacts for all FCI clubs, the CKC is prepared to send a circular
letter inviting
those kennel clubs to provide the information that is required under
current policy.
Upon receipt of that information, we would be in a position to respond
to those
requests on a priority basis.
While we have every intention of continuing to work on updating
our procedures, we
also have a responsibility to ensure that any change we make does
not weaken the
integrity and value of the CKC registry and of the pedigrees it
issues. We must also
ensure that any revision to our procedures is compliant with national
legislative
requirements. This imposes certain constraints on us that other
organizations may
not have to contend with.
Turning back to the decision which your Committee felt compelled
to take at its
October 2006 meeting, it has produced serious consequences not only
for our judges
but for breeders and fanciers, their gene pools and their dogs,
in Canada as well as
in FCI member countries. We trust the General Committee recognizes
that restricting the flow of international exchanges is ultimately
not in the best interests
of dogs. At a time where genetic diversity is becoming ever more
important to
ensure the health and development of breeds, any measure that restricts
the free
international trade of dogs is counterproductive and harmful in
the long term.
From conversations that CKC representatives had with some members
of your
Committee and your Executive Director in Long Beach, California
in late November,
we understand that the General Committee is scheduled to meet in
March 2007. By
this letter, we would formally request that the Committee give consideration
to a
suspension of its previous decision on that occasion if not earlier.
This would be a
significant step in re-establishing a normal dialogue between our
two organizations
to the benefit of dogs and dog fanciers world-wide.
We thank you for your attention and in closing, we once again apologize
for the
distressing lack of communication that apparently led you to adopt
that decision. We
are confident you did so reluctantly having in mind the significant
repercussions,
both economic and personal, of this decision for so many fanciers
both here and in
the countries you represent. We trust we can proceed to re-establish
a dialogue
between our two organizations and resume normal discourse as soon
as possible.
Dwain McLean, Chair
Director, New Brunswick & Prince Edward Island
Lee Steeves, Director
Nova Scotia & Newfoundland and Labrador
François-R. Bernier, Director Québec
John Hodgkinson, Director Ontario East
Kim Ramey-Leblanc, Director Ontario North
Alan Bennett, Director Ontario West
Allan Pepper, Director Ontario Central
Geraldine R. Taylor, Director Manitoba
John Werle, Director Saskatchewan
Anita Cairns, Director Alberta, NWT & Nunavut
Margaret Jones, Director British Columbia Southwest
James Campbell, Director British Columbia Interior & Yukon
c .c.: Yves De Clercq, Executive Director
Encls.
|