Visit to Canada of His Excellency Vangelis Meimarakis, Speaker of the Parliament of the Hellenic Republic

From May 27 to 31, 2013, His Excellency Vangelis Meimarakis, Speaker of the Parliament of the Hellenic Republic, visited Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec City and Montreal at the invitation of the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, and the Honourable Andrew Scheer, Speaker of the House of Commons. Speaker Meimarakis was accompanied by senior officials of the Parliament of the Hellenic Republic, as well as His Excellency Eleftherios Anghelopoulos, Ambassador of Greece to Canada.

In Ottawa, the delegation met with:

• The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, and senators at a luncheon in honour of the delegation;
• The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons; the Honourable Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board; and the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, at the luncheon hosted by Speaker Scheer;
• Mr. Gerald Keddy, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade;
• The Honourable Jason Kenney, M.P., Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism;
• Canadian parliamentarians who are members of the Canada-Greece Friendship Group;
• Members of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
• Members of the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development; and
• Members of the Hellenic community.

The delegation attended Senators’ Statements in the Senate and Question Period in the House of Commons.

In Toronto, the delegation met with:

• The Honourable Dave Levac, MPP, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario;
• Premier Kathleen Wynn and several ministers;
• His Eminence Archbishop Sotirios; and
• Leaders and members of the Hellenic community.

In Quebec City, the delegation met with:

• Mr. Jacques Chagnon, MNA, Speaker of the Quebec National Assembly, and members of all parties in the National Assembly, at an official luncheon;
• Ms. Pauline Marois, Premier of Quebec;
• Mr. François Gendron, Deputy Premier of Quebec and Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food;
• Mr. Jean-Marc Fournier, Leader of the Official Opposition;
• Mr. Gérald Deltell, House Leader of the Second Opposition Group; and
• Members of the opposition parties in the National Assembly.

In Montreal, the delegation met with members of the Hellenic community.

The Hellenic delegation’s visit was part of the Canadian government’s parliamentary exchanges program and comes following a visit to Greece by Speaker Kinsella, in September 2012. The visit also coincided with the 70th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Throughout his stay in Canada, Speaker Meimarakis, who was visiting our country for the first time, sought to reassure all those he spoke with, including ministers; members of the federal, Quebec and Ontario governments; and representatives of the Hellenic communities in Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal, about the political and economic situation in Greece since the 2008 crisis. This crisis shocked the country in part because of the inability of Hellenic and European institutions to cope with the untenable fiscal and budgetary situation created by elevated public debt. Speaker Meimarakis repeatedly mentioned that measures taken by the tripartite government since 2012, to help re establish stability, have been very difficult for the people of Greece. The government has clearly chosen to remain within the EU and the eurozone; this has been the fundamental position of the ruling coalition. In 2014, Greece will take the presidency of the European Union. Everywhere he went, Speaker Meimarakis thanked the Government of Canada, Canadians in general, as well as the Hellenic communities for their support during this difficult time for Greece.