JoePreston,M.P.attendedtheEXCO andWorkingPartymeetingsinTongaon
behalfoftheCanadianBranchoftheCommonwealthParliamentaryAssociation. The35 MembersoftheCPAExecutiveCommitteemet inTonga’scapital,
Nuku’alofa,as
guests
oftheLegislative
Assemblyand
the governmentofTonga.The
meeting was officiallyopened byHisMajestyKing
TupouVI,
who
said
the
cross-pollination
ofideas andexperiences in
parliamentary governance
through
CPA
meetingsisessentialtopreventtheCommonwealth’smorethan175Parliamentsand Legislaturesfromstagnating.TheCommitteewaswelcomedtoTongabyHon.Lord Lasike,
MLA, Speaker oftheLegislature.Hesaidhostingthemeeting,thefirst Commonwealth-wideparliamentarygathering
tobe heldinTonga,enabled
Tongan
ParliamentarianstoexchangeideaswithMembersof
otherParliamentsasthey
implement constitutional
reformswhich broughtinfully
responsible
democratic governancewiththe2010elections.
TheCommittee’s Chairperson,RtHon.SirAlan
Haselhurst,MPoftheUnitedKingdomHouseof Commons,
saidthegovernment,theLegislativeAssemblyandthepeopleofTonga
had
demonstrated their commitment to
parliamentary
democracy
and
the
CommonwealthbyhostingtheCPAmeetingwithinamonthoftheuntimelydeathofHis MajestyKingGeorgeTupouV.ACPAsupport programmebeganthisyeartoassistthe
LegislativeAssemblyofTonga in implementingtheparliamentaryelementsofthedemocratic reformprogramme. CPASecretary-General
DrWilliam F.ShijasaidtheCommitteealso
approvedtheagendaforthe32ndSmallBranchesConferencetobeheldinSriLanka
immediatelybeforethemainconference.Hesaidtheconferencewillenableabout75 MPsfrom30jurisdictionswithpopulations
ofupto500,000people todiscussissues
affectingthem.
The CommonwealthParliamentaryAssociation (CPA)ExecutiveCommitteeagreedatits16
to21April meetinginTongathattheagendaforthe58thCommonwealthParliamentary Conferenceshouldexamineglobalissues underthethemeof“Ensuringa
Relevant CommonwealthfortheFuture”.One
of those
issues willbetheestablishment of
a Commonwealth CommissionerforDemocracy,theRuleofLawandHumanRights, anofficeproposed to
Commonwealth
Headsof
Government bytheir Eminent
Persons Group on
Commonwealth
reformattheOctober2011meetingofgovernmentleaders. Detailsof theofficearecurrentlybeingconsideredbygovernments.MPswill debatethemeritsof
establishingtheoffice.
Commonwealthreformproposalsincludedgreaterinvolvementofyoungpeople inCommonwealth affairs.
The CPAExecutiveCommittee
agreed to
supportthis
initiativebyestablishinganannual CommonwealthYouthParliament.SirAlansaidanannualCommonwealth-wideYouthParliamentwill encourageyoung peopletobecomeinvolvedinparliamentary
democraticgovernance,oneofthe
Commonwealth’s fundamental principles.TheCPAandtheUnitedKingdomParliament willhostaCommonwealthYouthParliamentlaterthisyeartomark the Diamond Jubileeofthe ReignofHerMajestyQueenElizabethII.
TheSriLankanconference willalsoincludemeetingsoftheCommonwealth WomenParliamentarianswhoarerepresentedontheExecutiveCommitteeby
their
Chairperson,Hon.AlixBoydKnights,MHA,SpeakeroftheParliament ofDominica.The Secretary-General
said
the
Executive Committee
alsoapproved
programmes and servicestosupporttheevolution
ofParliamentandtheprofessionaldevelopmentof its Members
and
staff
insuchdiverse matters
as international trade,
the
scrutiny
of governmentspendingandparliamentarypractices.HenotedthattheCPAhashosted fourpreviousCommonwealthYouthParliamentssince1997.Holdingthemannuallywill
givemanymoreyoungpeopleanopportunitytoexperiencethechallengesof
beingan elected representative
ofthepeople.