Report Visit of Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, and a Parliamentary Delegation, to

May 18 to 22, 2009

The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons, and a delegation of members of Parliament visited Finland from May 18 to 22, 2009. The delegation has the honour of presenting its Report

The official delegation, led by Speaker Milliken, was composed of the following members:

The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P., Speaker of the House of Commons The Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, P.C., M.P.; Mr. Michel Guimond, M.P.; Mr. Ron Cannan, M.P.; Mr. Bruce Hyer, M.P.; Ms. Colette Déry, Communications Officer, Office of the Speaker; Ms. Julie Pelletier, Secretary to the delegation. Context Canada and Finland have much in common as Nordic, bilingual, democratic countries with modern, innovative economies. The two countries share many values and are alike in areas such as their similar visions of international relations, the protection of human rights, international peacekeeping, crisis management, sustainable development of the North, aboriginal affairs and regulation of information technology. The two countries also both draw on each other’s experience on a wide range of issues. For example, the Canadian model based of multiculturalism has been studied with great interest in Finland. There is considerable mutual assistance between the two countries on issues affecting the Arctic. Their cooperation on the Arctic Council is essential to circumpolar cooperation and both countries promote sustainable human development in that region on the Council. Their objectives also converge with respect to the University of the Arctic. Canada places considerable emphasis on collaboration in the realm of science and technology with Finland, which spends nearly 4% of its gross domestic product on research and development. For example, Finland is a world leader in forestry technology and renewable bioenergy, and there have been several exchanges with Canada in this regard. Finland is also an invaluable partner for academic exchanges. There are over 40 cooperation agreements between Canadian and Finnish postsecondary education institutions. At present, there are nearly 200 Finnish students studying in Canada, and about 80 Canadian students taking courses in Finland. Objectives The purpose of the delegation’s visit was: To underline the importance Canada places on its relations with Finland;

To discuss subjects of common interest with Finnish parliamentarians and other important decision-makers, including Finland’s response to the current economic crisis, the challenges of climate change for Nordic countries and the importance of immigration;

To discuss foreign policy in relation to matters of international and bilateral interest;

To get an overview of the Finnish parliamentary system, government structure and electoral process; and

To encourage continued parliamentary dialogue and to promote bilateral parliamentary exchanges.

Meetings In , the delegation met with: Her Excellency Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland;

His Excellency , Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland;

Her Excellency Tuija Brax, Minister of Justice;

His Excellency Sauli Niinistö, MP, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Finland;

Mr. Johannes Koskinen, MP, Deputy Speaker, Parliament of the Republic of Finland;

Mr. Markku Laukkanen, MP, Deputy Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee;

Ms. Tuula Haatainen, Deputy Mayor for Education and Culture, City of Helsinki;

The Finnish delegation to the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region;

Mr. Jarmo Vuorinen, Deputy Secretary General, Parliamentary Office;

Mr. Kari T. Ahonen, Administrative Director, Parliamentary Office; and

Ms. Anne Brunila, President and CEO, Finnish Forest Industries Federation. In Rovaniemi, the delegation met with: Mr. Timo E. Korva, Governor of Lapland;

Ms. Outi Snellman, Vice-President, Administration, and Director of International Affairs, University of Lapland and University of the Arctic Secretariat;

Mr. Jukka Jokinen, Vice-President and Director General of Bombardier Recreational Products Finland OY; and

Professors from the Arctic Centre.

The delegation had an opportunity to visit: Suomenlinna Island;

The Ateneum Art Museum; and

“The Arctic in Change” exhibition.

