Twenty-second Canadian Regional
Conference Yellowknife, NWT, July 31-August 7,1982
This year, for the first time, a conference
of the Canadian Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association will be
held in the Northwest Territories. Due to the vast size of the Territories and
the limited accommodation available the format of the 1982 conference will be
slightly different than previous ones.
Delegates will be given a choice of four
pre-conference itineraries. One will begin in Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island,
another at Rankin Inlet on the west coast of Hudson's Bay, the third at Hay
River on the South Shore of Great Slave Lake and the fourth at Inuvik in the Mackenzie
delta. After three or four days touring points of interest in each of the areas
the respective delegations will fly to Yellowknife where the formal conference
sessions will be held.
Saskatchewan Members' seminar
On February 9, 1982, the Saskatchewan Branch
of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held its first in what is planned
to be an annual series of seminars for Members. The seminar was established by
a recommendation of the Report of the Special Committee on the Review of Rules
and Procedures of the Legislative Assembly, which proposed that a seminar on
parliamentary procedure be held each year so that Saskatchewan members can get
together to discuss shared concerns and keep abreast of new developments in the
parliamentary field.
The seminar, which was not open to the press
and public, dealt with the changing role of private members in Parliament and
served as a general discussion of the Legislative Assembly o Saskatchewan's new
rules and procedures adopted as a result of the recommendations of the special
rules committee report. In particular, the seminar focussed on Saskatchewan's
new committee system and its potential effect on the role of Private Members.
Hon. Jack Stokes, Ontario MPP and former
Speaker of the Ontario House, served as guest theme speaker for the seminar and
made a valuable contribution to the discussion. Mr. Frank Meakes, a former
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, also participated in the
seminar and shared his perspective on the changing role of private members.