Visit to Canada of His Excellency Sergey M. Mironov, Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From November 29 to December 1, 2005, the Chairman of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, His Excellency Sergey M. Mironov, led a delegation composed of Mr. Vladimir B. Spitsnadel, Deputy Chairman of the Commission of the Federation Council on Interaction with the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation; Mr. Gleb B. Fetisov, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on the Federation Council of Financial Markets and Currency; Mr. Nikolay I. Ryzhkov, Member of the Committee of the Federation Council on Local Government; and Mr. Valeriy P. Parfenov, Head of the Office of the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, on a visit to Ottawa and Toronto. This visit was at the invitation of the Speaker of the Senate, the Honourable Dan Hays, Senator.

While in Canada, the delegation met with the following people:

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada;
The Honourable Dan Hays, Senator, Speaker of the Senate;
The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons; and
The Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

The visit was an opportunity to discuss such topics as the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction and developing the economic and northern aspects of Russian-Canadian relations. The objectives were as follows: to increase parliamentary exchanges and dialogue between Canada and Russia; to make Russian parliamentarians aware of the importance of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction; to consolidate economic relations between Canada and Russia, as well as their relations with respect to the North; and to discuss Canadian and Russian foreign policy with respect to issues of international interest.