Visit to Canada of His Excellency Dr. Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani, Speaker of the Shoora Council of the Republic of Yemen, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From May 29 to June 2, 2006, His Excellency Dr. Abdul Aziz Abdul Ghani, Speaker of the Shoora Council of Yemen, led a delegation of members of the Shoora Council composed of Mr. Abdullah Saleh Abdullah Al-Bar, Deputy Speaker of the Shoora Council, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed al-Gunaid, Mr. Ali Lutf Al-Thour, Mr. Mohamed Ahmed Al-Afandi, Mr. Ahmed Ali Al-Salami, and Mr. Galal Mohammed H. Al-Halali Director General of the Speaker’s Office on an official visit to Ottawa, Toronto and Niagara Falls at the invitation of the Speaker of the Senate, the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella.

The delegation while in Ottawa held meetings with:

• The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development;
• The Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons;
• Mr. Rob Nicholson, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform;
• Mr. Ted Menzies, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for International Cooperation;
• Honourable Dan Hays, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate;
• Members of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee;
• The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety;
• The Honourable Michael A. Brown, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario;
• The Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario;
• Mr. Kim Craitor, Member of the Provincial Parliament for Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The delegation visited Algonquin College in Ottawa, the CN Tower in Toronto and Niagara Falls.

The Shoora Council is one of the two Houses of the Parliament of Yemen. The Shoora is composed of 111 members appointed by the President. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen relations between Canada and Yemen and the parliaments of both countries. During the meetings with Canadian parliamentarians, discussions focused on Yemen’s desire and need for assistance from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in areas such as health care, education and democratic development, Yemen’s desire to have Canada establish an embassy in Yemen to facilitate and promote trade and relations between the two countries and possible Canadian support for Yemen’s application for full membership in the Gulf Cooperation Group.