Brazilian Parliamentarians complete visit to Canada

On Tuesday, January 28, Five Brazilian Parliamentarians completed a 10 day visit to Canada. They were invited by the Canadian Government and Parliament to participate in the opening of the 2003 legislative session and took part in a familiarization tour of various Canadian political institutions. Patrus Ananias (Workers Party-PT, Minas Gerais), Denise Frossard (Brazilian Social Democracy Party-PSDB, Rio de Janeiro), José Ivo Sartori (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party-PMDB, Rio Grande do Sul), Fábio Souto (Liberal Front Party-PFL, Bahia), and Vicente Paulo da Silva (Workers Party-PT, São Paulo) visited Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

The visit began in Toronto where Parliamentarians met with Canadian Members of Parliament (MPs), provincial government officials, academics, the C.D. Howe Institute, and the Canada-Brazil Chamber of Commerce.

In Montreal, the delegation visited the Canadian Space Agency and met with representatives of the Ministries of Industry and Health and Social Services, in addition to meetings with executives from the private sector.

In Ottawa, the final leg of the journey, the delegation participated in a round table discussion hosted by FOCAL , the Canadian Foundation for the Americas, where the Parliamentarians presented their views on Brazil's current political and economic landscape for a large audience of specialists and members of the Brazil inter-departmental working group. They met with Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade representatives, including Assistant Deputy Minister for the Americas, Marc Lortie, to discuss hemispheric integration. They also had the opportunity to speak with Minister Graham, who had recently returned from a visit to Brazil.

From left to right, Dep. José Ivo Sartori, Dep. Patrus Ananias, Dep. Denise Frossard, Minister Graham, Dep. Vicente Paulo da Silva, Dep. Fábio Souto, Mrs. Maria Helena Sartori.

Prior to attending the opening of the Parliament, the Brazilian parliamentarians had meetings with the Speaker of the House of Commons and with the Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Brazilian Ambassador Henrique Valle hosted a meeting with the Brazilian and Canadian Parliamentarians.