Visit to Canada of His Excellency Valeriu Ştefan Zgonea, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From March 9 to 11, 2015, His Excellency Valeriu Ştefan Zgonea, President of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania, led a parliamentary delegation to Ottawa at the invitation of the Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation was composed of Mr. Angel Tîlvar, M.P., Mr. Ştefan Burlacu, M.P., Mr. Mircea Lubanovici, M.P., and Mr. Petru Alexandru Fratean, Senator. Accompanying the delegation were Mrs. Adelina Palade, Director General, Head of the Cabinet of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Mrs. Andreea-Elena Cleras, Director General for Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies, and Mr. Marius Asavoaei, Security Officer. Her Excellency Maria Ligor, Ambassador of Romania to Canada, and Mr. Adrian Ligor, Minister-Counsellor, also accompanied the delegation.

While in Ottawa, the delegation met with:

• The Honourable Pierre Claude Nolin, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
• The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• The Honourable Chris Alexander, P.C., M.P., Minister of Citizenship and Immigration;
• Mr. Dean Allison, M.P., Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the House of Commons and members of the Committee; and
• Mr. Corneliu Chisu, M.P., Chair of the Canada-Romania Parliamentary Friendship Group and members of the Canada-Romania Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The visit to Canada provided an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and the two parliaments. Discussions on parliamentary procedure offered a different point of view on how both parliaments operate. Other discussions included parliamentary cooperation and diplomacy, trade, energy, current affairs and security. The visit also presented an occasion for the signature of a joint declaration by Mr. Corneliu Chisu, M.P., Chair of the Canada-Romania Parliamentary Friendship Group and Mr. Petru Alexandru Fratean, Senator, Chair of the Romania-Canada Friendship Group of the Romanian Parliament.