Hon. Greg Deighan, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island, has been selected as one of three Canadian Region representatives of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to attend the 2005 CPA Executive Committee Mid-Year Meeting to be held in Sydney, Australia from April 10-15, 2005.
“It is an honour to be selected by my Canadian colleagues to assist in representing the Canadian region at this important meeting,” said Speaker Deighan. “The purpose of the meeting is to create, among Parliamentarians, a greater interest in the Association and to foster participation in its affairs, to represent the views of the Canadian Region at the CPA planning meeting and to liaise with the Branch Presidents and Secretaries from the other Commonwealth regions in an effort to promote the position of the Canadian Region at these discussions.” The meeting will also accord an opportunity to promote Prince Edward Island on an international stage. “While I am certainly attending this Conference as the Canadian region representative,” Speaker Deighan said, “...I never lose sight of the fact that this presents an excellent opportunity to promote Prince Edward Island as a great place to do business and to visit. I look forward to that opportunity.”
The CPA, founded in 1911, is comprised of nearly 170 national, state, provincial and territorial Parliaments and Legislatures, with a total membership approaching 15,000 Parliamentarians. The mission of CPA is to work toward good governance, the promotion of democracy and elections and of human rights. Special attention is also paid to gender sensitizing (through the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians) and to promoting awareness of parliamentary democracy among the youth of the Commonwealth.
More information on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association may be found on its website at www.cpahq.org.