| |
|
|
||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Report from the Inaugural Meeting, Ottawa 2001 Introduction: At the invitation of the Parliament of Canada, the Inaugural Meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas (FIPA) was held in Ottawa, Canada from March 7 to 9, 2001. The Inaugural Meeting was opened on Wednesday, March 7, 2001 at a special ceremony held in the Chamber of the House of Commons of Canada. Delegates, accompanying persons, members of the diplomatic corp and other invited guests gathered for this historic event. Mr. Bill Graham, Member of the House of Commons; the Honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons; the Honourable Daniel Hays, Speaker of the Senate; His Excellency Luigi Einaudi, Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of the American States and the Honourable Herb Gray, Deputy Prime Minister of Canada made remarks. The Inaugural Meeting was attended by 111 delegates from the national legislatures of 26 member countries of the Organization of American States. The Opening Plenary: The Opening Plenary began on Thursday morning March 8, 2001 in the Chamber of the House of Commons. Mr. Bill Graham welcomed delegates and reviewed the Rules of Conduct for the Meeting as prepared by the Steering Committee. Mr. Bill Graham was elected the Chair for the Inaugural Meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas. The Chair of the Inaugural Meeting reviewed the draft agenda and the assignments to the three Working Groups. The delegates considered a motion to constitute the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas. After a positive and meaningful discussion the meeting unanimously agreed to the motion and to the creation of the FIPA. The delegates examined the proposed Regulations, as previously considered and recommended by the Steering Committee. The Chair of the Inaugural Meeting advised the meeting that the Steering Committee was proposing additional amendments resulting from its meeting of Wednesday, March 7, 2001. Further consideration of the Regulations was deferred until the Final Plenary Session The Working Groups: On Thursday afternoon March 8 and Friday morning March 9, 2001 the delegates attended three working groups which met to discuss a number of subjects under the three themes of:
Working Group 1 – Strengthening Democracy began its discussions on Thursday afternoon with Senator Antonio Guerra from Colombia in the Chair and the Honourable Sir Curtis Strachan, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Grenada, serving as the Rapporteur. The Thursday afternoon session concentrated solely on Corruption and Good Governance and resulted in the formulation of six recommendations, while Friday morning’s session concentrated on Drugs and Crime and resulted in seven recommendations. Working Group 2 – Creating Prosperity was chaired by Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette of Canada. Mr. Alvaro Trejos, Chairman of the Costa Rican Foreign Affairs Committee acted as the Rapporteur. In their deliberations, delegates declared their support for the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas that effectively contributes to raising the standard of living of their people, improves equality of opportunities and contributes to the better distribution of wealth and democracy. A series of eleven recommendations were agreed to by the Working Group. Delegates also recommended that parliamentarians, as the representatives of the peoples of their countries, play a role in ensuring that economic integration initiatives fulfil the shared aspirations of economic progress and social development. Working Group 3 – Realizing Human Potential explored issues such as the importance of eradicating poverty, ensuring adequate education and health care to rural and urban communities and protecting the environment. The Chair of the Working Group, Senator Sylvia Hernández of Mexico, steered the working group through the discussions and guided the group towards its recommendations. Mr. Felipe Michelini of Uruguay, acted as the Rapporteur. The Working Group’s recommendations were agreed to in an atmosphere of cooperation. The Final Plenary: The Final Plenary Session of the Inaugural Meeting took place in the Chamber of the House of Commons on Friday afternoon, March 9, 2001. The delegates resumed consideration of the proposed Regulations. After further discussion the meeting unanimously adopted the Regulations which will govern the operations of the Forum. The Rapporteurs of the three Working Groups presented written reports and recommendations to the Final Plenary Session. After further discussion the reports were received and the recommendations were adopted by the Plenary Session. A proposal from the Delegation of Mexico to reach a basic agreement on parliamentary cooperation, information sharing and financing was presented. It was agreed that the matter be referred to the Executive Committee of further examination. A resolution was presented by the Delegation of Guatemala requesting that the FIPA express its support for the continuance of democratic government in that country. After discussion the resolution was adopted. A resolution from the Delegation of Colombia on the armed conflict enveloping that country was presented. After discussion the resolution was adopted. Election of the Executive Committee: The meeting unanimously adopted a motion that Mr. Bill Graham, Member of the House of Commons of Canada be elected the Chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of the Americas. In accordance with Regulation 2.3 (b), (j) and (k) the following subregional countries were elected to the Executive Committee. North
America -- Canada for 1 year and Mexico for 2 years The Delegation of Mexico agreed to a proposal that the Congress of Mexico would host the next meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Forum in 2002. As a consequence and in accordance with Regulation 2.3 (b) Mexico as the host country of the next meeting places a representative on the Executive Committee. The Delegation of Panama gave notice of its desire to host the meeting in the near future. Report of the Inaugural Meeting: The Plenary Session instructed the Chair, in consultation with the Executive Committee, to prepare the Report of the Inaugural Meeting and that this Report be presented to hemispheric leaders at the Summit of the Americas to be held in Quebec City, Canada in April 2001. Respectfully submitted, Bill Graham,
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Important
Notices © 2005 FIPA - Inter-Parliamentary
Forum of the Americas, All Rights Reserved. Web Services by Lola Giraldo |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
