Canadian
Parliamentarians Meet with Legislators from
U.S. Eastern States and Canadian Eastern Provinces
From December 6-9, 2013, the Honourable Wayne
Easter, P.C., M.P., Vice-Chair and Mr. John
Williamson, M.P., Vice-Chair led a delegation from the Canadian Section of the
Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG) to the 2013 Annual Meeting
and Regional Policy Forum of the Council of State Governments Eastern Regional
Conference (ERC). The other delegates were Senators Terry Mercer and Richard
Neufeld, and Mr. Peter Stoffer, M.P. The meeting, which was held in
Fajardo, Puerto Rico, had the theme of “Succeeding in a Time of Austerity.”
“I was very pleased to be able to attend the ERC’s
53rd annual meeting, partly because I represent a province that is included in
the ERC,” said Mr. Easter. “As well, I think it was fortunate that Canada’s
federal parliamentarians were there to support their provincial counterparts
during discussions of some of the ERC’s resolutions. Important motions were
passed in relation to pre-clearance agreements between our countries and severe
weather events, which are affecting both Canada and the United States.”
Mr. Williamson concluded: “It was informative to
learn about the issues that are uppermost in the minds of legislators in the
eastern parts of Canada and the United States. In addition to the meetings
where the resolutions were discussed, the work of the ERC’s Canada/U.S.
Relations Committee was extremely beneficial. The six speakers who made
presentations on the topic of ‘Beyond the Border: Unfinished Business’ were
topical and provided some good ideas about what should be legislative
priorities.”
The ERC is a regional association of state
legislators from 19 member jurisdictions from Canada and the United States (see
Appendix). By facilitating cooperation among its member jurisdictions, the ERC
promotes multi-state or region-wide solutions to the problems and challenges
facing state and provincial legislators. Information on the ERC is available at
www.csgeast.org.
It should be noted that the views expressed in
this news release are specific to the Canadian Section of the Canada-United
States Inter-Parliamentary Group and, as such, may not reflect the views of our
United States counterparts.
The Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group
aims to find points of convergence in respective national policies, to initiate
dialogue on points of divergence, to encourage the exchange of information and
to promote better understanding among legislators on shared issues of concern.
Additional information on the Group can be found at www.parl.gc.ca/iia/us.
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For further information:
Hon. Janis Johnson,
Senator, Co-Chair
Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group - 613-943-1430
Mr. Gord Brown, M.P., Co-Chair
Canada-U.S.
Inter-Parliamentary Group - 613-992-8756
Ms. Angela Crandall, Association Secretary
Canada-U.S.
Inter-Parliamentary Group - 613-944-4238
