Report

The parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) has the honour to present its report on its parliamentary mission to New York, United States, on April 3–4, 2024. The Canadian delegation was composed of M.P. Francis Drouin, President of the APF and Chair of the Canadian Branch, as well as Executive Secretary Julie Pelletier.

BACKGROUND

On January 31, 2023, the APF Bureau tasked APF President Francis Drouin to begin the process of obtaining observer status for the association at the United Nations (UN). As part of his campaign, the APF President had multiple discussions with permanent representatives to the UN to explain the APF’s steps. Mr. Drouin went to New York on a fact-finding mission in March 2023 and delivered remarks at the meeting of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors to the UN in June 2023. He also attended the High-Level Week of the 78^th Session of the General Assembly in September 2023 and in February 2024 to meet with ambassadors to the UN.

PARLIAMENTARY MISSION TO THE UNITED NATIONS

The primary goals of the mission were to present the role and activities of the APF, explain the steps that are underway to obtain observer status, finalize the list of countries likely to support the APF’s application, find new support from non-French-speaking countries and announce that the official application is expected to be submitted in June 2024.

President Drouin had the opportunity to speak with many UN permanent representatives and legal counsel, including H.E. Aram Hakobyan, Armenia; Tatiana Barbara Muñoz Ponce, First Secretary, Bolivia; H.E. Mohamed Doualeh, Djibouti; H.E. Alicia Buenrostro Massieu, Mexico; H.E. James Kariuki, United Kingdom; Nathaniel Khng, Republic of Singapore; and H.E. Carlos Amorín, Uruguay.

During his discussions, President Drouin also stressed the opportunity to pair parliamentary diplomacy with traditional diplomacy, promoted the importance of maintaining dialogue and using mediation in the current global crises, and presented the APF’s climate change legislative corpus.

Respectfully submitted,

Darrell Samson, M.P.
Chair, Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie