 On June 12 – 20, 2000, a Bulgarian parliamentary
delegation visited Canada on the invitation of the Parliamentary
Centre of Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA). The aim of the visit, which is a part of the Center for the
Study of Democracy’s program for introducing the ombudsman
institution to Bulgaria, was to study the Canadian experience in
developing this institution and other accountability mechanisms as
well as to present the Draft Law on the People’s Defender and the Civic Mediators, which has been developed by experts to the CSD Law Program.
Members of the delegation were: Mr. Ivan Dimov, MP, Parliamentary Group of the Union of Democratic Forces, Member of the Parliamentary Commission for Budget, Finance and Financial Control and of the Parliamentary Commission on Legal Issues and Anticorruption Legislation; Mr. Yanaki
Stoilov, MP, Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Left, Deputy
Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Legal Issues and
Anticorruption Legislation; Mr. Kemal Eyup, MP, Movement for Rights and
Freedoms, Member of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign and
Integration Policy; Mr. Valentin Georgiev, Secretary General of the
National Assembly; and Mr. Dimitar Markov, Research Fellow to the CSD
Law Program.
The working program included a visit to the Canadian
Human Rights Commission where Mr. Alwin Child, Director of the
Policy and Planning Branch, made a short presentation on The
Historical Perspective of the Canadian Human Rights Commission,
and Mr. Bob Fagan, Director of Investigation, who introduced the
participants with the complaints and investigation process and the
respective resolution mechanisms.
The Parliamentary Centre of Canada organized a
Roundtable on Federal Ombudsmen and Commissioners with the
participation of Mr. Andre Marin, Ombudsman, Department of National
Defence, Mr. John Reid, Information Commissioner, and Mr.
Jean-Pierre Bolduc.
Meetings with Mr. Bob Miller, Executive Director,
Parliamentary Centre, and Mr. Jean Couturier, Country Program
Manager, Central and Eastern Europe Branch, Canadian International
Development Agency, were also organized and the past and future
cooperation in the ombudsman introducing project were
discussed.
In the Canadian Parliament the visitors met Mr. Paul
Belisle, Clerk of Senate; Mr. Eric Janse, Deputy Clerk of House of
Commons; Mr. Peter Milliken, Deputy Speaker of the House of
Commons, and Mr. Bob Speller, MP.
In the Quebec National Assembly the delegation had
talks with MPs including Ms. Cecile Vermette, President of Quebec
National Assembly Delegation for Relations with Europe (DANRE) and
Vice-Chair of the Public Administration Committee; Mr. Geoffrey
Kelley, President of the Public Administration Committee; Mr.
Claude Pinard, Deputy Speaker of the Quebec National Assembly; and
Mr. Marc Boulianne. Meetings were also held with Mr. Laurent
Lapointe, Director of Audits, Auditor General of Quebec, and Ms.
Nathalie Tremblay, Financial Controller with Public Accounts
Committee, who explained to the delegation the activities of their
offices.
The National School on Public Administration (ENAP)
to the University of Quebec was also visited and meetings were held
with Mr. Daniel Jacoby, Public Protector of Quebec; Ms. Frances
Szigeti, General Counsel to the Public Protector of Quebec; Mr.
Jacques Auger, Delegate to the Public Protector of Quebec; Mr.
Patrick Robardet, Ombudsman, Laval University; Mr. Pierre De
Celles, President of ENAP; and Mr. Serge Raymond, Director of
External Affairs to the Public Protector of Quebec. Legal and
practical aspects of the activities of the ombudsman were
discussed. The delegation had the opportunity to study some
concrete cases from the Quebec Public Protector practice.
In Toronto the delegation had a meeting with Mr.
Clare Lewis, Ombudsman of Ontario, concerning the activities of the
institution. Ms. Fiona Crean, Executive Director of the Ombudsman
Office, explained to the participants the main objectives and the
organization of the office and Ms. Wendy Ray and Ms. Laura
Pettigrew, Legal Advisors to the Ombudsman Office, made a profound
analysis of the Ontario Ombudsman Act in relation to the scope of
his powers and his means of influence.
In the Legislative Assembly of Ontario meetings were
held with Mr. Gary Carr, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and
the MP’s Mr. Gary Stewart, Ms. Caroline Di Coco, Mr. Jean-Marc
Lalonde, and Mr. Joseph Tascona. |
