Visit to Canada of the Right Honourable Sir Lindsay Hoyle, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, and a Parliamentary Delegation
From May 29 to 31, the Right Honourable Sir Lindsay Hoyle, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, led a parliamentary delegation to Ottawa at the invitation of the Honourable Anthony Rota, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation consisted of the Right Honourable Nigel Evans, M.P., Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, Miss Helen Wood, Secretary and Chief of Staff to Speaker Hoyle and Mr. David Clark, Deputy Chief of Staff to Speaker Hoyle. Her Excellency Susannah Clare Goshko, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to Canada and Mr. Sam Kelly, Second Secretary, Bilateral & Foreign Policy Team at the High Commission of the United Kingdom to Canada, also accompanied the delegation during their stay.
In Ottawa, the delegation met with the following officials:
- Her Excellency the Right Honourable Mary Simon, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., O.Q., C.D., Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada;
- The Honourable Raymonde Gagné, Speaker of the Senate;
- The Honourable Anthony Rota, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
- The Honourable Mary Ng, P.C., M.P., Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development;
- The Honourable John McKay, P.C., M.P.;
- Mr. Chris d’Entremont, M.P., Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committee of the Whole;
- Mr. John Barlow, M.P.;
- Ms. Iqra Khalid, M.P.;
- Mr. James Maloney, M.P.; and
- Mr. Michael Barrett, M.P.
The delegation began their visit with a tour of the Centre Block restoration project. While in Ottawa, they held discussions with officials from the House of Commons and the Parliamentary Protective Service regarding security of Parliament and parliamentarians. Moreover, representatives of the Human Resources Directorate of the House of Commons met with the delegation to present an overview of the Members of the House of Commons Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Policy and exchange best practices in providing a respectful work environment.
The visit follows a trip of Speaker Rota and a parliamentary delegation to London in November 2022, and served to strengthen parliamentary relations and cooperation between our countries and Parliaments while allowing discussions on issues of mutual interest, such as the restoration of our parliamentary buildings, security of parliamentarians and bilateral trade opportunities.