ICC Charter of

 
Values and Principles

This document lays out the values and principles to be adopted by all members and volunteers of the Iranian Canadian Congress (hereafter ICC). The Charter is organized in two sections. The first section covers five key values embraced by ICC: Unity, Non-partisanship, Inclusiveness, Transparency, Empowerment (UNITE). These values can be materialized if and only if the five principles, presented in the second section, are closely followed.

Values

1.      Unity: ICC should make it its highest priority to uphold unity within its membership (and the larger community) and avoid divisive policies and activities on which Iranian Canadians have fundamental differences.

2.      Non-partisanship: ICC should stay completely neutral towards political parties and governmental entities. ICC can take a position on an issue, but it should always strike a balance between different views and give the highest priority to neutrality and the unity of the community.

3.      Inclusiveness: ICC should be inclusive of all Iranian Canadians irrespective of their political affiliation or beliefs or any other differentiating factor such as religious or ethnic background or sexual orientation.

4.      Transparency: ICC should conduct its business with full transparency toward its membership and the larger community. The membership should have full access to important information such as the membership list, meeting minutes, financial reports and decision-making procedures.

5.      Empowerment: ICC should empower its members by recognizing them as the owners of the organization and finding ways to make its various governing bodies accountable to them.

Principles:

1.      ICC is a Canadian institution. As such, taking a position on any issue that involves Iranian domestic or foreign affairs, even indirectly, is outside its mandate. Under exceptional circumstance, where ICC has to approach such issues, it should do so with the unity of the community in mind and in compliance with the values and principles stated here.

2.      ICC should do its best to give equal priority to all aspects of the lives of Iranian Canadians, namely cultural, economic, political and social, and should shy away from placing too much emphasis on one of these areas at the expense of the others. 

3.      ICC’s approach to political issues should be one which is inclusive of the various views represented by its diverse membership. When ICC needs to address a need of the community which may be potentially divisive, it should rely on the collective wisdom of its diverse membership and attempt to build consensus on a middle ground which is acceptable to all opposing views.

4.      ICC should rely on a diverse advisory committee with representation from opposing views to help the Board of Directors find peaceful solutions to difficult and potentially divisive issues. The advisory board should be regularly consulted by the Board on important issues.

5.      ICC should adhere to full accountability towards its membership and develop measures for its continuous implementation and assessment.