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Canadian Parliamentarians attend meeting of Midwestern State LegislatorsFrom July 15-18, 2012, Mr. Rick Dykstra, M.P., Vice-Chair led a delegation from the Canadian Section of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group to the 67th annual meeting of the Council of State Government’s Midwestern Legislative Conference (MLC) in Cleveland, Ohio. The other delegate was the Honourable Jean-Guy Dagenais, Senator. “The MLC meeting was an excellent chance to discuss a number of issues of importance to Canada and the United States, particularly in the Midwest,” said Mr. Dykstra. “This year’s conference theme, economic reinvention, is one that legislators on both sides of the border should be exploring constantly. It was great to hear from such a distinguished selection of presenters, and to explore with our U.S. friends the many ways we could enhance economic development in the Midwest. The opportunities are truly endless.” Mr. Dykstra concluded: “Canada and the U.S. Midwest share a mutually beneficial relationship. According to recent figures, more than 1.6 million jobs in the 11 MLC states rely on Canada-U.S. trade. Merchandise trade between Canada and these states in a one-year period was recently valued at about US$197 billion: about US$81 billion was exported from these states to Canada, while they imported more than US$116 billion from Canada. Recent data suggest that, in a twelve-month period, Canadians made more than 4.4 million visits to the MLC states and spent more than US$1.3 billion, while residents of these states made more than 2.9 million visits to Canada and spent more than US$1.4 billion.” The Council of State Government’s Midwestern Legislative Conference is a regional association of state legislators from 11 U.S. states, and includes provincial parliamentarians from 4 affiliate Canadian provinces (see Appendix). The purpose of the MLC is to foster regional intergovernmental cooperation in the U.S. Midwest through the joint consideration of common problems, the interchange of information and ideas, the sharing of knowledge and experience and, as appropriate, the pursuit of collaborative efforts to improve state government. Information about the MLC is available at: www.csgmidwest.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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