March has become a very significant month for me. On the 5th my mother, who died in 2009 following a 16-month battle with ovarian cancer, would have had her 61st birthday. March 8 marks International Women's Day. Both of these occasions provoke reflection on who my mother was and the ideals she spent her too short life fighting to uphold.

Growing up, I remember a running joke. She would ask me to take out the garbage or mow the lawn. I would say "why don't you do it?" to which she replied "because that's men's work." I would tease by declaring her a "fairweather feminist." The characterization could not be further from the truth.

The new coalition government in the UK is expediting efforts to mark a differentiation from its predecessor. In regards to foreign policy, the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs William Hague has identified human rights as the "irreducible core" in his initial speech of a four-part series intended to outline the new government's priorities and approach.

Below is the short talk which I presented discussing Canada's prior leadership role and current stance on R2P. What was so striking was the response and affirmation from the NGO presence at the conference in terms of effects Canada's change in policy has had on the sector's operational capacity. As an example, Noel Morada, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for R2P discussed his puzzlement at how Canada went from a principle funder of his Centre to a non-contributor. Sapna Chhatpar Considine, Deputy-Director of the International Coalition for R2P expressed similar sentiments.

Before providing coverage on the conference proceedings I would like to address a few of the comments responding to my last post. Also through my response I'll have the opportunity to address some key issues which have been discussed over the last two days.

I'm encouraged to see people taking interest in this issue as they should. What is apparent and lamentable by the commentary is that there exists a wide gap between reactionary assumption being propelled from a western perspective and the realities of what the concept of R2P actually encompasses and how it is received by different regions.

The International Conference on the Responsibility to Protect is scheduled to get underway this evening with an opening reception hosted by André Nollkaemper, Chair of the conference and professor of Public International Law at the faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam.

Before things get too far underway, I'd like to highlight some of the expertise and variety of presenters at the conference.

The international Conference on the Responsibility to Protect is two days away from beginning in Linkoping, Sweden and anticipation is building. For international observers, 2010 makers the five year anniversary since the adoption of the concept of R2P during the United Nations' World Summitin 2005.

Since the announcement of a Memorandum of Understanding between New Brunswick and Quebec to sell the majority of NB Power to Hydro Quebec it has been near impossible to turn on the radio, watch the local news, or read the local papers without some mention of the sale - and the public's reaction.

More than simply ingesting this news, New Brunswickers are responding, en mass, by organizing protests, writing letters to MLAs and newspapers, participating in phone ins, and creating Facebook groups in an effort to have their views heard and included.

Last night the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission hosted a panel discussion on pay equity issues in New Brunswick. Panel members included representatives from government, the NGO sector, an academic and a practicing labour and employment lawyer.

This effort by the Commission should be applauded, as the initiative was successful in providing a forum to discuss pay equity with participants, as well as, attract attention to the issue from local media. It is events such as these, in accordance with the Commission's educational mandate, which are so often overshadowed by the highly demanding complaints investigation and resolution functions of the Commission. Nevertheless, the important of educational initiatives should not be neglected.

Having researched and written on this issue for the last three years, it comes as no surprise that questions are once again being raised in the House of Commons regarding the tactics which have been and are being employed in handling Canadian captured Afghan detainees.

Nonetheless, the narrow scope in which the issue is being examined tends to mitigate the original circumstances that laid the foundation for these abuses to take place.

Two bills were introduced this week which focus on enhancing police powers regarding the monitoring and collection of telecommunications and digital information.

While the mainstream media has provided coverage of the bills (CBC, Globe and Mail) and explained their implications, there is a serious need to stress the violations of the right to privacy this legislation proposes.