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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2012 MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN SECTION OF THE CANADA-U.S. INTER-PARLIAMENTARY GROUP MEET WITH STATE LEGISLATORS FROM THE U.S. SOUTH From July 28-August 1, 2012, Mr. John Carmichael, M.P., Vice-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG), led a delegation from the Canadian Section of the IPG to the 66th Annual Meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) of the Council of State Governments. The other members of the delegation were the Honourable Céline Hervieux-Payette, P.C., Senator from Quebec, and the Honourable Bob Runciman, Senator from Ontario. The meeting was held in Charleston, West Virginia. “This SLC meeting continued the tradition of providing participants with valuable information that will enable them to make better decisions on behalf of the residents and businesses in their states,” said Mr. Carmichael. “For example, this meeting had presentations on agricultural support, invasive species, college readiness, criminal justice, health care reform, energy and transportation, among others. Certainly, these topics are important for Canada as well, and I know that each member of the delegation learned things that will be useful to them in their legislative role.” Mr. Carmichael concluded: “Canada and the 15 SLC states have a mutually beneficial relationship, and the majority of these states have Canada as their primary export market. Recent figures indicate that more than 2.8 million jobs in those states rely on our bilateral trade, which was valued at just over US$103.1 billion in one year: more than US$54 billion was exported from the 15 states to Canada, while they imported just over $49 billion from us. Visits are also frequent. In a recent 12-month period, Canadians made more than 6.5 million visits to the SLC states and spent more than US$4.8 billion, while residents of those states made more than 1.7 million visits to Canada and spent nearly $1.3 billion.” Founded in 1947, the Southern Legislative Conference includes state legislators from 15 southern states (see list below). Its mission is to foster and encourage intergovernmental cooperation among member states. Information about the SLC can be found at www.slcatlanta.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. -30- For further information: Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group - 613-943-1430 Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group - 613-992-8756 Canada-U.S. Inter-Parliamentary Group - 613-944-4238
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