REPORT

MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION

A delegation of five parliamentarians representing the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas travelled to Havana, Cuba from 13 to 15 March 2017 for a bilateral visit. The delegation was led by the Hon. Robert D. Nault, M.P. and Chair of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas. Accompanying Mr. Nault were the Honourable Donald Plett, Senator, the Honourable Pierrette Ringuette, Senator, Mr. Randy Boissonnault, M.P., and Mr. Françoi‎s Choquette, M.P.

Following the visit to Cuba, the delegation attended a ParlAmericas Open Parliament Network conference in San Jose, Costa Rica from 15 to 17 March 2017. In San Jose, members of the delegation were joined by Mr. Randy Hoback, M.P. Mr. Nault and Mr. Hoback also attended the 42nd meeting of the ParlAmericas Board of Directors on 18 March 2017 in San Jose.

BILATERAL VISIT TO HAVANA, CUBA

Canada’s earliest relations with Cuba date back to the 18th century, when Atlantic Canada began trading codfish and beer with Cuba in exchange for rum and sugar. Formal diplomatic relations between Ottawa and Havana were established in 1945, and Cuba was the first country in the Caribbean where Canada opened a diplomatic mission. Following the Cuban revolution in 1959, Canada and Mexico were the only countries in the hemisphere that never broke off diplomatic relations with the island. Canada’s relationship with Cuba is long-standing and been based on respectful engagement.

With an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of US$68.7 billion in 2014, Cuba has the biggest economy in the Central American/Caribbean subregion.

Cuba is the largest market for Canadian exports in Central America and the Caribbean, and exports to Cuba are roughly equal to Canadian exports to all of Central America combined. As the second most populous market in Central America and the Caribbean (after Guatemala) and the largest Caribbean island, Cuba has the potential to become an even more significant export market.

Although it is a developing country, many of Cuba’s social indicators (education, health, life expectancy, infant mortality, etc.) rival those of the developed world.

Canada is also the longest standing Western donor in Cuba and among the top bilateral donors to the country. Development cooperation is an integral part of Canada’s relationship with Cuba, with bilateral disbursements of approximately $4.0 million per year in two main areas: increasing food security and supporting sustainable economic growth.

Briefing with Officials of the Embassy of Canada to Cuba

In the morning of 13 March 2017, the Canadian delegation met with Ambassador Patrick Parisot and officials working in the Embassy of Canada to Cuba, to receive a briefing on political, trade, humanitarian aid and security matters in Cuba. The meeting was held in the Canadian Embassy in Havana, Cuba.

The delegation heard that Canada and Cuba have a special, long-standing relationship, the extent of which was illustrated by examples of past high-level meetings, projects, undertakings and exchanges between the two countries.

Two-way bilateral trade in 2015 totalled $1 billion. It was noted that trade with Cuba was complicated by the ongoing sanctions against Cuba by the United States, with access to insurance and financing products the largest barrier for Canadian companies. The delegation heard that Cuba holds an interest in attracting a substantial amount of direct foreign interest in the near term and that Cuba considers it important to maintain a diversity of trading partners. It was noted that in 2011, President Raul Castro prepared guidelines to transition the country’s economy from being centrally planned toward a mixed model economy.

Tourism is an important industry in the country. About 1.3 million Canadians visit Cuba annually, making consular support at the Embassy a demanding role.

Embassy officials provided the delegation with an overview of the framework and operation of Cuba’s political system. Among other things, the unicameral House of Representatives, which is partly elected and partly appointed, meets twice per year. Under the presidential limit of two terms in place in Cuba, President Castro is scheduled to step down in 2018.

In 2016, Canada was the third-largest donor to Cuba. The focus of the funding has been to promote food security, sustainable economic growth, and to support economic management. Other matters raised during the meeting included student exchanges between Canada and Cuba, and the current and future economic, social and political prospects in Cuba.

