CPA activities: the Canadian scene.

New Speaker in British Columbia

On June 19, 2001, Claude Richmond, Member for Kamloops, was elected as the 35th Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. Mr. Richmond was born in Blue River, British Columbia and educated in the Kamloops area.

Prior to his first election to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in a 1981 by-election, Mr. Richmond served with the Royal Canadian Air Force and worked for twenty-five years in small business. From 1974 to 1977, Mr. Richmond served two terms as a City of Kamloops councillor and from 1978 to 1982 managed CHNL radio station. Mr. Richmond was re-elected in 1983 and 1986 serving until 1991. During his three terms as Member for Kamloops, he served as Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for Expo '86, Minister of Social Services and Housing, and Minister of Forests. From 1988 to 1991, he also served as Government House Leader. In recent years, Mr. Richmond worked as a business consultant to the resource industries and markets and also held the position of managing director of the Kamloops Airport Limited:

Mr. Richmond and his wife Patricia have three children and two grandchildren. He is the bandmaster of the Kamloops Rube Band, a group of thirty-five musicians who travel the world as goodwill ambassadors for Kamloops and British Columbia. He is also an avid golfer and motorcyclist.

Fortieth Canadian Regional Conference

The Alberta Legislative Assembly hosted the annual CPA Regional Conference took place in Edmonton from July 17 to 22, 2001. The host of the Conference was Speaker Ken Kowalski and the theme was "The Future of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy". Some 100 parliamentarians from all federal, provincial and territorial legislatures except British Columbia were in attendance. Also invited were two members of the British House of Commons and a representative of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretariat in London.

There were eight sessions on the agenda. The first dealt with future challenges to parliamentary privilege and featured a presentation by Ian McClelland, MLA (Alberta). Another session looked at the Future of Electoral Systems and included presentations by Elmer McFayden, MLA (Prince Edward Island) and Speaker Myron Kowalsky (Saskatchewan).

Professor Roger Gibbins, President of the Canada West Foundation, was invited to address the conference on the Impact of Globalization of Canadian Federalism. Another guest speaker was Marc Henry...