The
parliamentary delegation of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée
parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF), having participated in the meeting
of the Political Committee of the APF held in Lomé, Togo, on
March 14–16, 2012, has the honour of submitting its report.
Consisting
of Bernard Trottier, MP, the delegation was accompanied by Philippe Méla,
acting Administrative Secretary of the Branch.
The
following branches were represented at this meeting: Belgium/French
Community/Wallonia-Brussels, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, France,
Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Jura, Niger, Quebec, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Senegal, Switzerland and Togo.
After
welcoming remarks by the President of the Togo Branch of the APF,
André Schneider (France), Chair of the Political Committee, welcomed the
Committee delegates. One minute of silence was observed to mark the two
tragedies in the Congo and in Switzerland, where children had died in an
automobile accident on the eve of the meeting.
Mr. Schneider
said that he hoped the coming century would be Africa’s century. He also said
that the Togo Branch had distinguished itself by its very active involvement on
several levels to advance democracy and the participation of women and youth in
the democratic process.
The
President of the Togo Branch of the APF commenced the meeting of the Political
Committee with his opening address. He expressed his wish to see relevant
resolutions to come out of the substantive agenda. He pointed out that, in
addition to strengthening ties among members of the francophone community, the
APF also ensured that the voice of La Francophonie was heard throughout the
world. He reviewed the issues that would be discussed during the meeting of the
Political Committee and thanked the Committee Chair for the relevance of the
topics chosen to reflect our changing world.
Commencement
of proceedings
The agenda
and minutes of the last meeting of the Committee were adopted unanimously.
The agenda
having been adopted, proceedings began with the consideration of the reports.
1.
Political situation in La Francophonie
Rapporteur:
Ms. Denise Mekam’Ne
Ms. Mekam’Ne
(Gabon) summarized the situation in the countries that had been suspended. The
report was up to date as of February 22, 2012, and could be amended
to reflect recommendations made by the branches.
A. Côte
d’Ivoire
Ms. Mekam’Ne
indicated that progress toward democracy has been made but that tension was
still palpable following the bloody clashes that followed the elections. She
also mentioned that the country still faces challenges in terms of
strengthening its democratic institutions, but that the last election had gone
well. The government must be established as soon as possible.
Mr. Guillaume Soro had been elected President of the National Assembly.
The report
gave rise to a discussion; the various comments highlighted the country’s
desire to end the crisis in which it has found itself, and stressed the
importance of ensuring that democratic institutions are established as soon as
possible.
B. Guinea
Ms. Mekam’Ne
reported that the APF Bureau had asked the Guinean authorities to take the
necessary steps to organize free, fair and transparent elections as soon as
possible. The resolution was adopted with a few technical amendments.
C.
Madagascar
Ms. Mekam’Ne
mentioned that the political crisis that has been ongoing since 2009 seems to
have taken a positive turn in recent months. Nonetheless, the return to
democratic politics will depend on the holding of presidential and legislative
elections. One of the major advances has been the opposition’s willingness to
take part in a national unity government. The resolution was adopted with a few
technical amendments.
D. Syria
A discussion
followed Ms. Mekam’Ne’s report on the situation in Syria. It was felt that the
resolution was not strong enough, and Mr. Trottier requested the inclusion
of a paragraph condemning China and Russia for using their veto, thus
preventing the UN from taking action against Syria.
The
resolution was adopted with amendments.
E. Niger
Ms. Mekam’Ne
presented her report on Niger. The report was adopted with a few changes
proposed by Niger’s delegate.
2. The
role of ombudsmen in La Francophonie
Rapporteur:
Mr. Henri-François Gautrin (Quebec)
Mr. Henri-François
Gautrin (Quebec) presented an update on his report. Mr. Gautrin took
note of the comments made following his presentation and would update his
report before the next Committee meeting.
3. How to
face the demographic challenges of the 21st century
Ms.
Françoise Fassiaux-Looten (Wallonia-Brussels Federation) presented an update on
her report, which addressed three main issues: the demographic revolution, the
grey revolution (or issues related to life expectancy) and the urban
revolution.
A discussion
followed Ms. Fassiaux-Looten’s presentation. Togo’s delegate said that his
country was focussing on developing education for young girls. He also
indicated that it is important for women to achieve a certain level of
financial independence so that they can look after their children.
Mr. Gautrin
(Quebec) proposed adding a paragraph on the use of cereal crops for hydrocarbon
production, which is having a negative impact on food capacity in areas growing
cereal crops for this purpose.
The draft
report will be adopted at the next meeting in Brussels.
4.
Natural resources and conflicts
Rapporteur:
Mr. Bernard Trottier (Canada)
Mr. Trottier
presented his report on natural resources and conflicts in La Francophonie. He
explained that the issue is a complex one, with a significant risk of
compromising human rights in areas where natural resources (oil, diamonds and
forestry products, to name only a few) are extracted. He said that there were
many examples of resource companies expropriating without compensating the
local population, or exposing residents to toxic substances used to extract
these resources. Moreover, there have been about twenty violent disputes that
are a direct result of the extraction of natural resources.
He added
that resource extraction companies should be made socially responsible and that
many governments were now looking at either principles or legal provisions to
implement standards for corporate social or societal responsibility. He gave as
an example the Kimberley Process, which was established to prevent human rights
abuses associated with the diamond extraction industry, and seeks to establish
a certification scheme requiring governments to identify the specific
geographic areas these diamonds are coming from.
Mr. Trottier
said that there had been developments in this area recently, including the
introduction, in La Francophonie, of the ISO 26000 standard, which advocates
putting social responsibility into practice.
He added
that Canada, a country rich in natural resources that is home to the
headquarters of 75% of the world’s exploration and mining companies, has been a
leader in corporate social responsibility since 2005.
During the
discussion that followed the presentation of the report, Mr. Trottier said
that the resolution in support of the report would be prepared for the upcoming
meeting in Brussels. He added that this resolution could contain a clause
calling for member countries to implement a resource development mechanism
before the resources are even developed. This mechanism would have the support
of the representative of the Central African Republic, who maintains that the
implementation of this mechanism (including how resources will be developed,
how persons living in these areas may be affected and how they will be
compensated) is essential in order to stem any violence that could result from
the development of these resources.
5. Review
of the regulatory provisions governing the statutes of the APF branches
The Belgian
Branch proposed several amendments to the AFP statutes. After discussion, it
was proposed that a subcommittee be established to review the proposed changes
and report its findings at the Brussels meeting in July 2012. It was also
decided that this subcommittee would have two vice-chairs, one from the
northern countries and the other from the southern countries.
6.
Preparation for the statement by the Secretary General of the OIF (XXXVIIIth
Session of the APF)
A draft
question had been prepared by the Quebec delegation on behalf of the Political
Committee, and would be addressed to His Excellency Abdou Diouf, Secretary
General of the OIF, at the next annual meeting of the APF, in Brussels in
July 2012.
Respectfully submitted,
Bernard
Trottier, M.P.
Member of the Canadian Branch of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie (APF)