The Asia Pacific Parliamentarians Forum (APFF)
(Canadian Section)
REPORT

A delegation of members of the Canada-Japan Inter-Parliamentary Group and the Canada-China Legislative Association participated in the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum held in Jakarta, Indonesia from January 15-19, 2006.

The Canadian delegation was composed of the following members:

¨      The Honourable Joseph Day, Senator

¨      The Honourable Donald Oliver, Senator

¨      The Honourable Vivienne Poy, Senator

¨      The Honourable Percy Downe, Senator

            The delegation was assisted by Mr. Norm Radford, Executive Secretary, Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum, (Canadian Section).

The Honourable Joseph Day, Senator from new Brunswick, led a parliamentary delegation to the 14^th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentarians Forum (APPF), held in Jakarta, Indonesia, from January 16 to January 19, 2006.  A total of 278 participants from 22 member parliaments and one observer country attended the 14^th Meeting.  The Forum, held on an annual basis and composed of member parliaments from twenty eight countries including the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United States, is one of the most significant and diverse gatherings of parliamentarians from the Asia Pacific Region.  It allows for the exchange of views between parliamentarians and the adoption of resolutions on matters of international concern such as the pandemic avian flu, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, the Korean Peninsula, political, security and economic cooperation, environment and sustainable development, and women’s participation in politics and the economy.

Senator Day presented a report to the Plenary on The Outcome of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Canadian delegation also sponsored three resolutions, namely; the response to the United Nations Framework on Climate Change.  .pandemic avian flu, and women’s participation in politics and the economy.  Canadian delegates further made interventions on regional co-operation in the Asia Pacific, disaster management and emergency response, the Middle East peace Process, and mandate of APPF. 

Conclusion

The Canadian Parliament is a founding member of the Asia Pacific Parliamentarians Forum.  The Forum has allowed Canadian parliamentarians to engage in dialogue with their international counterparts in a Region of the world which is of increasing strategic importance to Canada.  The Canadian section of APPF looks forward to participating in the 15^th Annual Meeting in Moscow, Russia, in 2007.

Respectfully submitted,