Interparliamentary Activities and Reports

The Permanent Delegation of the APF Bureau meets when convened by the APF’s President. It has the power to decide on exceptional administrative matters. It also monitors the implementation of interparliamentary cooperation programs in accordance with the guidelines given by the Plenary Assembly and presents the APF’s programs and annual budget to the Bureau. Between meetings of the Bureau, it exercises all the powers of the Bureau and reports on its activities at the next Bureau meeting. In light of the pandemic and the difficulties of holding the APF Annual Session with its members on the dates scheduled, the parliamentarians, including Francis Drouin, Chair of the Canadian Branch, met urgently to discuss alternative solutions.

On June 23, 2021, a delegation from the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIPU) comprising Senator Rob Black, Senator Brent Cotter, Senator Victor Oh, Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, MP, and Mr. Yves Perron, MP attended the High-level parliamentary meeting: Transforming food systems for health, equity and sustainability. They were joined by over one hundred other parliamentarians, officials from various United Nations agencies and representatives from civil society. The virtual event was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in connection with the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit taking place in September 2021. The programme focussed on two matters related to food systems: their connection with climate change and sustainability, as well as their link with malnutrition and health. Participants heard about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global, national and local food systems and the importance of commitments on all levels and by all stakeholders, including parliamentarians, to address inequalities. During the discussion, Mr. Erskine-Smith queried the potential benefits of prioritizing plant-based food systems in overcoming current challenges and pressures on sustainability and health.

On June 21, 2021, three Canadian parliamentarians participated in the 56th Meeting of ParlAmericas’ Board of Directors:

• Marc G. Serré, M.P., Chair of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas (CPAM), Member of the ParlAmericas’ Board of Directors (North America) and Chair of the ParlAmericas Corporation;
• The Honourable Rosa Galvez, Senator, Vice-Chair of CPAM and Treasurer of the ParlAmericas Corporation; and
• Randy Hoback, M.P., Member of CPAM and Member of the ParlAmericas Corporation.

ParlAmericas’ President, Paraguayan Senator Blanca Ovelar, highlighted ParlAmericas’ activities since March 2021 and answered questions posed by members of the Board of Directors. ParlAmericas’ International Secretariat provided a financial update, following which members reviewed the draft declaration to be presented at the 5th Gathering of the Parliamentary Network on Climate Change’s (PNCC) plenary session. During a discussion about elections for the PNCC, Senator Galvez indicated her intention to seek to become the network’s president.

On June 14, 21, and 28, 2021, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) United Kingdom (U.K.) hosted a series of virtual seminars for newly elected parliamentarians from the British Virgin Islands (BVI). The series, which was requested by the BVI House of Assembly, was held more than two years after the country’s last election. The objective of the series was to ensure elected representatives in BVI continue to be well-equipped to effectively carry out their parliamentary duties and to allow them to reflect on the challenges and opportunities they have experienced fulfilling their roles to date.

Over the three-day series, Members of Parliament from across the Commonwealth were invited to give presentations. Ms. Yasmin Ratansi, MP, Chair of the Canadian Branch of the CPA, gave a presentation on June 21, 2021. Her presentation focused the roles and responsibilities of standing committees in both chambers of the Parliaments of Canada. She also discussed the role of the Chair, the opposition and the staff that assist standing committees. Ms. Ratansi also drew parallels between Canada and BVI’s system of governance and answered questions from the audience.

From 14 to 28 June 2021, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) United Kingdom (U.K.) hosted a five-session workshop series on trade agreements, using the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) as a case study. Each workshop followed a similar format with a portion of the time reserved for presentations and the remainder for a question-and-answer period. Presenters for the workshops included politicians, officials and other experts from Commonwealth countries that are already part of the CPTPP.

The third workshop, entitled Scrutinising Trade Agreements, took place on 21 June 2021. The topic was presented by Simon O’Connor, MP, and Chair of the Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade Committee in the Parliament of New Zealand; Randy Hoback, MP, former Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade of the Parliament of Canada; and Emily Jones, Associate Professor of Public Policy at the University of Oxford. The session focused on the roles of parliamentarians in scrutinizing multilateral trade agreements once implementing legislation is tabled in parliament. Mr. O’Connor and Mr. Hoback shared their experience of scrutinizing the CPTPP within their respective jurisdictions. For her part, Ms. Jones focused on the procedural challenges U.K. parliamentarians face when scrutinizing trade agreements.

In addition to Mr. Hoback, the workshop was also attended by Ms. Yasmin Ratansi, MP, Chair of the Canadian Branch of the CPA.

The Canadian Region of the CWP is administered by a steering committee that represents the views and concerns of women parliamentarians throughout Canada and develops programs to support the objectives of the CWP in the region. This committee is composed of one representative from each province and territory and one from the federal Parliament. A chair oversees its activities and represents Canada on the CWP international steering committee. Ms. Yasmin Ratansi, M.P., Chair of the Canadian Branch, sits on the CWP steering committee of the Canadian Region.

From June 16 to 18, 2021, a delegation of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (UIPU) comprising Senator Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator Robert Black, Senator Marilou McPhedran, Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, M.P. and Ms. Marilène Gill, M.P. attended the virtual World e-Parliament Conference 2021. This event was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Centre for Innovation in Parliament (CIP) to foster the exchange of good practices and inter-parliamentary cooperation with respect to innovation and the digital transition. During the three-day event, Canadian delegates participated in several Q&A sessions and roundtables covering five themes: towards the digital parliament; infrastructure; data in digital parliaments; enabling digital parliamentarians; and artificial intelligence. Researchers from the CIP also shared key findings from their forthcoming e-Parliament report. Notably, they revealed that parliamentary modernisation has accelerated and that parliaments have become more agile, finding iterative solutions, adopting new tools and pivoting quickly to address emerging needs. During this event, the changes made and tools adopted by parliaments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic were discussed at length by participants from all around the world.