Assemblee Nationale: Quebec.

• Author: Lamarche, Francine Boivin
• Position: Legislative Reports

The Members of the National Assembly met for an extraordinary sitting, at the request of the Premier, on Wednesday, July 16, 2003, to complete consideration and adoption of the estimates of expenditure for the 2003-2004 fiscal year, to introduce, pass in principle and pass the consequent appropriation bill, and to complete the consideration of and pass Bill 1, An Act respecting proposals for the administrative reorganization of certain municipalities and amending various legislative provisions.

This Act, which is now entitled An Act to amend various legislative provisions concerning municipal affairs, amends the Charter of Ville de Montreal and municipal acts, more particularly as regards the current unfunded actuarial liability of various pension plans for municipal employees.

Colloquia, seminars, conferences

At the invitation of the Secretary General of the National Assembly, Francois Cote, the Canadian clerks met in Quebec City, August 11 to 16, 2003, on the occasion of the Annual General Assembly and of the 2003 edition of the Professional Development Seminar of the Association of Clerks-at-the-Table in Canada.

Other than the Canadian participants, clerks from Australia, Belgium, the United States and the United Kingdom enthusiastically accepted the invitation. Several delegates were accompanied by their spouses and children for whom various cultural and recreational activities were organized.

The workshops, held in the Legislative Council Room of the Parliament Building, dealt with various subjects such as parliamentary privileges, the development of human resources, the organization of documentary resources supporting parliamentary proceedings, ethics and Members, electronic democracy, etc.

The President of the Assembly, Michel Bissonnet, headed the Quebec parliamentary delegation that attended the 17th session of the France-Quebec Interparliamentary Commission which took place in Paris, from September 15 to 19, 2003, during which parliamentarians made an assessment of the forty years of France-Quebec cooperation and discussed the integration of immigrants. This delegation consisted of Members Maxime Arsenau (Iles-de-la-Madeleine), Roch Cholette (Hull), Normand Jutras (Drummond) and Dominique Vien (Bellechasse).

At the completion of their work, the members of the Commission adopted a resolution in which they recommend an annual assessment of the France-Quebec cooperation programmes and encourage the systematic exchange of information on legislation and programmes underway, for the purpose of better informing future...