Thirty-Second Canadian Regional Conference, St. John's, Newfoundland

The Newfoundland and Labrador Branch of the Canadian Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association hosted the annual parliamentary conference in St. John's from July 26-31, 1992.

The first session dealt with the subject of trade barriers between the provinces. It was chaired by Arthur Donahoe of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and featured lead-off speakers Jack Penner of Manitoba, Doug Symons of British Columbia and Bill Blaikie of the House of Commons. While there was general agreement on the need to reduce trade barriers there was no consensus on the extent to which such measures should be part of the Constitution.

The second session consisted of an address by historian, Peter Neary, on "The Newfoundland Constitutional Experiment and Referenda 1934-1949". The session was chaired by Senator William Doody of Newfoundland.

The session on Health Care Rationalization was chaired by Speaker David Warner of Ontario. The lead-off speakers were Art Webster of the Yukon, Russell Williams of Quebec, Betty Jean Brown of Prince Edward Island and Shannon O'Neill of British Columbia. A number of suggestions were put forth to improve the delivery and reduce the cost of health care in Canada.

The Speaker of the New Brunswick House of Assembly, Shirley Dysart, chaired the session on the difficult question of Drawing the Line Between Members Private Lives and Their Public Lives. How much should the public and the press know? The lead-off speakers were Gordon Atkinson of Quebec, Albert Fogarty of Prince Edward Island, Don Boudria of the House of Commons and Bettie Hewes of Alberta.

A session on the accountability of members was chaired by Michel Bissonnet of Quebec. It featured opening speakers Dianne Mirosh of Alberta, Don Blenkarn of the House of Commons, Alan Nordling of the Yukon, Corky Evans of British Columbia and Harry Brightwell of the House of Commons.

For many delegates the highlight of the conference was the session on the crisis in the Newfoundland and Labrador fishing industry. The speakers included Arthur May, President of Memorial University, Earle McCurdy, Secretary of the Fishermen Food and Allied Workers Union, Walter Carter, Minister of Fisheries for Newfoundland and Labrador and Victor Young, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fishery Product International. The panel was chaired by Newfoundland Speaker Tom Lush. The speakers offered few solutions but managed to demonstrate the multi-faceted dimensions of the problem in terms understandable to even "mainlanders".

The conference concluded with two sessions on CPA business, the first chaired by Speaker Edward Clark of Newfoundland focused on the Working Paper of the International Branch entitled CPA and the Future. The discussion was led by Speaker David Warner of Ontario and Speaker Joan Sawicki of British Columbia. The other session was chaired by Girve Fretz of the House of Commons and focused on the Canadian Region including reports from various branches on their activities during the past year.

International Symposium on Democracy in Quebec

Throughout 1992 a number of events have been organized to mark the bicentennial of representative government in Quebec. One of these was the International Symposium on Democracy held in Quebec City and Montreal from September 8-13.

The Symposium brought together representatives from several parliamentary associations including the International Assembly of French Speaking Parliamentarians, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Council of State Governments. Every Canadian province and territory was represented as was the Senate and House of Commons. In addition more than thirty other legislatures sent representatives as well as five American states and a number of non governmental organizations. The total participation numbered more than 300.

The Symposium was opened by the Deputy-Premier of Quebec, Lise Bacon and the Speaker of the National Assembly, Jean-Pierre Saintonge. There were also speeches by the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Pérez de Cuéllar; Baena Soares, Secretary-General of the Organization of American States, and Amine Gemayel, former President of Lebanon.

The Symposium was divided into six forums: Democracy and Parliamentary Institutions, Democracy and the Economy, Democracy and the Municipal Government, Democracy and the Media, Democracy and Culture, and the Future of Democracy.

The session on Democracy and Parliamentary Insitutions was chaired by John A. Conners, Speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives. The presenters were: Professor Jean-François Aubert, (Switzerland); Lord Beloff (United Kingdom); Maurice Glélé-Ahanhanzo, (UNESCO); Clive Griffiths, MLC (Western Australia); Associate Chief Justice of the Canadian Federal Court James A. Jerome, and Professor Greg Mahler (United States).

The forum on Democracy and the Economy was chaired by Henri Emmanuelli, President of the French National Assembly. The speakers were Issa Diallo (United Nations Secretariat); David Lavine of the Connecticut General Assembly, Monpati Merafhe MP (Botswana); Jacques Merlino (France); Pierre S. Pettigrew (Canada) and André-Jean Rigny (France).

The forum on Democracy and Municipal Government was chaired by David Warner, Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly. The speakers were Girve Fretz, MP (Canada); Mamadou Diop, MP (Senegal); Professor Lorne Giroux, (Quebec); the Commissioner of Official Languages Victor Goldbloom (Canada); and Marian Anczyk (Poland).

The forum on Democracy and the Media was chaired by Darrell E. Rolle, MP (Bahamas). The speakers included, Colin Shepard, MP (United Kingdom); Deputy Chairman of the Broadcasting Standards Council Jocelyn Barrow, (United Kingdom); Alphonse Blagué (Central African Republic); Pierre Salinger (ABC News International); and two journalists with Le Monde, Pierre Servent and Bertrand De la Grange.

The forum on Democracy and Culture was chaired by J. Bourdes-Ogouliguende, President of the Gabon National Assembly. The presenters were Quebec writer, Jacques Dufresne; Professor Joseph Ki-Zerbo (Senegal), Shri Ram Niwas Mirdha MP (India); former Canadian Minister and Diplomat Gérard Pelletier; Carlos Federico Ruckauf, (Argentina); and Joseph Voyame, (United Nations Anti-Torture Committee).

The forum on the Future of Democracy was chaired by Anne-Marie Corbisier-Hagon of the Council of the French Community (Belgium). The speakers were: Chairman Ed Broadbent, International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development (Canada); Speaker Headly Cunningham (Jamaica); Justice Rajsoomer Lallah (Mauritius); Raymond Ranjeva of the International Court in The Hague; Professor Michel Abitbol (Israel); Jean-Marie Vodoz, (Switzerland) and Senator Manuel Agiulera (Mexico).

A plenary session followed the forums. A summary of each session was presented by the rapporteurs: Jacques Prémont, Legislative Librarian (Quebec), Donald W. Limon, Clerk Assistant (United Kingdom), Alan Sokolow, Director, Eastern Office, Council of State Governments (New York), David Tonkin, Secretary-General, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Claude DesRosiers, Clerk (Ontario), and Christian Daubie, Secretary-General, Council of the French Community (Belgium).