The Canadian delegation was comprised of the following members:
The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of
the House of Commons;
Mr. Marc Bosc, Acting Clerk of the House of
Commons; and
Mr. Darryl Whitehead, Senior Advisor to the
Speaker.
Context
The United Kingdom is a Constitutional
Monarchy with an estimated population of 64.09million. In this bicameral
Parliament, the House of Commons is constituted by Members elected by direct
universal suffrage for five-year terms. The Prime Minister and the government
are formed by a majority vote of elected Members and is currently a coalition
of the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth
II is the Head of State and has been since her accession in 1952. Legislative
powers are exercised by the House of Commons, a lower chamber made up of the
659 elected Members, and the House of Lords, the upper chamber made up of 791
peers who are largely appointed.
The current government is led by Prime
Minister David Cameron. He leads a coalition formed following the
parliamentary elections on May 6, 2010 in which Cameron’s Conservative Party
took 36.1% of the popular vote and 306 seats. As no one party secured the 326
seats required of a majority government, there was a “hung parliament” for only
the second time since World War II. Since the previous Labour government under
PM Gordon Brown was unable to secure the needed support from smaller parties to
achieve a majority of votes, Brown presented his resignation as PM and the Queen
invited Cameron to form government and become PM. A coalition with the Liberal
Democrats was announced on May 12th and endured until the dissolution of
Parliament.
As a result of the Fixed-term Parliaments
Act 2011, the current Parliament dissolved on March 30, 2015 and an election
will be held on May 7, 2015. Given the current fractured state of the
electorate it is anticipated that the election will return another hung
parliament.
Canada’s relationship with the United
Kingdom (U.K.) is rooted in their common history and shared values. As a
permanent member of the UN Security Council, a founding member of NATO and the
Commonwealth, and a member of the European Union, the U.K. is one of Canada's
key partners in addressing global issues and advancing Canada’s international
priorities.
Objectives of the visit:
The main objective
of the visit was to discuss security of the parliamentary precinct, an issue of
common interest to both the Parliament of Canada and the Palace of Westminster.
Speaker Scheer also had the opportunity to exchange ideas relating to
parliamentary governance and to review recent procedural and administrative
changes at the House of Commons. In addition, the Speaker held talks on a range
of issues including trade.
Meetings
During his visit to the United Kingdom,
the Speaker met with:
·The Right Honourable
John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons;
·His Excellency the
Right Honourable Sir Lockwood Smith, KNZM, Ph. D., High Commissioner of
New Zealand to the United Kingdom;
·The Right Honourable
Greg Hands MP, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Security;
·Mr. Lawrence Ward, Serjeant
at Arms;
·Detective Chief
Superintendent Sandra Looby, Metropolitan Police Service Operational Command
Unit Commander for the Parliamentary Estate; and
·Mr. Paul Martin CBE,
Director of Parliamentary Security.
Meeting with the Right
Honourable John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons
Speaker Bercow hosted a lunch for the
delegation in his formal dining room. A number of other Parliamentarians were
in attendance, including both Members and Peers. The informal conversation
over lunch covered a number of topics including security, reflections on the
forthcoming U.K. election, and some of the characteristics of the Scottish
Assembly.
Meeting with His Excellency
the Right Honourable Sir Lockwood Smith, KNZM, Ph. D., High Commissioner
of New Zealand to the United Kingdom
His Excellency met the Speaker at his
Office within the New Zealand High Commission. As the High Commissioner was a
former presiding officer of the New Zealand legislature, a brief discussion took
place on some of the recent developments in New Zealand politics. The High
Commissioner then provided an update regarding his work in London and the
priorities he has undertaken. The discussion concluded with a conversation
about the evolving nature of Pacific trade and the impacts on both Canada and
New Zealand.
Meeting with the Right
Honourable Greg Hands MP, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Security
The delegation was also able to meet with
the Right Honourable Greg Hands MP, Deputy Whip of the coalition government and
Chairman of the Joint Committee on Security. The Joint Committee is an
informal arrangement that allows Members the ability to feed information back
into the security system. The leadership of the Committee are the whips or
deputy whips and they meet regularly with the administrative heads of the
security system. Issues that often come up include broad considerations like
access or governance and more specific cases like threats to a particular
Members’ safety or that of his/her staff. The Deputy Whip believed that the
informal nature of the committee was a strength as it enabled issues of safety
and security to be dealt with outside of the partisan political sphere.
Meeting with Mr. Lawrence
Ward, Serjeant at Arms
The Serjeant at Arms met with the
delegation in his office and began by providing his best wishes to then
Canadian Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers. He commented that Mr.Vickers had
certainly raised the overall public profile of the office of Sergeant-at-Arms.
Mr. Ward spoke at length about where his office fits into the constellation
within security provision. Broadly put, his office seeks to protect parliamentary
privileges within the provision of security by working as an intermediary
between Members and security providers. While there are many challenges he
felt that the system at least enabled voices to be heard and considered – that
there was always an outlet for those in disagreement.
Meeting with Detective Chief
Superintendent Sandra Looby, Metropolitan Police Service Operational Command
Unit Commander for the Parliamentary Estate
Ms. Looby provided the delegation with an
extensive overview of the role of the Metropolitan Police Service and its role
providing security and policing to the Parliamentary precinct. She also spoke
about the advantages of being able to rely on the additional resources of the
Met to backfill as necessary should security needs merit an increased
presence. Challenges were also discussed and Ms. Looby spoke at length about
the unique nature of the Parliamentary Estate and the impacts that these
characteristics have on her role. After an informative presentation and
discussion, the delegation was given a tour of several screening stations and
shown how Parliamentarians, staff, and visitors are able to gain safe access to
the grounds. Some recent upgrades were also discussed as a means of
demonstrating the current approach and philosophy.
Meeting with Mr. Paul Martin
CBE, Director of Parliamentary Security
Mr. Martin met the delegation in his
office at Westminster. After a brief introduction to his position, its
responsibilities, and a “typical” day, Mr. Martin provided his perspective on
the provision of Parliamentary security at Westminster. Topics included the
historical evolution of the British model, challenges that it currently faces,
and evolutions presently underway both operationally and administratively. As
a result of his rich experience within the security sector, Mr. Martin provided
many important insights about threats and appropriate pre-emptive measures that
can be taken by agencies providing security to high profile targets. Mr.
Martin was also very generous with his time in responding to questions from the
delegation regarding some of the security measures being proposed in Canada.
Other
activities
The Speaker was
able to meet with a leading think tank, the Centre for Social Justice. After a
short presentation about the nature of his position, the Speaker participated
in an extended question and answer period with the staff of the organization.
The staff members were surprisingly well informed about North American politics
and posed many insightful questions to the Speaker. The Speaker also had the
opportunity to join a delegation of the Canada-United Kingdom
Inter-Parliamentary Association for a courtesy call on the Right Honourable
William Hague, MP, First Secretary of State and Leader of the House of Commons
and for a dinner with members of the Steering Committee of the Commonwealth
Association of Public Accounts Committees.
Acknowledgements
The Speaker would like to thank the staff
of the High Commission of Canada in London for their assistance in preparing
the visit. Special thanks to Mrs. Gillian Licari, Head of VIP Visits Unit and
Political Officer and to Ms. Alison Game, Inward Visits Manager, Overseas
Office, House of Commons for helping to facilitate access for the delegation
and for her patient shepherding of the delegation from meeting to meeting.
Respectfully submitted,
The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P.,
Speaker of the House of Commons
