Visit to Canada of the Right Honourable Tricia Marwick, M.S.P., Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, and a Parliamentary Delegation

On April 7 and 8, 2014, the Right Honourable Tricia Marwick, M.S.P., Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament, led a parliamentary delegation on an official visit to Ottawa at the invitation of the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, and the Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation was composed of Ms. Linda Fabiani, M.S.P., and Ms. Rhoda Grant, M.S.P. Accompanying the delegation were Mr. William McLaren, Senior Advisor to the Presiding Officer, and Mr. Stephen Herbert, Senior Parliamentary Relations Officer.

In Ottawa, the members of the delegation held meetings with:

• The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
• Members of the Standing Senate Committee on Rules, Procedures and the Rights of Parliament;
• Mr. James Rajotte, M.P., Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance;
• Mr. Dean Allison, M.P., Chair of the House of Commons Liaison Committee and Mr. Joe Preston, M.P., Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs;
• Mr. Gary O’Brien, Clerk of the Senate and Clerk of the Parliaments;
• Ms. Audrey O’Brien, Clerk of the House of Commons; Mr. Marc Bosc, Deputy Clerk of the House of Commons; and Mr. Mark Watters, Chief Financial Officer of the House of Commons;
• Mr. David W. Monaghan, Curator of the House of Commons and Ms. Allison Rogers, Project Coordinator for the Senate Real Property Planning Directorate.

The delegation also attended a reception hosted by the co-chairs of the Canada-Scotland Friendship Group, Ms. Kirsty Duncan, M.P., and Mr. Peter Braid, M.P. At a separate meeting, Ms. Rhoda Grant spoke with two members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, Ms. Hélène Leblanc, M.P., and Ms. Nikki Ashton, M.P.

This visit to Canada provided an excellent opportunity to deepen the bilateral relations between both countries and both parliaments. Discussions on the administration of the Senate and the House of Commons, parliamentary procedure, the use of new information technologies and heritage assets management provided the Scottish delegation with useful information for their parliament.