The delegation also had the privilege of attending: The plenary session of the Parliament of the Republic of Finland; and

A Concert by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Meeting with Her Excellency Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland Her Excellency Tarja Halonen said how pleased she was to meet with the Canadian MPs, since she had herself been a member of Parliament for 20 years. She explained that she had served has Prime Minister for five years and had been President for the last nine years. She noted that she had the opportunity to meet the former Governor General of Canada, , in October 2003, on her official visit to Finland. The President then talked about a range of subjects of common interest to the two countries, including their collaboration in international organizations such as the Arctic Council in relation to climate change. Her Excellency said she was concerned about the pollution emitted by the Finnish forestry industry and pollution of the Baltic Sea. On that last point, she noted that the European Union was in the process of drafting a strategy for cleaning up that body of water. She said she firmly believes that economic development should not come at the expense of the environment. Her Excellency gave an overview of how the powers assigned to the President of the Republic of Finland have evolved since she has been in office, and the Finnish position regarding her country’s potential membership in NATO. It was noted that Finland is currently present in Afghanistan, but is not a member of NATO, although politicians are increasingly supporting the idea of membership.

Meeting with His Excellency Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of the Republic of Finland His Excellency Matti Vanhanen welcomed the Speaker and his delegation and noted that he had accepted Canada’s invitation to travel to Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics. Speaker Milliken gave an overview of the impact of the economic crisis on Canada and said that although it has a more stable banking system than the , Canada has nonetheless been heavily affected, particularly in regions where the auto industry is important. The Canadian government has reacted to the crisis by adopting measures to stimulate the economy such as the investments in Canadian infrastructure that have been announced. The conversation then turned to the recent agreement between the European Union and Canada to initiate talks with the aim of signing a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. The Speaker of the House of Commons said he was very glad to hear this news, since Canada, a majority of whose trade is with its neighbour to the South, must diversify its exports. The Prime Minister noted that Canadian investment in Finland was growing, particularly in the mining sector. He gave the example of the upcoming opening of a Canadian nickel and gold mine in northern Finland. They then compared advances in the two countries’ energy sectors, particularly in relation to wind and solar energy. Meeting with Her Excellency Tuija Brax, Minister of Justice The Minister of Justice welcomed the delegation. She gave an overview of her role and powers and of the Finnish electoral system, in relation to four types of elections: legislative, municipal, European and presidential. She also gave an outline of election law for the Finnish Parliament. The Minister said that the government in power wanted to bring in significant reforms to the electoral system by imposing a national representativeness threshold equivalent to 3.5%. The idea is supported by the two main parties in the coalition, the National Coalition Party and the Centre Party, but not by their coalition partner, the Swedish People’s Party, or by the other opposition parties. Meeting with His Excellency Sauli Niinistö, MP, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Finland His Excellency Sauli Niinistö welcomed the Canadian delegation and introduced the Finnish MPs at the meeting: Mr. Johannes Koskinen, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Eero Akaan-Penttilä, member of the National Coalition Party; Ms. Merja Kyllönen, member of the Left Alliance Party; and Ms. Leena Rauhala, member of the Christian Democratic Party. The global economic crisis and its effects on Canada, whose largest trading partner is the United States, were discussed. Speaker Milliken described the measures proposed by the Canadian government to stimulate the Canadian economy. Speaker Niinistö said that the Finnish Parliament was currently studying a white paper released by the government in February 2009 which defined the country’s new defence and security policy and Finland’s position regarding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Finland is not a member, although there are Finnish troops in Afghanistan. The most significant change from the previous report, released in 2004, relates to the recommendation it makes to increase Finland’s military spending budget by 2%. With respect to Finnish cooperation with NATO, the report recommends that Finland study the question of NATO membership. The conversation then turned to the constitutional reform project currently under consideration in Finland, the purpose of which is to alter the role of the President of the Republic in relation to foreign affairs. A report on the subject is expected in September. Speaker Milliken gave his counterpart an explanation of the constitutional division of powers between the federal and provincial levels of government in Canada. The