• Meeting with Mr. Eligio Rodriguez, Director for Europe and Canada, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In the morning of 13 March 2017, the delegation met with Mr. Eligio Rodriguez, Director for Europe and Canada, Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Foreign Affairs Protocol House in Havana, Cuba.

Mr. Rodriguez remarked that Canada is considered an important, long-standing, respected partner. The closeness between the two countries was recently highlighted when Canada was made the guest country of honour at Cuba’s national book fair, an important cultural event. Mr. Nault indicated that the purpose of the visit to Cuba by the delegation was to build on the two countries’ successes as partners, gather insights about Cuba and consider how Canadian parliamentarians could help support the bilateral relationship.

A number of topics were raised between Mr. Rodriguez and the delegation, including the importance Canada places on strengthening its relationship with countries in the hemisphere. Of note, the delegation was told that Cuba’s development plan, which covered the period up to 2030, focussed on renewable energy, infrastructure and agriculture. The plan also sought to diversify trade relationships in strategic sectors and seek investment. It was noted that areas of seeking foreign investment included tourism, golf courses, airports, marinas, and ports.

It was also noted that the two countries have aligned interests and priorities with respect to climate change (it was noted that Cuba is susceptible to hurricanes and droughts) and status of women. The meeting concluded with Mr. Nault, on behalf of the delegation, inviting Mr. Rodriguez to Canada to continue their discussion.

• Meeting with Ms. Ana Maria Mari Machado, Vice-President of the National Assembly of People’s Power

During the final meeting of the morning of 13 March 2017, the Canadian delegation met with Ms. Ana Maria Mari Machado, Vice-President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Ms. Maria Yolanda Ferrer Gomez, President of the International Relations Committee of the National Assembly, Dr. Agustin Lage, President of the Cuban chapter of the Canada-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Association and Ms. Gladys Lopez Bejerano, member of the National Assembly and member of the ParlAmericas Board of Directors.

The meeting featured a discussion that covered of a wide range of topics. The Cuban parliamentarians provided their perspectives to the delegation on Cuba’s plans to mitigate against climate change vulnerability, the importance of health care and social programs for its aging society, and steps taken to increase women’s participation in the justice system, politics, health and education. It was noted that, in their view, health care and social programs led to the quality life improvements that increased political participation and led to a more equitable society. Also raised in the discussion was information on the strides being taken to unify Cuba’s two currencies and educational exchange opportunities between the two countries.

The conversation that began at the meeting continued over a working lunch held at the Café del Oriente in Havana.

Tour of a Cuban Medical Research Facility (Centro de Neurociencias)

In the afternoon of 13 March 2017, the Canadian delegation visited the Centro de Neurociencias, a Cuban medical research facility located in Havana, Cuba.

The neuro-technology centre in Havana is a state-run facility that also conducts research into pharmaceuticals. In Cuba, while medical centres are operated by the state, the delegation was told that many possibilities exist for joint foreign-domestic ventures and licensing in the health industry. Currently, the centre is collaborating with a neurological institute in Quebec. Further, operating under a memorandum of understanding signed with that province, short term, two-way research missions are being undertaken, along with an international internship program. The delegation was also told that Canada, Cuba and China are collaborating on a brain mapping project.

The closed-loop approach to research and development used in Cuba was explained to the delegation. Under this approach, research leads to production, production to exports and exports to improvements in the health of Cubans.

Projects underway at the centre were described to the delegates, including three-dimensional printing of hearing aids. Other medical institutes in Cuba mentioned to the delegation included, the institute headed by Dr. Lang, whom the delegation met with that morning at the National Assembly, which has developed a vaccine for lung cancer, and a research facility dedicated to brain health during aging.

The doctors at the centre told the delegation that medical researchers in Cuba are adept at conducting large focussed health-related studies. Examples cited of such studies included a national study on learning disabilities and a nationwide study on dementia.

The delegation was told medical researchers in Cuba held a strong interest in collaborating with their Canadian counterparts

• Delegation decision: It was agreed to by members of the delegation that Canada ought to organize and host a joint meeting of Cuban and Canadian medical professionals to consider a specific topic.

Site Visit to World Food Program Project

The morning of 14 March 2017, the Canadian delegation visited Union de Reyes in the province of Matanzas. The purpose of the visit was to allow the delegation to observe several sites that have benefitted from a World Food Program project that received its funding from the government of Canada. The program bolsters the nutritional needs of vulnerable populations in Cuba, such as school children and the elderly.

The delegation’s first stop in Union de Reyes was a day care centre attended by about 70 children aged one to five. The centre was being supplied with agricultural products by the World Food Program project. The delegation was met at the centre by its Principal, the municipal Director of Education and the Director of Municipal Relations, among other officials and staff. The delegation was told that the daily cost of the program was 40 to 80 pesos per month and that the program was sustainable as it supported and bolstered production of food products within a pre-existing supply chain.

Next, the delegation was taken to visit farm fields growing beans and garlic where members met with local farmers and directors of the food program. The delegation was told that after having received technical assistance from the World Food Program, their crop yields increased substantially and their operation became markedly more productive. The farmers told the delegation this year’s harvest was double the usual.

The delegation then visited an elderly care centre for citizens over the age of 60 who lived alone. Users of the centre received five meals per day, including snacks; these meals were prepared principally using the agricultural products grown by local farmers in the World Food Program project.

Lastly, the delegation held a working lunch with the directors of the local farming cooperative that was receiving assistance from the World Food Program project. The delegation was told that the cooperative consisted of about 100 farmers. With the assistance from the project, agricultural production had risen from 0.6 tons per hectare to over one ton per hectare.

Presentation and Tour of Sherritt International’s Joint-Venture Power Production Facility (Energas)

In the afternoon of 14 March 2017, the delegation was given a briefing and a tour of the Sherritt International power production facility located in Boca de Jaruco, Mayabeque.

Sherritt is the largest power producer in Cuba, with three power facilities located throughout the country. It provides about 15% of Cuba’s electricity (or electricity for about 280,000 houses). The clean energy power production facility generates carbon credits for Kyoto clean energy credits. The company also has mining interests in Cuba, including a joint copper mining venture with the government of Cuba, in which the material mined in Cuba is refined in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

Site to the Mariel Port and the Mariel Special Economic Zone (ZEM)

In the morning of 15 March 2017, the Canadian delegation visited the Mariel Special Economic Zone (ZEM) in the Artemisa province. ZEM opened in September 2013, and represents a $1 billion investment by the government of Cuba to a build a major trans-shipment port and a free trade zone in order to attract foreign investment. It is 65 square kilometres in size, employs 4,000 individuals, features a deep water port with a modern container terminal and, at the time, was occupied by 24 different companies.

The delegation was told that the Cuban government is offering tax incentives to companies in order to spur investment in the zone. Further, the approval period for companies applying to open operations in ZEM was 60 days, although the delegation heard that, in practice, the approval process can exceed this 60 day period by a wide margin. Lastly, the delegation heard that a ZEM trade delegation visited Ottawa, Toronto and Montreal since 2013 to seek Canadian investors.

• Delegation decision: The delegation considers the ZEM to represent a potentially important investment opportunity for Canadian companies. Members of the delegation will pursue possible Canadian investors for the ZEM.

SECOND GATHERING OF THE PARLAMERICAS OPEN PARLIAMENTARY NETWORK

ParlAmericas gives priority in its aims and work to three subject-matter pillars: gender equality, open parliaments and climate change.

In 2012, an international seminar was held on “Transparency and Probity in the National Congress and Political Party System” in Santiago, Chile. The meeting culminated in the parliamentarians in attendance signing the Santiago Declaration, which, among other things, created the Inter-American Parliamentary Network for Transparency, Access to Public Information and Probity.

In September 2015, the Parliamentary Network was incorporated into the governance structure of ParlAmericas, under the name Open Parliament Network (OPN). The Network holds annual meeting to give parliamentarians from the hemisphere a forum to discuss efforts and share experiences about increasing transparency, accountability and citizen engagement. The OPN held its second annual gathering from 15 to 18 March 2017, in San Jose, Costa Rica, on the topic of “Strengthening the ties between citizens and legislatures.”

In the morning of 16 March 2017, participants in the OPN gathering attended the opening ceremony held in the room of the Former Presidents of the Republic, in Costa Rica’s Legislative Assembly. A number of speakers provided remarks to participants.

Ms. Karla Prendas, Member of the Legislative Assembly (Costa Rica), provided an overview of the actions taken at the national level in Costa Rica to make its assembly more open to the public. These included modernizing its information technology systems and implementing an access to information regime. She noted Costa Rica is regarded as a leader in Central America in respect of parliamentary openness. Mr. José Alberto Alfaro Jiménez, Interim President of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica stressed the importance of openness and transparency in strengthening democratic institutions, and the need to involve citizens in decision making. He noted Costa Rica had committed to signing an openness framework agreement policy. Senator Marcela Guerra (Mexico), President of ParlAmericas, spoke of how opening parliaments can boost citizen participation and engagement, and meaningfully connect people with their democratic institutions. She told participants that legislative assemblies needed to foster innovative ideas and invest in information technology. Senator Hernán Larraín (Chile), President of the Open Parliament Network, provided background information to the participants about the OPN. He told participants that accountability and transparency can build citizen trust. He further noted with dismay the existence of a global trend of citizen disengagement with their democratic institutions. He stressed that tools such as the ParlAmericas Open Parliament road map could help to reverse this trend. Ms. Ligia Fallas Member of the Legislative Assembly (Costa Rica), told participants of the need to use transparency to strengthen participatory democracy and underlined the importance of information technology for connecting with citizens. She gave the example of how, in Costa Rica, citizens can help to draft legislation. Lastly, Mr. Pablo Collada, Representative of the Latin American Network for Legislative Transparency, called for participants to engage in a nonpartisan dialogue during the sessions ahead, and to collaborate and understand each other’s challenges.

Session 1 – New Horizons for Citizen Participation: International Initiatives within the Framework of the Open Government Partnership

The first session was held in the late morning on 16 March 2017. The session featured an open floor discussion on citizen engagement with national legislatures, followed by presentations by a panel of speakers.

The Open Government Partnership (OPN) referenced in the theme for session one is a multilateral forum established in September 2011 among eight founding countries (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, the Philippines, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States) endorsed the Open Government Declaration. Since 2011, 67 additional governments have joined the OPN.

During the open floor discussion, the moderator, Ms. Guadalupe Valdez, a former Congressperson (Dominican Republic), posed questions to participants. The purpose of the questions was to encourage discussion on how legislators could engage citizens in order to regain the public’s confidence in politics. Participants varied in their responses, placing importance on any of electoral reform, citizen forums, improved civic education, greater institutional accountability, a reduction in corruption, and fulfilling campaign promises.

The panel presentations on open parliaments began with Senator Larraín referring to polling trends that showed a growing disconnect between legislatures and the public. He suggested that in many countries, this was the result of budgetary spending by the government not sufficiently reflecting the public’s priorities. Senator Larraín went on to describe the access to information regime in place in Chile. He encouraged participants to implement an open parliament action plan in their own national legislatures, and noted that compliance to the plan ought to be audited by an external body. Mr. Scott Hubli, Director of Governance Programs, National Democratic Institute, told participants that creating open parliaments was a global challenge. He noted that communication technology used by citizens to interact with each other far outpaced its use by legislatures to interact with the public. Mr. Hubli then provided examples and suggestions to participants about how to better connect and foster dialogue with citizens using information technology platforms. He told the participants that an important challenge that arises from increasing citizens input in the democratic and legislative process is that making decisions together is difficult. Ms. Agustina De Luca, Director of Legislative Transparency, Fundación Directorio Legislativo, told participants that open parliaments are created by collaboration, participation and inclusion of civil society groups. In putting in place an open parliament regime, she encouraged participants to make full use of existing guides, studies, indicators and best practices. In her view, open parliament principles had many applications, including in lobbying, ethics, procurement, and open data.

Session 2 – Smart Parliaments: Enabling Inclusive and Innovative Legislative Processes

The second session was held in the afternoon of 16 March 2017. The session began with a presentation by the moderator, Mr. Cristiano Ferri, Director of the Hacker Lab of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil. He briefed participants on the work undertaken at the Hacker Lab. Electronic tools there are produced at low cost through collaborative experimentation. Mr. Ferri showed participants a legislative tool they developed dubbed “Wikileg” that allows the legislature to post draft legislation online and allow citizens to comment on it and propose amendments. The inclusion of the public’s feedback in the legislation remains at the discretion of the bill’s sponsor.

Senator Mauricio Lizcano (Colombia) described for participants the Colombian Senate’s online open congress system. The interactive system allows the public to, among other things, connect with senators, watch Senate proceedings, have access to past voting and attendance records of senators, and review the sitting agenda. He noted since the system was launched, attendance in the Senate rose from 35% to 75%. The system also has features meant to expose patronage and corruption. For instance, it provides information and cost figures on procurement, the c.v.’s of certain public appointees, and the conflict of interest public declaration statements of senators. The system is hosted on the Senate administration’s website and can be accessed by smartphone. Senator Lizcano’s presentation was followed by Ms. Haydee Hernández Pérez, Head of the Technical Unit on Gender Equality, Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica. She discussed the struggle her country has endured in incorporating gender equality into numerous aspects of society and the country’s legislature. Ms. Hernández Pérez told participants the steps taken toward gender parity have included creating an all-party women’s caucus at the legislature, gender parity laws were, in the recent past, introduced to guarantee gender parity on boards of associations and unions, and a housemaid’s bill of rights has also been proposed.

Participants in session two were then asked to work together at each table to come up with responses to the following questions: How can citizens contribute to the legislative process in your country? What processes can legislatures adopt to increase citizen participation? In response to these questions, participants provided the following: citizens can connect with their legislature using technological tools such as social media, take an active part in following legislation, submitting briefs, appearing before parliamentary committees, and maintaining contact with their elected representatives. Legislatures can increase their interactivity with the public by holding more community meetings and town halls, issue white papers (draft legislation), and broadcasting their proceedings.

Session 3 – Working Collaboratively: Analysis and Application of a Practical Case

In the morning of 25 March 2017, session three began with a video presentation provided by Ms. Jennifer Simons, Speaker of the National Assembly (Suriname), on the program her country launched to improve its openness and accountability to the public. The video highlighted steps taken by Suriname to improve transparency, ethics and citizen participation at the assembly. A comprehensive and interactive website was launched; proceedings have begun being broadcasted on television; and the most recent innovation was the creation of a parliamentary application for smartphones.

Following the video, Mr. Lemarque Campbell, Policy Subcommittee Chairman, Citizens for a Better Bahamas, gave a presentation on the recent adoption of an access to information law in Bahamas. As a civil society organization, he told participants they engaged the public to educate them about the proposed law, made recommendations for amendments to Parliament and aided the public in making submissions to Parliament about the law. Mr. Campbell then provided participants with the salient features and aspects of a comprehensive access to information law, for countries seeking to implement such a law.

Dr. Magaly McLean, Senior Counsel, Department of International Law, Organization of American States appeared for session three by video to give a presentation on the different access to information frameworks and models used by countries in the region. Features she highlighted as important included arm’s length commissions or offices needed to be sufficiently funded and neutral and that legislatures be provided with an opportunity to review appointments to the access to information commissions.

