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The Honourable David Smith, Senator represented the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association at the International Parliamentary Conference Growth for Development: The Role of Parliamentarians in Managing Economic Growth for Equitable Development, from November 18 – 20, 2014 in London, United Kingdom. This conference was co-ordinated by the CPA UK Executive Committee, and was also supported by their partners, the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and the World Bank Group. ·This conference was the “first” on a subject that will almost certainly be the subject of annual conferences.
·There were 67 delegates, from 35 different countries, half of which were Commonwealth members. Attached, please note Appendix A with the names of the participating countries and their number of delegates.
·Although there were about 14 parliamentarians from the UK who participated as speakers or panelists, they were not included in the “delegate” category.
·There were some strong emerging economies, such as Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, but the majority of delegates were from developing countries who are keen to develop their economies. Many of the delegates had limited experience in their parliamentary careers to date, and. over a third of them were “opposition” members in their parliaments.
·Some of the “objectives” set out in the conference program included the following phrases: i)“Support the role of parliamentarians in their key responsibility to hold their government to account.”
ii) “Advocate for the continued engagement of parliamentarianson inclusive growth and poverty alleviation”
iii) “Explore the mechanisms that parliamentarians may use to hold governments to account to ensure that international commitments to development are implemented at a local, national and regional level.” iv) “Consider how natural resources… can transform a country’s economy, and explore the role of parliamentarians in responsible management of resources.” v)“Focus on access to reliable data and evidence to inform the work of parliamentarians on transparency and governance issues.” iv) “…curbing corruption.” Some Subjects of Discussion Sessions “What Does Good Growth Look Like?” “Women, Empowerment and Economic Growth” “The Role of Parliamentarians in Ensuring Equity and Sustainability” “Progressive Approaches to Tax and Raising Revenues” “Transparency and Accountability” “Curbing Illicit Activity and Corruption” “Trade, Tax, and Transparency” Conclusion of lessons learned: ·Clearly there was a very strong emphasis on transparency and curbing corruption.
·These issues are high priorities for each of the 3 organizations that co-operated in organizing this conference, i.e. the UK, CPA group, UNDP, and The World Bank.
·This conference of delegates was quite successful.
·The majority of the delegates came from countries where the issues of transparency and corruption are very real.
·There were several delegates who came with significant experience in dealing with the issues, for example, Dr. Wilmot Godfrey James MP, from South Africa, who is an opposition member, a PhD from the University of Wisconsin, and a post-doctoral fellow from Yale. Also, Charles Peter Mok, an opposition member from the Hong Kong Legislative Council who has degrees in engineering.
·There were interventions on several occasions by the Honourable David Smith, Senator with regard to issues of transparency and corruption, and those comments were influenced by the experience of the Senator at several World Bank Conferences whereby he had participated on these subjects. In conclusion, it is recommended that this specific conference become an annual event, with a major component of the agenda being how parliamentarians can help create economic developments with transparency and an anti-corruption philosophy being part of their culture. Respectfully submitted, Joe Preston, MP Chair Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) |
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