Visit of the Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, United Kingdom

From January 19 to 20, 2015, the Speaker of the House of Commons, the Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., conducted an official visit to the United Kingdom.  Accompanying the Speaker were Mr. Marc Bosc, Acting Clerk of the House of Commons, and Mr. Darryl Whitehead, Senior Advisor to the Speaker of the House of Commons.

During the visit, Speaker Scheer met with:

• The Right Honourable John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons;
• His Excellency The Right Honourable Sir Lockwood Smith, KNZM, Ph. D., High Commissioner of New Zealand to the United Kingdom;
• The Right Honourable Greg Hands MP, Chairman of the Joint Committee on Security;
• Mr. Lawrence Ward, Serjeant at Arms;
• Detective Chief Superintendent Sandra Looby, Metropolitan Police Service Operational Command Unit Commander for the Parliamentary Estate; and
• Mr. Paul Martin CBE, Director of Parliamentary Security;

The main objective of the visit was to discuss security of the parliamentary precinct, an issue of common interest to both the Parliament of Canada and the Palace of Westminster. Speaker Scheer also had the opportunity to exchange ideas relating to parliamentary governance and to review recent procedural and administrative changes at the House of Commons. In addition, the Speaker held talks on a range of issues including trade.