Guyana, British Columbia to strengthen inter-parliament cooperation

Guyana on Tuesday morning signed a Partnership Agreement with British Columbia with the intention of providing a framework for future joint endeavours, according to the Speaker of Guyana’s National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland.

Speaker of Guyana’s National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia, Linda Reid, signing the agreement
Speaker of Guyana’s National Assembly, Dr Barton Scotland and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia, Linda Reid, signing the agreement

“The purpose of the agreement is to put in a more framework [for] our future relations,” he told media operatives.

The agreement was signed by Dr Scotland, on behalf of the National Assembly of Guyana and Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia, Linda Reid. Reid was accompanied by a delegation, which included Deputy Clerk of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Kate Ryan-Lloyd and Director of the Hansard Department of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Rob Sutherland.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Pierre Giroux, was also present at the signing.

Reid, whose tenure in British Columbia will end in May, explained that this “friendship” was initiated by present Health Minister Volda Lawrence a little over a year ago.

The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia noted that her country had much in common with Guyana, highlighting that through this partnership she now hoped to achieve “better practice” for her country.

“There’s lots of things we have in common with the Republic of Guyana, lots of mining, lots of indigenous issues, parallels in terms of how we do business and the fact that we can uplift of Parliaments at the same time, speaks to me…There are lots of lessons we can learn, we certainly want to learn some things about community, about committee…” she told media operatives. According to the Agreement , the Partnership shall have as its objective fostering the development of inter-parliament cooperation between the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia and the National Assembly of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana and shall thereby serve to improve understanding of the functions of both institutions, particularly in the fields of legislation, culture, economics, health, science and technology, and generally reinforce greater friendship, goodwill and mutual understanding of traditions, customs, procedures and practices of each House. Reid and the delegation arrived in Guyana on Monday, and since then, they have visited the Ruimveldt Children’s Home and Care Centre and the Mahaica Children’s Home to distribute toys.

The British Columbia representatives will be departing today. (Ramona Luthi)