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A delegation of three parliamentarians from the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association travelled to Strasbourg to participate in the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), in which Canada enjoys observer status along with Israel and Mexico. The delegation was led by Association president the Hon. Lorna Milne, Senator, and included from the Senate the Hon. Frank Mahovlich and from the House of Commons the Hon. Roy Cullen. The delegation was accompanied by association secretary Philippe Méla and advisor Marcus Pistor, and was joined in Strasbourg by John McNee, Permanent Observer of Canada to the Council of Europe, and Alain Hausser, Deputy Permanent Observer of Canada to the Council of Europe. A. Overview The spring session featured a full order of business (1) with a wide range of topics being debated in committees, (2) political groups, (3) and in the Assembly(4). Two themes dominated discussions and debates. In committees and political groups, several meetings focused on the future priorities of the Assembly in light of budgetary constraints, a growing overlap in the membership and work of the Council and other European institutions – primarily the European Union but also the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) – and related efforts by PACE President van der Linden to bring the Assembly to focus on what many consider to be the core priorities of the organization: the promotion of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. In this context, Mr. van der Linden is also attempting to organize the four annual PACE sessions thematically and in a more coherent way. The second theme of the spring session was the relationship between the Council of Europe and the European Union (EU), which has been the subject of ongoing, at times controversial debates for several years, as a result of the enlargement of the EU to now 25 member countries (all members of the Council of Europe) and efforts to expand EU responsibilities into areas that have been traditionally the domain of the Council of Europe, most notably through the establishment of a Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union(5). The Assembly devoted almost two of its six-and-a-half sittings to this issue. The first focused on a report presented by Mr. Jean Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, on relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union(6). In addition to Mr. Juncker, this debate featured Mr. Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Prime Minister of Romania and Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Mr. Wolfgang Schüssel, Federal Chancellor of Austria and President of the Council of the European Union, and Mr. José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. In the second sitting on Council of Europe–EU relations, the Assembly debated a draft Memorandum of understanding between the Council of Europe and the European Union and the relationship between the Council of Europe and the Fundamental Rights Agency of the European Union. Mr. Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and Mr. Elmar Brok, Chairperson of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, were the keynote speakers for this debate. The Assembly held regular debates on the following topics: · Progress report of the Bureau of the Assembly and the Standing Committee; · Observation of the parliamentary elections in Ukraine (26 March 2006); · The place of mother tongue in school education; · Poverty and the fight against corruption in the Council of Europe member states; · Situation in the Middle East; · Social reintegration of prisoners; · Human rights of members of the armed forces; · Combating the resurrection of Nazi ideology; and · Refugees and displaced persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The Assembly also convened two debates under urgent procedure, the first on the trafficking in women before the FIFA World Cup in Germany in June-July 2006 and the second on Belarus in the aftermath of the Presidential election of 19 March 2006. Finally, the Assembly heard from several political leaders: · Mr. Thomas Hammarberg, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights; · Mr Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Romania and Chairperson of the Committee of Ministers, delivering the Communication from the Committee of Ministers to the Parliamentary Assembly; and · Mr. Vlado Buchkovski , Prime Minister of “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” Transcripts and summaries of the debates, the reports discussed, and the resolutions and recommendations adopted are available on the Parliamentary Assembly’s Web site: http://assembly.coe.int/. B. Canadian Activities during the Session Canadian delegates participated actively in meetings of committees – Political Affairs; Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs; and Economic Affairs and Development – and political groups. The delegation met with Ambassador John McNee, Canada’s Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe, and his deputy, Alain Hausser, and held its regular meeting with the Mexican observer delegation. The Canadian delegation was again honoured with a private breakfast given by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Terry Davis. This allowed for a fruitful discussion of the work of the Council’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture, the ongoing investigation into alleged secret detentions in member states (in particular by the CIA), efforts by the Secretary General to get the organization to focus on its core priorities, as well as Canadian politics. Senator Milne met with Mr. Walter Schmied, chairman of the Committee on the Environment, Agriculture and Local and Regional Affairs, Mr. Pasquale Nessa, the rapporteur for a report on seal hunting, and committee staff to discuss next steps in the drafting of the committee’s report and draft recommendation on seal hunting. She presented the official response from the Canadian delegation to Mr. Nessa’s revised report. His report does not accurately reflect scientific evidence or publicly available information. It contains many factual errors and