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Revision as of 04:51, 6 April 2008

Scouts Canada
File:Canada Scouts.svg
Headquarters1345 Baseline Road
LocationOttawa
CountryCanada
FoundedOctober 30, 1946
Membership84,971[1]
Chief ScoutMichaëlle Jean
Chief CommissionerGlenn Armstrong
Website
http://www.scouts.ca
 Scouting portal

Scouts Canada is a Canadian Scouting association that, in affiliation with the French-language Association des Scouts du Canada, is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Scouts Canada provides programmes for young people, male and female, ages 5 to 26.

Program

File:ScoutsYorkminster.jpg
Canoeing, Scouts Canada, Toronto Troop, 1st Yorkminster, Toronto Ontario, 1978. Photo by Wayne Ray.

Program sections

Scouts Canada has five program sections:

Programs are open to males and females.

Special Programs

  • MedVents (Medical Venturers) is a new program that consists of Venturers and Rovers that learn and provide first-aid.[2]

Short-term Programs

  • SCOUTSabout

The SCOUTSabout program aims to fulfill Scouting's mission with those children who are not members of a Scouting organization.[3] SCOUTSabout is implemented in 3-month long modules, often after school, to appeal to those families who do not want or can not commit to year-round activities.[3][4] Theme based, the focus is on structured play and learning by doing without uniforms, badge programs and ceremonies.[3][4] SCOUTSabout is for children between 5 and 10 years old.[3][4]

  • Extreme Adventure

Extreme Adventure offers the opportunity for young people aged from 14 to 17, to plan and participate in a variety of short-term adventure-based activities.[4] Example activities are: hiking, long-term camping and travelling abroad to participate in humanitarian projects.[4] The program seeks to realise Scouting's mission with non-members.[3] There is no uniform and are no ceremonies associated with this program.[3] It is designed to include development of leadership skills and self-esteem and the particiaption in community projects that is also offered through the ordinary programs.[3] Extreme Adventure is based on the Venture Amory Adventure Award concept.[3]

Major Awards

Scouts Canada has several major awards:

  • The Chief Scout's Award was established in 1973 as the top award in the Scout section.
  • The Queen's Venturer Award is the top award in the Venturer section. In 1968, the normal upper age for members of the Scout section was reduced from 17 to 14 and the Venturer section was created for ages 14-17. As part of these changes, Queen's Scout rank was replaced with the Queen's Venturer Award.
  • The Amory Adventure Award is awarded to the Venturer company that exhibits the most initiative in conceiving, planning, and executing an outdoor adventure.

Badge Program

The Scout emblem incorporates the maple leaf of the flag of Canada with two sticks to create a stylized campfire.

Main articles: Scouts Canada Cub Badges and Scouts Canada Scout Badges

Camps

Scouts Canada runs the Canadian Scout Jamboree (also known as "CJ"). The most recent Jamboree was CJ'07.

Scouts Canada operates about 200 Scout camps across Canada.[5] Well-known camps include Impeesa Extreme, Haliburton Scout Reserve and Tamaracouta Scout Reserve. The Tamaracouta Scout Reserve is the oldest continually operating Scout camp in the world.

History

In the spring of 1908, just months after the book Scouting for Boys was published in England, Scouting came to Canada. Robert Baden-Powell wrote to Earl Grey, then Governor General of Canada, in 1910 to ask him to organize Scouting in Canada. Scouting was carried on as part of The Boy Scouts Association Overseas Department until The Canadian General Council of the Boy Scout Association was incorporated by an Act of the Canadian Parliament on June 12, 1914. The Canadian General Council continued to be a branch of the Boy Scout Association until October 30, 1946, when it became an independent member of the Boy Scout World Conference, now the World Organization of the Scout Movement. A subsequent amendment to the Act of Parliament changed the name to Boy Scouts of Canada. In 1976 the Scouts Canada logo was introduced and the organization, by its By-laws, adopted the name Scouts Canada. In 2007 The Boy Scouts of Canada legally changed its name to Scouts Canada.[6]

In 1972, Scouts Canada began accepting female members as part of its Rover Section. This was expanded in 1984 to include the Venturer Section. In 1992, co-ed Scouting was an option for all program sections and became policy for all sections in 1998.

