The
parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch of the APF that attended the
International Conference on Benchmarking and Self-Assessment for Democratic
Parliaments in Paris, France, on March 3 and 4, 2010, has the honour to
present its report.
The delegation
was made up of Senator Pierre De Bané.
The
Conference was organized by the World Bank Institute (WBI) and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with the Assemblée
Parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Association (CPA), the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the National
Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).
The
Conference brought together around 80 participants, including parliamentarians,
parliamentary staff, parliamentary development specialists and donor agencies
such as the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Parliamentary
Centre, the Association des secrétaires généraux des parlements francophones,
the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum, the
Inter-American Development Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Senator De
Bané, as the Chair of the APF’s Parliamentary Affairs Committee, presented
the work carried out by the APF over the last few years regarding democratic
parliaments.
He discussed
the APF and La Francophonie in general, emphasizing that “the functioning of
our [APF’s] member parliaments is clearly at the heart of our purpose and concerns.
It therefore follows that the APF does not welcome representatives from
countries where democracy has been overthrown.”
The
Parliamentary Affairs Committee implements various parliamentary co-operation
programs to improve the functioning and work methods of the assemblies. One of
these programs includes a comprehensive project aiming to survey member
parliaments about parliamentary practices and procedures. This compendium
should be finalized at the APF’s next session, in July 2010. Some contributions
have already been posted on the APF website.
Developing
benchmarks to evaluate the democratic reality of parliaments dovetails with the
APF’s mission.
Senator De
Bané continued by saying that the APF intends to play an active role in the
global reflection on developing and strengthening democracy. To this end, the
APF has undertaken to develop what it calls “benchmarks for evaluating the
democratic reality of parliaments” for the Francophone world.
The APF
brings together parliaments from countries at various stages of development
with a variety of parliamentary traditions. The challenge of this exercise was
to combine all these differences into a single document in which countries
could recognize themselves.
By
identifying the benchmarks against which parliamentary democracy can be gauged,
the APF was able to take action and reflect on the best ways to ensure the
functioning and legitimacy of the parliamentary institutions. The exercise
enabled members of the APF to share experiences and look objectively at how
democracy is best served.
Senator De
Bané concluded by saying that the document the APF produced is more than
just a collection of prescriptive criteria. Rather, it gives its member
parliaments objectives to strive for. Above all, it aims to be a constructive
document that takes a specific, targeted and progressive approach. It finds its
meaning in the desire of parliamentarians to constantly improve the functioning
of their parliaments, as they have sought to do over the past 30 years and as
they will continue to do for 30 more.
Conference
participants adopted a final declaration, available at
www.agora-parl.org/node/2783.
Respectfully submitted,
Hon.
Pierre De Bané, P.C., Senator
Member of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF)