The parliamentary delegation that represented the
Canadian Branch at the 30th Regional Assembly of the America Region of the
Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF) and the Conference of
Branch Chairs (CBC) in Toronto, Canada, on August 4 to 8, 2014, has
the honour of presenting its report.
The delegation from the Canadian Branch of the APF
was made up of the Hon. Senator Paul E. McIntyre, QC, President of
the APF, and MP Bernard Trottier, Acting Chair of the Canadian
Branch. The delegation was accompanied by François Michaud, Association
Secretary.
In addition to the Canadian Branch, the Alberta,
British Columbia, Haiti, Louisiana, Manitoba, New Brunswick, New Hampshire,
Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan branches
also participated in the working sessions. The Parliamentary Secretary General
of the APF and the chargé de mission for Africa were also present.
Conference of Branch Chairs
The CBC took place under the chairmanship of Carole
Poirier (Quebec), current Chair of the CBC and Vice-Chair of the Quebec
Branch.
Minutes of the APF Bureau meeting
Pascal Terrasse
(France), APF Parliamentary Secretary General, presented the highlights of the APF
Bureau meeting held in Ottawa in July 2014.
Report from the Chargé de mission
The delegate for the America Region chargé de
mission, France Gélinas (Ontario), presented a report on the regional
activities that had taken place since the last CBC in August 2013.
Statement of revenues and expenses, America
Region
Dominic Dumont,
Regional Executive Secretary, presented the 2013–2014 statement of revenues and
expenses and the 2014–2015 budget estimates for the America Region of the APF.
Update on resolutions
Dominic Dumont presented
a status report on the resolutions adopted in Regina in 2011, in Toronto in
2012, in New Orleans in 2012 and in Quebec City in 2013.
It was decided that the next Conference of Branch
Chairs would again be held by videoconference in mid-February 2015. For
the record, this initiative of the America Region was adopted following a
proposal by the Canadian Branch at the August 2012 CBC.
Regional Assembly of the America Region
Opening of proceedings
Pascal Terrasse, APF
Parliamentary Secretary General, outlined his proposals to make the APF a stronger
assembly. He also paid tribute to the outgoing APF President, the Hon. Andrée
Champagne, PC, retired Canadian senator.
The Hon. Paul E. McIntyre, APF President,
set out his priorities as International President. He also paid tribute to the
Hon. Andrée Champagne, who retired in July 2014.
France Gélinas,
Vice-Chair of the Ontario Branch, welcomed the delegates and presented the
theme of the regional assembly.
Reports on social media
Simon Desras, President
of the Haitian Senate; Bernard Trottier, Acting Chair of the Canadian
Branch; Hector Goudreau (Alberta), Marc Dalton, (British
Columbia); Eric Lafleur (Louisiana); Robert Théberge (New
Hampshire); Wes McLean (New Brunswick); Lena Diab, Minister
of Justice, Minister of Immigration and Attorney General (Nova Scotia); France
Gélinas (Ontario); Carole Poirier (Quebec); Cathy Sproule
(Saskatchewan); and Emily Doiron, Secretary of the Prince Edward
Island Branch presented reports on this topic.
Steve Ladurantaye, head
of News and Government Partnerships at Twitter Canada, gave a presentation
entitled “[translation] Better use
of social media to promote social engagement: strategies for parliaments and
elected officials.”
The assembly also conducted a field visit to the
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, and attended a presentation by the President of CBC
Ontario’s French‑language services and a working meeting with a panel of
social media experts.
For the first time ever, parliamentarians from the
America Region held a joint working meeting with the Francophone Youth
Parliament of the Americas (FYPA), whose first meeting took place in Toronto.
A resolution on the Quebec City Declaration (which came out of the work of the interparliamentary seminar on the
20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and the Beijing Platform for Action,
held in Quebec City in January 2014) was adopted.
By participating in the meeting of the Conference
of Branch Chairs and the assembly of the America Region, the Canadian Branch
achieved its goals of meeting its international and regional obligations,
presenting a report, representing the budgetary interests of the Canadian
Branch, maintaining regional contacts and representing its interests.
Respectfully submitted,
The Hon. Paul E. McIntyre, QC, Senator
President of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF)