Canada to host 24th Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum in Vancouver
Canada is hosting the 24th Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) in Vancouver from Jan. 17 – 21 when politicians from nearly 30 nations will discuss topics ranging from trade to terrorism.
New this year is the first-ever APPF Meeting of Women Parliamentarians on Jan 17. They will then join their male colleagues in talks covering regional peace and security, economic and trade matters, and discussions on regional cooperation over three plenary sessions. The summit’s overarching theme is ‘Strengthened Partnerships for Prosperity, Security and Growth’.
Other APPF highlights include efforts needed to combat terrorism and transnational crime, expansion of regional trade and investment, and building resilience in the face of disasters and humanitarian crises.
Hosting the summit will be Speaker of the Senate George Furey, who will be joined by his house colleague Geoff Regan.
Canada will be represented at the APPF by Senators Joseph A. Day, Mobina Jaffer, Jim Munson, Victor Oh, Donald Neil Plett, Nancy Ruth and David Tkachuk. They will be joined by a cross-party delegation from the House of Commons including MPs John Aldag, Blaine Calkins, Sukh Dhaliwal, Earl Dreeshen, Hedy Fry, David McGuinty, Joe Peschisolido, Geng Tan and Alice Wong.
The Canadian delegation will join their parliamentary colleagues from Australia, Cambodia, China, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States of America, and Vietnam.
Now nearly a quarter-century old, the APPF was first founded by former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone.