Visit to Canada of His Excellency Trajko Veljanoski, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From November 1 to 5, 2010, His Excellency Trajko Veljanoski, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia, led a parliamentary delegation to Ottawa and the Toronto area at the invitation of the Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation was composed of Mr. Andrej Petrov; Mr. Aleksandar Nikoloski; Mr. Safet Neziri; all members of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia and of the Parliamentary Group for Cooperation with Canada. The official delegation was also accompanied by Mr. Konstantin Dorakovski, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Macedonia in Ottawa; as well as Mrs. Ljubica Damjanovska, Consul of the Consulate General of the Republic of Macedonia in Toronto.

The delegates had the opportunity to attend various meetings in Ottawa, Toronto, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Markham.

In Ottawa, they toured the Parliament of Canada, attended Question Period in the House of Commons, Senators' Statements in the Senate and visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The delegation also met with the following representatives:

• The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
• The Honourable Peter Van Loan, P.C., M.P., Minister of International Trade;
• Mr. Jim Abbott, P.C., M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Cooperation;
• Mr. Deepak Obhrai, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• The Chair, Deputy Chair and members of the Standing Committee on International Trade;
• The Chair, Deputy Chair and members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development;
• Members of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU);
• The president and members of the Executive Committee of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association; and
• Members of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE).

In Toronto, the delegation toured the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, attended the Legislative Assembly's Question Period and met with the Speaker, the Honourable Steve Peters, M.P.P. They also visited the CN Tower and toured the Royal Ontario Museum.

While in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the delegates met with His Lordship Gary Burroughs, Mayor of Niagara-on-the-Lake and toured a winery. They also visited Niagara Falls.

In Markham, they met with His Worship Frank Scarpitti, Mayor of Markham and with Macedonian community groups residing in Canada.

The visit served to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and allowed the delegates to meet with various Canadian federal, provincial and municipal government officials, as well as to visit Macedonians residing in Canada. A number of topics were discussed, including trade, investment opportunities, economic cooperation, visa requirements and the functioning of the Parliament of Canada.