Visit of the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Senator, Speaker of the Senate, and a Parliamentary Delegation, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.
On June 26, 2006, the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate, led a parliamentary delegation comprised of the Honourable Colin Kenny and the Honourable Donald Oliver to Washington, D.C. This was the first international visit led by the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella as Speaker of the Senate.
In Washington, the delegation met with:
- Senator Ted Stevens, President Pro Tem of the U.S. Senate;
- Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives;
- Mr. Ariel Dulitzky, Assistant Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights;
- Sarah E. Mendelson, Senior Fellow, Center for Strategic and International Studies;
- Francis Deng, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution;
- Elisa Massimino, Director (Washington Office), Human Rights First; and
- Ralph G. Steinhardt, Arthur Selwyn Miller Research Professor of Law, George Washington University Law School.
During their visit, the Canadian delegation sought to encourage ongoing parliamentary dialogue and friendship between Canada and the United States in all fields of contact; including security, energy-related issues and human rights. During the delegation's visit to the U.S. Senate, Speaker Kinsella and accompanying Senators were invited onto the floor and the U.S. Senate suspended to allow its Leaders to be introduced to the Canadian Speaker's delegation.