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Canadian Parliamentarians Meet with US State Legislators “There
is much that legislators across levels of government and From 12-15 November 2009, the Honourable Wayne Easter, P.C., M.P., Vice-Chair of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG) led a delegation to the 2009 Annual Conference of the Council of State Governments (CSG) in La Quinta, California. The other members of the delegation were Senator Janis Johnson, Vice-Chair, Senator Jim Munson, Mr. Rick Dykstra, M.P., Vice-Chair and Mr. Luc Malo, M.P. “From education and health care to energy and the environment, and from the rural-urban interface to transportation, there is a great deal that federal governments can learn from state and provincial governments, and that US state and Canadian provincial governments as well as federal governments in both countries can learn from each other,” said Mr. Easter. “Certainly, I think the Canadian delegates are of the view that the issues of concern to citizens, and possible solutions going forward, have some similarities in both countries.” Mr. Easter concluded: “Members of the delegation were particularly pleased to be able to participate at an international committee meeting during which a resolution was passed that essentially supports free trade between Canada and the United States. With representatives from Quebec, Ontario and Alberta participating at the meeting, there was discussion about how the ‘Buy American’ provisions in the federal stimulus package are hurting Canadian businesses and some American businesses as well. Free and fair trade is an important issue, and one about which the Canadian Section of the IPG will continue to advocate.” The Council of State Governments serves all three branches of state government and provides regional fora – the western, midwestern, southern and eastern regional conferences – through which ideas and insights are exchanged with a view to shaping public policy. Additional information on the CSG can be found at: www.csg.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 -30- For further information:
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