fails to recognize the significant improvements in management, regulations and enforcement in Canada over the past three decades. It asserts – among other things – that the seal hunt is not humane and not ecologically sustainable, that it is economically insignificant and that Aboriginal Canadians are not involved in the commercial seal hunt. The response from the Canadian delegation provides detailed information and evidence to demonstrate problems in the report and to clarify seal hunt practices and management. It argues that the hunt is both sustainable and humane and that Canadian management practices and the new policies announced in March 2006 go a long way towards addressing legitimate concerns raised about the seal hunt. It also endorses legitimate initiatives to make it as humane as possible, such as the recommendations of the Independent Veterinarians’ Working Group on the Canadian Harp Seal Hunt, that are now being implemented by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The Committee has asked the Bureau for an extension of its mandate for completing this report beyond the end of April 2006. While the extension has not yet been granted, the Committee is planning to discuss Mr. Nessa’s revised report and the response from the Canadian delegation at its next meetings on 12 May and 9 June in Paris, with a view to adopting a draft recommendation during the June PACE session (26‑30 June). The draft recommendation would then be debated by the Assembly in early October. Canadian delegates intended to make interventions in three Assembly debates. However, because speakers’ lists were long or debate was cut short due to time constraints, they were unable to participate in the Assembly debates, although they submitted their interventions in writing. Senator Milne sent a letter to Mr. Adrian Severin who is preparing a report on the external relations of the Council of Europe for the Political Affairs Committee. She highlighted the Canadian delegation’s contributions to the work of the Assembly and noted that the current rules of procedure make it very difficult for observers to participate on a regular basis in Assembly debates. And she urged him to include a recommendation in his report to change the rules governing the lists of speakers in order to encourage observers to take a greater interest and more active part in the work of the Assembly. In his written submission to the debate on poverty and the fight against corruption in the Council of Europe member states, Roy Cullen, M.P., discussed the detrimental effects of corruption on political stability and economic development. He argued that poverty is not in itself a cause of corruption. Rather, “it is greed … which motivates government and corporate leaders to engage in corrupt activities. ”Noting the important work in the fight against corruption of the Assembly and the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption – GOPAC “was founded in 2002 at a conference hosted by the Canadian House of Commons and Senate” – he concluded by calling on parliamentarians to work together “in the fight against bribery, corruption and money laundering” (7) Senator Mahovlich submitted a speech on the situation in the Middle East, in which he stressed the importance of renewing the peace process as the only way to achieve “long-term peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.” He congratulated the rapporteur and Political Affairs Committee for preparing “a balanced draft recommendation [that] sets out clearly and concisely what the new governments of Israel and the Palestinian territories must do to allow the peace process to continue,” and argued that “a clear commitment to dialogue and compromise” is now required on both sides: “For the new Hamas-led cabinet, this means the unequivocal and immediate renunciation of violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the road map. … For the new Israeli government … [this] requires it to refrain from taking any unilateral action that would prejudice negotiations aimed at achieving a peaceful two-state resolution of the Israeli‑Palestinian conflict.” With regard to “the problem of widespread insecurity for so many Palestinians and Israelis,” Senator Mahovlich argued that “we need to define [security] broadly as both security of Israel and a Palestinian state, and as human security.” He concluded: “Politically sanctioned violence and ideologies advocating violence against individuals, states or peoples can have no place here, nor can policies that sacrifice the human security and economic viability of one group for the sake of achieving these goals for the other” (8). In her written submission to the debate on refugees and displaced persons in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, Senator Milne argued that, while the report being debated was very good, “the root causes of the humanitarian crisis facing [internally displaced persons and refugees in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia] and the obstacles to their integration and to the long-term prospects for economic development deserve greater attention. These are fundamentally the product of the frozen conflicts that continue to afflict the lives not just of IDPs and refugees but of all people in the South Caucasus.” She raised two issues in this context: “The first concerns the need for compromise in the negotiations for a permanent and peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Here, all parties must not only demonstrate a genuine willingness to compromise in the negotiations themselves; they must stop the rhetoric that just adds fuel to the fire and inflames and reinforces prejudice and they must do more to communicate the importance and inevitability of compromise to their own citizens.” Secondly, Senator Milne raised the issue of human security: “We need to take a more people-centred approach to security, conflict resolution and development, which recognizes that lasting stability and development cannot be achieved until individuals are protected from violent threats to their rights, safety, lives and livelihoods” (9) The complete texts of the Canadian interventions are
available at: Respectfully submitted,
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