Interparliamentary Activities and Reports

On May 8th, 2020, Mr. Marc Serré – Chair of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas – participated in a webinar hosted by the Open Parliament e-Network, a global consortium comprising numerous international organizations, including ParlAmericas. The webinar’s topic was “Parliaments and Pandemics: Going virtual and staying open in the COVID-19 era.”

Other organizations participating in the webinar included Directorio Legislativo, the National Democratic Institute, the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency and Parliamentary Network Africa.

Discussions during the webinar focused on the importance of legislatures remaining open and transparent during a global crisis. Participants spoke about how keeping the public informed helps legislators fulfill their representation and oversight responsibilities.

MPs Karen McCrimmon and John McKay, along with Senator Pierre Dalphond, participated in this webinar at the beginning of the pandemic. This initiative was in response to the new reality of being unable to meet in person or travel to hold committee meetings and other activities normally scheduled throughout the year. The main objective of this webinar was to pool the main lessons learned at the beginning of the pandemic by NATO members in order to share best practices and innovative ideas. In addition, the NATO PA wanted to learn more about the pandemic’s impact on member countries’ defence budgets and the effects that would have on their defence and security activities in the months ahead.

Dr. Hedy Fry, P.C., M.P., attended the very first virtual meeting of the AdHoc Committee on Migration on May 6, 2020. Dr. Fry discussed how the pandemic affected the migrants and refugee situation in Canada and participated in discussions with other members of the Committee.

On May 1st 2020, Mr. Marc Serré – Chair of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas – participated in a meeting on the topic of “Virtual parliamentary sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The virtual meeting was co-hosted by ParlAmericas and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA); it was chaired by Bahamian Senator Ranard Henfield, Vice-President (Caribbean) of ParlAmericas’ Open Parliament Network. Presiding officers, parliamentarians and clerks from 17 English-speaking legislatures in the Americas and the Caribbean participated in the meeting.

Participants heard presentations by: the Honourable Juan Watterson, Speaker of the Isle of Man’s House of Keys; Luiz Fernando Bandeira de Mello, Secretary-General of the Board of Brazil’s Senate; and Matthew Hamlyn, Strategic Director of the Chamber Business Team of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons. They discussed the technical and political challenges associated with implementing virtual sittings and committee meetings in their legislatures.

Jarvis Matiya, the CPA’s Acting Secretary-General, updated participants about the CPA’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the launch of the CPA Toolkit for Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic and delivering parliamentary democracy.

The Honourable Bridgid Annisette-George – Speaker of Trinidad and Tobago’s House of Representatives, ParlAmericas Board Member and a member of CPA’s International Executive Committee – delivered closing remarks.

On May 1st 2020, Ms. Yasmin Ratansi – Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) – participated in a meeting on the topic of “Virtual parliamentary sessions during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The virtual meeting was co-hosted by CPA and ParlAmericas; it was chaired by Bahamian Senator Ranard Henfield, Vice-President (Caribbean) of ParlAmericas’ Open Parliament Network. Presiding officers, parliamentarians and clerks from 17 English-speaking legislatures in the Americas and the Caribbean participated in the meeting. Participants heard presentations by: the Honourable Juan Watterson, Speaker of the Isle of Man’s House of Keys; Luiz Fernando Bandeira de Mello, Secretary-General of the Board of Brazil’s Senate; and Matthew Hamlyn, Strategic Director of the Chamber Business Team of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons. They discussed the technical and political challenges associated with implementing virtual sittings and committee meetings in their legislatures. Jarvis Matiya, the CPA’s Acting Secretary-General, updated participants about the CPA’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the launch of the CPA Toolkit for Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures on the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic and delivering parliamentary democracy. The Honourable Bridgid Annisette-George – Speaker of Trinidad and Tobago’s House of Representatives, a member of CPA’s International Executive Committee and ParlAmericas Board Member – delivered closing remarks.

Dr. Hedy Fry, P.C., M.P., attended the Parliamentary Assembly’s Bureau Meeting to represent the Canadian Delegation. The elected leaders of the OSCE PA met online for the annual spring Bureau meeting. The meeting commenced with a presentation from the OSCE Chair-in-Office, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, and the EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, Ambassador Janez Lenarcic. Others also reported on recent events. PA President George Tsereteli, Secretary General Roberto Montella, as well as reports by Chairs of Committees and OSCE PA Special Representatives made successive presentations. Finally, Treasurer Peter Juel-Jensen presented the Assembly’s proposed budget for the upcoming financial year for discussion and noted that efforts would be made to relieve the financial burden on parliaments that may be facing revenue shortfalls due to the economic impact of COVID-19.