NEWS RELEASE

Members of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association participate at the 22nd Annual Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum, and meet with Canada’s Military Attaché to the U.S and members of the Canadian diplomatic corps in Washington D.C.

From 5-7 December 2022, the Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association and Head of the Delegation – Julie Dzerowicz, MP – led a delegation to Washington D.C., United States (U.S.) to participate in the 22nd Annual Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum. The other delegates were Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu; Senator Donna Dasko; Charlie Angus, MP; and Christine Normandin, MP.

Since 2001, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly (PA) has organized, on an annual basis, a Parliamentary Transatlantic Forum (the Forum) in Washington, D.C. It is hosted by the National Defense University and co-sponsored by the Atlantic Council. This was the first Forum Canadian parliamentarians have attended in-person since the pandemic began in 2020.

One of the objectives of the Forum is to explore the state of transatlantic relations, and help identify ways to address divergences in the way in which NATO countries approach key security issues. At the 2022 Forum, Canadian parliamentarians and legislators from other NATO countries, heard from and held discussions with U.S. congressional representatives, U.S. administration officials, academics and policy experts on several topics of interest to NATO and the U.S. These topics included:

• Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine;
• defending enduring transatlantic values in a competitive strategic environment;
• the threat that autocracies and authoritarian countries pose to democratic values and the rules-based international order;
• the human rights situation in Russia, particularly in terms of the Kremlin’s persecution and oppression of Russians opposed to the current regime led by President Vladimir Putin;
• international sanctions against Russia;
• energy security;
• the Indo-Pacific region and relations with China;
• Arctic security; and
• the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO.

Ms. Dzerowicz, former Vice-president of the NATO PA, moderated a panel on the changing security landscape in the Indo-Pacific region, which included discussions on China’s assertiveness in the region and the need to cooperate more closely with regional partners, such as Australia and Japan. As well, members of the Canadian delegation participated actively throughout the Forum’s 12 sessions.

As part of its preparations for the Forum, the delegation met with Sara D. Cohen, Deputy Head of Mission (Foreign Policy & National Security), Major-General Michel-Henri St-Louis, Canada’s Military Attaché to the U.S., and other Canadian government officials at the Embassy of Canada to the United States. Delegates were briefed on several issues, including Canada-U.S. bilateral relations, the Indo-Pacific region and Arctic Security.

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For further information:
Julie Dzerowicz, MP
Chair of the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association
+1 416-525-1949

Céline Ethier
Association Secretary
Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association
CANA@parl.gc.ca