Visit to Canada by Her Excellency Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, and a Parliamentary Delegation
From April 13 to 15, 2016, Her Excellency Ināra Mūrniece, Speaker of the Saeima (Parliament) of the Republic of Latvia, led a parliamentary delegation to Ottawa at the invitation of the Honourable George Furey, Q.C., Speaker of the Senate, and the Honourable Geoff Regan, P.C., M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation included Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš, member of the Latvian Parliament and Chair of the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee and the Canada-Latvia Friendship Group, Guntra Riņķe, Head of the Speaker’s Office, Gunta Pastore, Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Speaker, Lelde Rāfelde, Head of the Saeima Public Relations Department, Zigmārs Gratkovskis, Senior Consultant, Saeima Protocol Division, and His Excellency Juris Audariņš, Ambassador of Latvia to Canada.
In Ottawa, the delegation met with the following people:
- The Honourable George Furey, Q.C., Speaker of the Senate;
- The Honourable Geoff Regan, P.C., M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
- The Honourable John McKay, P.C., M.P, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence;
- The Honourable Raynell Andreychuk, Senator, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and Committee members;
- The Honourable Robert Nault, P.C., M.P., Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development of the House of Commons;
- Jean Rioux, M.P., Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association, and association members;
- Jamie Schmale, M.P., Chair of the Canada-Nordic-Baltic Parliamentary Friendship Group, and group members;
- The Honourable Hugh Segal, Chair of the NATO Association of Canada.