Interparliamentary Activities and Reports

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.

This session provided a space for parliamentarians and civil society and youth representatives to dialogue and learn from each other on practices to improve communication and citizen participation in parliamentary work around climate objectives. Discussions focused on strategies to provide a space for the diverse perspectives that should be considered to ensure that climate strategies help alleviate social inequalities, as well as concrete measures that can be implemented to ensure climate legislation and policies don’t contribute to these inequalities.

For more information, see the report: Report of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas

From 14 June–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 first workshop, entitled Multilateral Trade Agreements: Opportunities and Challenges, was held on 14 June 2021. The topic was presented by David Lawrence, Senior Political Adviser at the U.K. Trade Justice Movement, and Stephanie Honey, a trade expert and former New Zealand diplomat. The session generally focused on the history of multilateral trade agreements, their benefits and challenges. Mr. Lawrence explored whether the U.K. would benefit from the CPTPP economically, geopolitically and environmentally.

The workshop was attended by the following parliamentarians from the Canadian Branch of the CPA: The Honourable Robert Black, Senator, Mr. Randy Hoback, MP, and Mr. Daniel Blaikie, MP.

Summit on the Rapprochement of Canadian Francophonies—June 12 and 17, 2021 The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) that took part in the summit on the rapprochement of Canadian francophonies, held by videoconference on June 12 and 17, 2021, consisted of Members of Parliament Francis Drouin, Marie-France Lalonde, Darrell Samson, Joël Godin and the Honourable Steven Blaney, and the Honourable Senators Jean-Guy Dagenais and Éric Forest. The delegates heard from stakeholders and discussed the relationship between Quebec and Canada’s francophones, including a historical overview of the milestones in relations between the country’s francophone communities. The discussions also touched on the need for networking among Canadian francophones. The stakeholders saw this as a useful way of sustaining the vitality of French in Canada. In addition, the presentations and discussions addressed the need for a new solidarity among francophones. The participants expressed their views on ways of improving mutual support among Canada’s francophones and identified opportunities for future cooperation. Another topic of conversation was living in French in Canada. The participants also described the challenges they face and tangible ways of bringing Quebec and Canada’s francophone communities closer together, including in the field of education. The stakeholders discussed the availability of French-language learning materials in some provinces and noted opportunities for cooperation in this area.