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CANADIAN BRANCH OF CANADA-FRANCE INTERPARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION WELCOMES FRENCH COLLEAGUES TO ALBERTA From August 29 to September 3, 2010, Senator Claudette Tardif, Chair of the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association, will host a delegation of Canadian and French parliamentarians at the Association’s 37th Annual Meeting in Alberta. Established in 1965, the Association serves as a forum in which Canadian and French parliamentarians can exchange information and ideas. Members meet once a year, alternating between Canada and France. Senator Tardif has the honour and pleasure to announce that this year’s annual meeting will be held in her native province and feature visits to Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Calgary. “I am delighted to have this special opportunity to share with my Canadian and French colleagues my great pride in this beautiful province known for its diversity, innovation and vast resources,” said the Franco-Albertan senator. “It gives me great pleasure to welcome this distinguished group of guests.” The delegation of 18 Canadian and French parliamentarians will arrive in Edmonton, where they will visit the Alberta Legislative Assembly, Campus Saint-Jean, Edmonton City Hall and the offices of the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta. They will then travel to Fort McMurray to see several oil sands development and processing facilities (Stormont, Mildred Lake, the Frank Spragins Centre, North Mine, Wood Bison and Gateway Hill). The group will also meet with the Fort McMurray branch of the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta. The itinerary in Calgary includes meetings with the Hon. Ronald Liepert, Alberta Energy Minister, and Jean-Michel Gires, President of Total E&P Canada Ltd. Meetings are also scheduled with representatives of French companies operating in Alberta, and with members of Alberta’s Francophone, cultural and business communities at the Alliance française. While this year’s annual meeting focuses on energy and the environment, the agenda also includes working sessions on institutional reforms in Canada and France, reconstruction efforts in Haiti and regulation of the international financial system. The sessions offer a forum to share a range of views and policies on these topical issues with government, parliamentary and business representatives, as well as experts, local groups and Aboriginal communities. In addition to these topics, the program will focus on living in French in Alberta. Senator Tardif, Official Languages Champion and the first president of the Interparliamentary Association to come from a Francophone minority community, believes that the 37th Annual Meeting is “an ideal opportunity for these two countries that are bound by a language, culture and history, to strengthen their ties of cooperation, diplomacy and friendship, and to discuss freely many issues of common interest.” -30- For more information: Serge Pelletier, Executive Secretary, Canada-France Interparliamentary Association, 613-944-5275. Andréa Suurland, Special Assistant to the Hon. Claudette Tardif, Chair of the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association, 613-947-3589
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