Parliamentary Business Seminar on Parliamentary Diplomacy.

• Author: Thomas, Paul E.J.
• Position: Canadian Study of Parliament Group

On Friday, November 16, 2018, the Canadian Study of Parliament Group held a Parliamentary Business Seminar on Parliamentary Diplomacy, inviting experts to discuss various aspects of parliamentary involvement in foreign affairs. One panel explored how parliamentary diplomacy occurs in Canada while a second panel gathered current and former parliamentarians who participated in parliamentary diplomacy to offer their personal and professional reflections.

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While parliamentary diplomacy consumes a growing portion of parliamentarians' time and parliamentary resources, it often receives little attention from the media or academics.

Generally speaking, parliamentary diplomacy refers to interactions with foreign governments and politicians conducted by parliamentarians rather than by government ministers or diplomats. It can also refer to the parliamentary scrutiny of treaties, legislation with international implications, or the government's conduct of international affairs.

The main channels of parliamentary diplomacy in Canada include the exchanges undertaken by interparliamentary associations and friendship groups, the work of those Senate and House committees that study foreign affairs and related issues, and official delegations led by the Senate and House speakers. Provincial legislatures also engage in parliamentary diplomacy as well, especially with counterpart state legislatures in the United States.

The Dimensions of Parliamentary Diplomacy in Canada

The first set of panelists offered unique perspectives on how parliamentary diplomacy occurs in Canada.

Marcus Pistor, Senior Director of the Economics, Resources and International Affairs Division of the Parliamentary Information and Reference Service (PIRS) at the Library of Parliament began the day by detailing the extent of parliamentary diplomacy at the federal level in Canada. Pistor noted that the idea of parliamentary diplomacy can be traced to the founding of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in 1889, but it expanded greatly in the post-War era with the creation of new multilateral institutions and growing international policy challenges. Canada presently belongs to seven inter-parliamentary associations (IPAs), such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, and the country is an observer at several others. Pistor described how involvement in IPAs can build Parliament's capacity to address complex policy issues through the development of international networks, exchanging best practices and policy innovations, and offering parliamentarians new leadership opportunities.

Pistor described how Canadian parliamentary committees also undertake a range of internationally-focused studies each year. In some cases, committees reviewed proposed legislation that would implement international agreements into Canadian law. In other cases, committees proactively examined international issues, such as the House Finance Committee's study of money laundering and terrorist financing. Such committee work can compliment the work conducted by parliamentary associations and delegations to tackle complex policy issues. For instance, Pistor noted there were 15 parliamentary delegations and 11 trips by House committees to the United States in 2017-18 while Canada, the United States, and Mexico were...