Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association (CANA)

The Bureau of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is composed of the President, five Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, and the Secretary General. It meets three times per year prior to the Standing Committee meetings and can hold additional meetings if deemed necessary.

The Bureau’s main function is to ensure the overall guidance and coherence of the Assembly’s policies and activities in the interval between meetings of the Standing Committee; it also acts as the “first responder” when internal or external events require a decision or statement by the Assembly.

The Standing Committee is the Assembly’s governing body. It consists of one member from each member country (normally the Head of delegation). Each delegation can also appoint one non-voting alternate member. However, each country is only given one vote.

The Standing Committee performs a wide range of both political and administrative tasks. It determines the rights and obligations of non-member delegations and evaluates applications for non-member status which, if approved, are forwarded for the consideration of the full Assembly. It coordinates the overall work of the Assembly: it must approve all planned meetings and provides guidance to the committees on the treatment of subjects to avoid duplication and ensure that the overall work of the Assembly is coordinated. The Standing Committee also serves as the Assembly’s finance committee.

The Bureau of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly is composed of the President, five Vice-Presidents, the Treasurer, and the Secretary General. It meets three times per year prior to the Standing Committee meetings and can hold additional meetings if deemed necessary.

The Bureau’s main function is to ensure the overall guidance and coherence of the Assembly’s policies and activities in the interval between meetings of the Standing Committee; it also acts as the “first responder” when internal or external events require a decision or statement by the Assembly.

The Joint Committee meetings held in Brussels in February each year bring together the Assembly’s Defence and Security, Economics and Security and Political Committees and the officers from Science and Technology Committee and Democracy and Security Committee. The meetings are for member delegations only and their main purpose is to meet senior NATO officials in an off-the record format. During the February Meetings, the Standing Committee meets with NATO’s North Atlantic Council.

Several members of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association joined parliamentarians from other NATO countries to participate in a virtual meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council (UNIC). Ukranian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Perebyinis and Major General Oleksandr Kyrylenko, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, addressed the participants. Both speakers spoke about recent events in Ukraine, such as the military counteroffensive carried out by Ukraine's armed forces in some of the country's northeastern and southern regions. As well, they called for continued political, economic and military support from NATO countries towards Ukraine, while highlighting the need to increase political and economic pressure on Russia.

Since 2003, UNIC has provided an essential forum for members of parliament from the Alliance and from Ukraine to exchange on all aspects of Ukraine’s cooperation with NATO.