Visit of the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, and a Parliamentary Delegation, Colombia
From January 16 to 20, 2012, the Speaker of the Senate, the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, led a parliamentary delegation on an official visit to Colombia. The delegation was composed of Mrs. Ann Kinsella, the Honourable Joan Fraser, Senator, and the Honourable Nancy Ruth, Senator. Accompanying the delegation were Ms. Janelle Feldstein, Chief of Staff of the Speaker of the Senate, and Ms. Jolène Savoie, Secretary to the delegation.
In Bogota, the delegation met with:
- His Excellency Juan Manuel Santos Calderón, President of the Republic of Colombia;
- Mr. Angelino Garzón, Vice-President of the Republic of Colombia;
- The Most Reverend Rubén Salazar, Archbishop of Bogota;
- Mr. Juan Camilo Restrepo Salazar, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development;
- Ms. María Fernanda Campo Saavedra, Minister of National Education;
- Ms. Marta Lucía Villegas Botero, President of ICETEX;
- Admiral Ernesto Durán González, General Maritime Director of DIMAR;
- Ms. Teresita Del Carmen Beltrán Ospina, General Manager of the Colombian Agricultural Institute (ICA); and
- Mr. Enrique Triviño Galeano, Manager of the Colombian Federation of Potato Producers (FEDEPAPA).
While in Bogota, the delegation also participated in a panel discussion on human rights at Sergio Arboleda University. The delegation then travelled to Cartagena where it met with officials from the Colombian National Armed Forces and visited installations of the naval base ARC Bolivar. They also visited the installations of the Port Society and of the Corporation of Science and Technology (COTECMAR).
The purpose of the visit was to enhance relations between Canada and Colombia and to encourage ongoing parliamentary dialogue by further promoting parliamentary exchanges. The visit provided an opportunity to discuss foreign policy with respect to issues of international and mutual interest, to promote educational exchanges, to promote research sharing in the area of agriculture, to promote collaboration between container shipping ports and to pursue good relations between both countries.