Visit to Canada of the Honourable Mohammadmian Soomro, Senator, Chairman of the Senate of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From October 16 to 20, 2006, the Honourable Mohammadmian Soomro, Senator, Chairman of the Senate of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan visited Ottawa and Toronto at the invitation of the Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate. Chairman Soomro was accompanied by senators Chaudhry Mohammad Anwar Bhinder, Ahmed Ali and Nawab Ayaz Khan Jogezai. The delegation was greeted at the Ottawa International Airport by the Honourable Rose-Marie Losier-Cool, Deputy Speaker of the Senate.

In Ottawa, the delegation met with the following people:

• The Honourable Noël A. Kinsella, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons;
• The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety;
• The Honourable Gordon O’Connor, Minister of National Defence;
• The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration;
• The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages;
• The Honourable Mobina Jaffer, Co-Chair of the Canada-Pakistan Parliamentary Group, and members of the Group;
• The Honourable Hugh Segal, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade;
• Mr. Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

While in Ottawa, the delegation visited the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

In Toronto, the delegation met with the following people:

• The Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario;
• The Honourable Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario;
• The Honourable Michael A. Brown, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario;
• The Honourable Marie Bountrogianni, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal for Ontario.

During his stay in Toronto, the delegation attended a dinner with the local Pakistani community in Mississauga.

The main items discussed during the meetings were:

• access to Canadian universities by Pakistani students and their acquisition of a Canadian student visa, as well as recognition of the professional credentials of Pakistani immigrants to Canada;
• issues of security linked to terrorism;
• defence issues, particularly the Canadian mission in Afghanistan and the protection of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan;
• Canadian assistance to Pakistan.

The Honourable Josée Verner, Minister of International Cooperation, took the opportunity provided by her meeting with Chairman Soomro to announce that Canada will provide an additional $40 million for reconstruction activities in Pakistan, a country hit hard by the October 8, 2005 earthquake in South Asia.