After the presentations concluded, the mediator for session three, Ms. Hannia Vega, provided participants with a hypothetical case study that each table was asked to work together on, with a goal of providing the plenary with views, ideas and feedback about the case. The case involved a fictional country adopting a flawed access to information law and then having parts of the access to information process interfered with by a non-neutral access to information arbitrator. In assessing the case, participants provided numerous comments, including that an access to information arbitrator ought to be independent from the government and be provided with a budgetary process outside of government interference; that illegal actions such as those cited in the hypothetical cause ought to be reviewed and evaluated by an independent commission; and that the faulty law should be revised.

Several speeches were made to close the second gathering of ParlAmericas OPN. It was noted that delegates at the gathering hailed from over 25 countries in the hemisphere. Participants were also invited to attend the forthcoming climate change meeting to be held in May 2017 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lastly, the newly elected members of the Executive Committee of the OPN were announced.

Meeting with Canada’s Ambassador to Costa Rica

In the afternoon of 17 March 2017, the Canadian delegation met with Mr. Michael Gort, Canada’s Ambassador to Costa Rica, in the Radisson Hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica.

The delegation heard that Costa Rica and Canada engage in about $650 million in bilateral trade annually. The main imports to Canada included fruits, nuts and medical equipment while the main exports to Costa Rica included cereals and machinery. Costa Rica is a like-minded, long-standing regional partner with strong environmental credentials, and remains a country that holds an interest in modernizing and enlarging its trade relationship with Canada and benefitting from a broad range of Canadian expertise.

The Ambassador provided information on programs in the country funded by the government of Canada to help combat poverty, boost human rights and the rule of law, and provide support to vulnerable groups such as LGBTQ2 community.

Among other matters raised during the meeting, it was noted that tourism was an important industry in the country; improving security to target illegal activities remained a domestic priority; many of the challenges faced by the national government related to a lack of resources at its disposal; the resources in Costa Rica had been strained recently due to rising levels of migrants passing through the country; and that Costa Rica has committed to joining the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) before the year 2019.

42ND MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

On 18 March 2017, ParlAmericas held its 42nd meeting of the Board of Directors in the Radisson Hotel in San Jose, Costa Rica. The meeting began by passing through a series of brief agenda items, including approving the agenda and approving the minutes from the 41st Board of Directors meeting. The following board activities, among other things, were discussed:

A briefing was provided regarding the Work Plan for the year 2017-2018 and its contents was reviewed by the board. Discussion arose among members about strategies the organization could implement to grow its membership. Other members wondered about adopting a process to deal with commitments made at previous board meetings.

The work plan for the Group of Women Parliamentarians was presented, including past activities and upcoming events and projects. It was noted that the name of the group ought to be changed to replace the word “group” with “network.” Mr. Nault raised with the board that supporting gender equality was a priority of Canada’s government. Further, he told the board needed consider how to provide a space or platform for the LGTBQ2 community to raise matters of importance within the ParlAmericas framework.

A review of the work of the OPN was provided. Workshops had been planned on the topics of combatting corruption and improving fiscal transparency. The Executive Committee was scheduled to hold a meeting to further discussions on the OPN and its work following the conclusion of the board meeting. It was noted that Canada was ready to serve as host for a meeting on access to information and ethics in October 2017.

The work of the Climate Change Network was discussed, including a recent collaboration between ParlAmericas and Parlatino. An update on the upcoming meeting to be held in autumn 2017 in Panama was given.

A progress report on the ParlAmericas Plenary Assembly to be hosted in Medellin, Colombia, in November 2017, was provided. The planned theme for the assembly was proposed as parliamentary action and responsible political discourse. It was also raised that the hosts planned on showcasing the public transportation system in Medellin to participants of the assembly. It was also noted that preparations made by Canada to host the 2018 Plenary Assembly in Victoria, British Columbia, were well underway.

Lastly, the board resolved into the ParlAmericas Corporation in order to hold its annual meeting to conclude certain internal financial and administrative matters.

Respectfully submitted,

Hon. Robert Nault, P.C., M.P.

Chair

Canadian Section of ParlAmericas