Members of the Canadian Section of
the Canada-US inter-parliamentary Group Attend the Meeting of Southern US
Legislators
From 31 July to 3 August 2010, the
Honourable Senator Anne Cools, the Honourable Bryon Wilfert P.C., M.P., Mr.
Christian Ouellet, M.P. and Mr. Terence Young, M.P. represented the Canadian
Section of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group at the 64th
annual meeting of the Southern Legislative Conference (SLC) in Charleston,
South Carolina.
At the meeting, each of the SLC’s six
committees – Agriculture & Rural Development, Economic Development,
Transportation & Cultural Affairs, Education, Energy & Environment,
Fiscal Affairs & Government Operations, and Human Services & Public
Safety – met, as did the Gulf Coast & Atlantic States Task Force. During
these meetings, a number of topics that are important for Canada were
discussed, including animal welfare, rural issues, the business climate,
post-secondary education admission and retention, and nuclear energy. Meeting
participants also had the opportunity to hear from Mr. Ben Bernanke, Chairman
of the US Federal Reserve, and Representative James Clyburn, Majority Whip in
the US House of Representatives.
Canada and the 15 SLC states share a
mutually beneficial relationship. According to recent figures, nearly 2.5
million jobs in those states rely on our bilateral trade, which was recently
valued at just under $114.5 billion for the region in one year: more than $55
billion was exported from the 15 states to Canada, while they imported just
over $59 billion from us. Visits are also frequent. Recent data suggest that
Canadians made more than 6.6 million visits to the SLC states in a 12-month
period and spent more than $4.2 billion, while residents of the SLC states made
about 1.9 million visits to Canada and spent nearly $1.3 billion.
Founded in 1947, the Southern
Legislative Conference includes state legislators from 15 southern states (see
list below). Its mission is to foster and encourage intergovernmental
cooperation among member states. Information about the SLC can be found at
www.slcatlanta.org.
It should be noted that the views
expressed in this news release are specific to the Canadian Section of the
Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group and, as such, may not reflect
the views of our United States counterparts.
The Canada-United States
Inter-Parliamentary Group aims to find points of convergence in respective
national policies, to initiate dialogue on points of divergence, to encourage
the exchange of information and to promote better understanding among
legislators on shared issues of concern. Additional information on the Group
can be found at www.parl.gc.ca/iia/us.
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For
further information: Hon. Janis Johnson, Co-Chair, Canada-US
Inter-Parliamentary Group
613-943-1430
Mr. Gord Brown, M.P., Co-Chair, Canada- US Inter-Parliamentary Group
613-992-8756
Mr. Chad Mariage, Executive Secretary, Canada- US Inter-Parliamentary Group
613-944-4238