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The Canadian Parliamentary Delegation to the Meeting of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) held in Balaclava, Mauritius, from March 14 to 16, 2013, has the honour to present its report. Composed of the Hon. Pierre De Bané, Senator and Chair of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee, and Robert Aubin, Member, the delegation was accompanied by François Michaud, Executive Secretary of the Canadian Branch. The following branches were represented: Belgium / Federation Wallonia-Brussels, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, France, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Jura, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger and Quebec. The Hon. Senator Pierre De Bané, Chair of the Parliamentary Affairs Committee of the APF, opened the meeting by warmly thanking the Mauritius Branch and the entire Mauritius team who worked hard to ensure the meeting’s success. The members of the Committee present, the Committee unanimously adopted the agenda and the minutes of the last Committee meeting in Brussels in June 2012. Senator De Bané then presented the Chair’s report and gave members a vivid and comprehensive overview of the Francophonie. Political party financing Carole Poirier, Member (Quebec), and Gérard Bila Segda, Member (Burkina Faso), presented their draft report on political party financing, a follow-up report to the one on political nomadism. The report describes the situation in the following nine countries/states: Canada (federal), Federation Wallonia-Brussels, France, Greece, Moldova, Monaco, Quebec, Romania and the Aosta Valley. Robert Aubin, Member, congratulated the rapporteurs and asked whether any consideration was given to a multi-party system vs. a two-party system, for example with respect to the role of financing. Civil status and democracy Michèle André, Senator (France), presented her report on civil status and democracy. The report argues that if a birth is not registered an individual cannot exist. Decentralized cooperation in the francophone world Martine Bondo, Senator (Gabon), and Martin Nyonyo Balikwisha, Senator (Democratic Republic of Congo), presented their report, which deals with this new area of international relations. Senator Nyonyo spoke, among other things, about the donations from Vancouver firefighters. Life of assemblies in the francophone world: parliamentary procedure and practice Michèle André, Senator (France), presented the final report on parliamentary procedure and practice, which will be officially presented at the annual session in Abidjan in July 2013. Presentation by Jean Claude Gervais Raoul de L’Estrac, Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Commission Jean Claude Gervais Raoul de L’Estrac, Secretary General of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), presented his commission, which represents Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Comoros and France (Reunion). Twenty million people live in this area, which includes five million square kilometres of ocean. The European Union, which has development programs for regional economic cooperation organizations, funds 70% of the IOC. Robert Aubin, Member, asked a question concerning rising sea levels following global warming and its impact on the region. Statement by the Hon. Pierre de Bané (Canada), Chair, on the follow-up to the brief to better understand the OIF, its missions, its programs, its funding and its cooperation with the APF Senator De Bané discussed the Canadian Branch’s initiative, as well as the history and highlights of the OIF within the Parliamentary Affairs Committee and the General Committee of the APF. The Parliamentary Affairs Committee unanimously called for this point to be added to the General Committee meeting in Abidjan in July, with the brief and the report of Richard Flageole to be distributed beforehand. Parliamentary seminars and training courses Louis Vlavonou, Member (Benin), presented the follow-up report. He gave a brief background on parliamentary seminars and spoke about the 2012 seminars. The report highlights the importance of interparliamentary cooperation as a specific approach to contribute to strengthening the rule of law and the proper functioning of democratic institutions through the improvement of parliamentary business. Parliamentary Forum of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Michel Mweza presented the Parliamentary Forum of the SADC, which brings together 14 parliaments (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and over 3,000 parliamentarians. Initiative multilatérale de coopération interparlementaire francophone (IMCIF) Michèle André, Senator (France) and Vice-Chair of the Committee, presided over this part of the meeting. The Hon. Pierre De Bané, Senator (Canada), discussed this initiative, which was presented for the first time to the General Committee in Paris in February 2013. He expressed his opinion on the project, which has been underway for some time without input from the Parliamentary Affairs Committee, which is responsible for interparliamentary cooperation according to the APF statutes. The Committee unanimously expressed strong reservations about the implementation of the Initiative multilatérale de coopération interparlementaire francophone (IMCIF). Presentation by Issa Asgarraly, co-founder of the Fondation pour l’interculturel et la paix Issa Asgarraly, co-founder with Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, who has won a Nobel Prize in Literature, spoke about the Fondation pour l’interculturel et la paix, which aims to promote world peace through the understanding of world cultures. Noria program The Hon. Pierre De Bané presented the program and gave a brief background. Mireille Eza, director of Noria (Secretariat General of the APF), gave a report on the program’s activities. The francophone youth parliament (PFJ) and national youth parliaments (PNJ) Senator Martine Bondo (Gabon) reported on the PFJ. Election observation missions Monsieur Jean-Claude Maene (Belgium / Federation Wallonia-Brussels) reported on election observation missions and OIF funding. He told the Committee that a mission took place in 2012 but because no report was provided he was unable to discuss it. Date and place of next meeting The next meeting of the Committee will take place in July 2013 as part of the XXXIL Session of the APF in Abidjan (Ivory Coast). Other business The Hon. Pierre De Bané told members of the Committee that the Canadian Branch had chosen Robert Aubin to succeed him as Chair of the Committee. Michèle André paid tribute to Senator De Bané and a special motion of thanks was adopted unanimously. For more information on this meeting, please see http://www.apf.francophonie.org/spip.php?article443 [in French only]. Thanks to its participation in this meeting, the Canadian Branch achieved its objectives to meet its international commitments, present reports that support the exchange of information, strengthen international ties and defend its interests.
Respectfully submitted,
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