Organization

Scouts Canada is divided into twenty Councils, each representing a whole province or large part thereof. Each Council is headed by a Council Commissioner appointed by the Executive Commissioner (the top staff member reporting to the Board of Governors). Councils are divided into Areas, each headed by an Area Commissioner appointed by the Council Commissioner.[7]

Scouts Canada has two affiliated Scout associations:

Canada is the only country with more than one Scouting association separately recognized by WOSM. Scouts Canada and Association des Scouts du Canada are divided by language. Some other countries have more that one Scouting association but they sometimes form a national federation to receive joint WOSM membership. Scouts Canada and Association des Scouts du Canada send a joint delegation to meetings of the World Organization of the Scout Movement; this is coordinated through the Committee on Cooperation.

Every Governor General since Earl Grey has been either the Chief Scout for Canada (prior to 1946) or Chief Scout of Canada (after 1946).

Jamborees

Canadian Scout Jamboree

A Venture Scout receives an award at the 4th Pentathlon Jamboree Fredericton, New Brunswick in 1976.

The Canadian Scout Jamboree or CJ is a jamboree run by Scouts Canada for members of the Scout and Venturer sections. The Jamboree is well known on the international Scouting scene, and will usually have several groups from other countries attending, most notable from the United States. The CJ that would normally have been held in 2005 was cancelled shortly after CJ'01 due to concerns about volunteer burnout. In 2004, CJ'07 was announced. CJ'07 is the first CJ planned to be held at a Scout camp.

List of Jamborees

World Jamborees held in Canada

Issues

Since the late 1960s, Scouts Canada has suffered from ongoing membership decline in all sections and among adults, especially in the transition between Cubs and Scouts. During this transition, Scouting's market share drops from between ten and fifteen percent of young people to less than two percent.

Scouts Canada's 2006 Annual Report, published in November, 2006, reported an unfunded pension liability of over $5.8 million, other liabilities totaling 3.364 million (including bank indebtedness of $904,000). There is a reported operating surplus of $102,000 and restricted funds on hand of $641,000.[8] It appears to some people that Scouts Canada is turning its finances around[9]

Scouts Canada conducted a property review in Ontario which concluded that 30 camps should be sold. The Scouts Canada Ontario Incorporated Body stated that they rated the camps against the following criteria: (1) usage level; (2) financial viability (cost of running property versus income from the property); (3) compliance with environmental, health and safety standards; (4) needs and wants of members (the outcome from youth and volunteer questionnaires); (5) facilities; (6) program resources; (7) program opportunities; (8) property features; (9) availability; (10) capacity; and (11) future direction. Camps were given an opportunity to appeal this decision by showing how they would meet these standards. After the appeal process was completed, the Incorporated Body decided that 14 pieces of property would be sold or that the leases would be given up,[10] usually without the agreement of the local Scouting members who use and maintain the property.[11]

Some members of Scouts Canada are upset with Scouts Canada's governance structure, which does not include any elections in which the membership may take part. In response, Scouter Mike Reid from Montreal, Quebec founded in August, 2004 a committee called SCOUT eh! which is a group of "registered Scouts Canada members from across Canada dedicated to transforming Scouts Canada into a democratic association".[12]

In 1998, the Baden-Powell Scouts (BPSA) were established in Canada, rejecting the modernization of the Scout method by WOSM and Scouts Canada. Scouts Canada challenged the association and successfully argued that the word "Scout", in the context of a youth organization, is a trademark held by Scouts Canada.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Scouts Canada Membership 2007-2008" (PDF). Scouts Canada. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  2. ^ Scouts Canada - Official National Web Site: Rovers vow to serve and protect
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Francis, Ross (June/July 2002). "It's All About Mission" (PDF). The Leader. pp. 8–9. Retrieved 2007-03-05. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c d e "Short-term Programs". Scouts Canada. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
  5. ^ Scout Camps Directory - ScoutDocs
  6. ^ Scouts Canada Act
  7. ^ Boy Scouts of Canada - By-law No. 2
  8. ^ Scouts Canada - Official National Web Site: Annual Report
  9. ^ Scouts Canada - Official National Web Site: Annual Report
  10. ^ Scouts Canada - Official National Web Site: Scouts Canada Ontario Property Review Concluded: 14 Identified for Disposal
  11. ^ Scouts Canada Can't Sell Peacehaven Scout Camp... They Don't Own It! - SCOUT eh!
  12. ^ SCOUT eh!
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