54th CPA--Canadian Regional Conference.

• Position: CPA Activities: The Canadian Scene - Conference notes

From July 17-22, 2016, nearly 100 delegates from across Canada and several Caribbean countries gathered in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador to convene the 54th CPA--Canadian Regional Conference.

Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) of Canada

Prior to beginning of the main conference, CWP delegates held two days of meetings to review their activities from the past year and make plans for 2016-2017. CWP Chair and British Columbia Speaker Linda Reid, convened the CWP's Steering Committee meeting by reading a letter sent to the United Kingdom's parliamentarians expressing sorrow of the murder of MP Jo Cox while she was running an event in her constituency. "As women parliamentarians we are faced with challenges and difficult situations that test our courage and we are all disheartened that Jo Cox, who was so bright and promising in her commitment and passion, was not able to complete her most important work as a parliamentarian in the British House of Commons," she wrote.

The steering committee heard jurisdictional reports from a number of delegates. Items of interest included:

* Yukon MLA Elaine Taylor noted 2017 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first woman elected to Yukon's Council

* Ontario MPP Lisa Thompson recounted details of the 2015 CWP Outreach trip to Ontario

* Saskatchewan MLA Laura Ross invited parliamentarians to attend the 2016 outreach event in Saskatchewan, beginning on October 1.

In concluding the steering committee meeting, Speaker Reid reminded attendees that she had set a goal of improving communications during her term as chair. She thanked Nova Scotia MLA Patricia Arab for her work in building a CWP website and establishing a presence on social media. She also lauded the work of the CWP campaign school and said it's an absolute joy to meet women who have been elected to office after attending it. Finally, she challenged delegates to nominate women for awards, such as the Order of British Columbia, as a way to honour the work of women of all walks of life.

The second day of CWP meetings commenced with greetings from jurisdictional host Speaker Tom Osborne and a reading by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole. The author of A Sudden Sun, Ms. Morgan-Cole's book brings Newfoundland's suffrage debate to life with real and fictional characters.

A panel on international outreach featured two members of the steering committee detailing recent trips to CWP meetings. Newfoundland and Labrador MHA Lisa Dempster reported on her trip to Guernsey. She noted that despite differences among participants, many of the themes they discussed and issues they faced were common. She also shared a powerful quote from the conference by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "Too often leaders have used women to advance to power, but I believe we must use power to advance women."

Ms. Arab shared details of her trip to a conference Iman, Jordan which focused on women in conflict prevention roles. She explained that statistics reveal there are relatively few women peacekeepers leading missions, but there has been a discernible increase in the length of times of peace where they have been leaders. She also encouraged delegates to remember that partisanship should be left in the Chamber and not brought to meetings like these, explaining that one speaker at the conference spoke of the need for a sistership, to care for each other, to build esteem and to support each other. "Once we follow through and it's not just words, we will be unstoppable," she said.

A second International Outreach Panel featured three delegates from guest jurisdictions in the Caribbean. Lillian E. Misick of Turks and Caicos, Nicolette Henry of Guyana and Natalie Neita-Headley of Jamaica spoke about the role women have played in politics in their countries and what inspired them to seek office and the challenges they faced. They spoke of the need for political parties to select women to contest winnable seats, the importance of supporting other women in politics even if they are partisan opponents, and to share their success and knowledge with the next generation of women seeking public office.

In the third panel of the day Ms...