Visit to Canada of His Excellency Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, and a Parliamentary Delegation

From December 1 to 4, 2014, His Excellency Tan Sri Datuk Seri Panglima Pandikar Amin Haji Mulia, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malaysia, led a parliamentary delegation to Ottawa and Toronto at the invitation of the Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons. The delegation was composed of the Honourable Datuk Seri Panglima Haji Abdul Ghapur Bin Salleh, M.P., the Honourable Tuan Haji Hasbi Bin Haji Habibollah, M.P., the Honourable Datuk Rozman Isli, M.P., the Honourable Dato’ Dr. Mujahid Haji Yusof Rawa, M.P., the Honourable Abdullah Sani Bin Abdul Hamid, M.P., the Honourable Kasthuriraani A/P Patto, M.P., and Ms. Datuk Roosme Binti Hamzah, Secretary of the House of Representatives. Accompanying the delegation were Mr. Ali Zulfakar Bin Zainal Abidin, Senior Private Secretary to the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Nazrul Izani Bin Ramli, Senior Assistant Secretary, Mr. Zamrizam Bin Samsuri, Secretary to the Delegation I, Ms. Sophia Cheang, Secretary to the Delegation II, Mr. Ng Chu Hing, Press Officer to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Her Excellency Dato’ Hayati Ismail, High Commissioner of Malaysia to Canada, Mr. Dzulkefly Abdullah, Minister-Counsellor and Mr. Deddy Faisal, First Secretary (Political), also accompanied the delegation in Ottawa and Toronto.

The delegates had the opportunity to attend various meetings in Ottawa and Toronto.

In Ottawa, the delegation met with:

• The Honourable Pierre Claude Nolin, Speaker of the Senate;
• The Honourable Andrew Scheer, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons;
• The Honourable Gerry Ritz, P.C., M.P., Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food;
• The Honourable Gail Shea, P.C., M.P., Minister of Fisheries and Oceans;
• The Honourable Deepak Obhrai, P.C., M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and for International Human Rights;
• The Honourable Dennis Glen Patterson, Senator, Chair of the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples and members of the Committee;
• Mr. Joe Preston, M.P., Chair of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association;
• Mr. Andrew Saxton, M.P., Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, and Chair of the Canada-Malaysia Friendship Group and members of the Canada-Malaysia Friendship Group; and
• Mr. Eric Janse, Clerk Assistant and Director General, International and Interparliamentary Affairs, and Secretary to the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC).

In Toronto, the delegation toured the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and met with the Speaker, the Honourable Dave Levac, M.P.P. They also met with Mr. John Vanthof, M.P.P., Third Party Whip and Mr. Nathan Stevens, Policy Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Ontario. A presentation and guided tour of the First Nations School of Toronto was organized for the Speaker. The program ended with a cultural visit to Niagara Falls.

The visit to Canada provided an opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries and the two parliaments, as well as an opportunity to discuss matters related to the Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth. Discussions on parliamentary procedure offered a different point of view on how parliaments operate. Other discussions included parliamentary cooperation, security, agriculture, fisheries and the education of first nation peoples.