Speaker of Parliament also talked about Finland’s desire to preserve and develop the Arctic and the North in a sustainable manner and to enable other Nordic countries to participate in the initiative known as the Northern Dimension. Speaker Milliken noted the bilateral cooperation between Canada and the United States in the Arctic, and in particular the joint mapping of the continental shelf. He also gave a brief description of the challenges faced by Canada regarding Canadian sovereignty in the region. Speaker Milliken stressed the importance of immigration in Canada, which has historically been European but today comes largely from Asia. He described the immigrant selection process in Canada, including the benefits and major criticisms of the system. In closing, Speaker Niinistö noted that Finland is a world leader in nuclear power plants and forestry and that the two countries have numerous cooperation agreements in those two areas. At the end of the meeting, Speaker Milliken signed the Guestbook and was presented with a medal of honour by his counterpart. Meeting with Mr. Markku Laukkanen, Member of Parliament, Deputy Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee The Deputy Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee said how pleased he was to meet , since he himself had lived in Canada, in Hamilton. He addressed the question of Finland’s defence policy, currently being considered by a working group, and also spoke about Afghanistan. He noted that Finland had agreed to send 100 additional troops, in addition to the several hundred already there. He also discussed Finland’s relations with Russia and the European Union, its main trading partners. Speaker Milliken explained that the 2500 Canadian troops posted in Kandahar were a mix of reservists and professional soldiers. He mentionned the loss of life that Canada had suffered, and the decision by the Canadian Parliament to end the military mission in 2011. However, he noted that it was currently planned that Canadian troops would remain in Afghanistan to continue a humanitarian mission after the withdrawa l date set by Parliament. In closing, Speaker Milliken wished Mr. Laukkanen, a candidate in the June 2009 European elections, good luck. There are only 13 seats available for the 200 Finnish candidates. Luncheon with Ms. Tuula Haatainen, Deputy Mayor, Education and Culture, City of Helsinki The members of the delegation were hosted at a luncheon at City Hall by the Deputy Mayor of the City of Helsinki, Ms. Tuula Haatainen. The discussion dealt mainly with immigration, diversity and integration. The delegates learned that, like Canada, Finland is affected by the aging of the population and declining birth rate. The city therefore sees immigration as a positive and even a necessary thing, and a new strategy had just been adopted to encourage immigration and improve the integration of newcomers. As well, the Deputy Mayor said that a number of study groups had traveled to Canada before writing the report, to study how Canada admits and integrates immigrants. One of the problems encountered is the fact that 10% of the population of Helsinki are immigrants and the unemployment rate within that segment of the population was three times higher than for the Finnish-born. Meeting with the Finnish Delegation to the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region Two members of the delegation that represent Finland at the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region were presented at the meeting: Mr. Hannes Manninen, M.P. and Chair of the delegation, and Ms. Ulla Karvo, M.P. and Vice-Chair of the delegation. They both stressed how much Canada and Finland have in common, in particular because they are both Nordic countries. They also explained the important role played by the Conference, which offers an excellent forum for decision-making on subjects relating to the Arctic and as a group to facilitate research projects on subjects relating to the region. The question of Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic was also addressed and Speaker Milliken said that it was generally not contested, with two or three exceptions . Mention was also made of the Arctic Ocean mapping project being carried out jointly by Canada and the United States. Meeting with Mr. Jarmo Vuorinen, Deputy Secretary General, Parliamentary Office Mr. Jarmo Vuorinen gave the delegation a warm welcome. He gave a general presentation on the Finnish Parliament, how it operates, and the legislative process. He explained the conduct of parliamentary elections, and in particular the fact that the country is divided into 15 electoral districts and the 200 seats are allocated on the basis of the population of each district. Members are elected directly by secret ballot using a proportional system, for a period of four years, in general elections held on the third Sunday in March. The delegates learned that after the election is held, the Cabinet is formed after consultation among the parties in power. The Prime Minister is then elected by his or her peers. In general, Parliament enacts legislation, approves the government’s budget, ratifies international treaties, oversees the government and formulates the Finnish position in relation to the European Union. is televised and takes place every Thursday. The assembly is presided over by a speaker, who is elected every year, and two deputy speakers. Meeting with Mr. Kari T. Ahonen, Administrative Director, Parliamentary Office Mr. Kari T. Ahonen gave the delegation members a description of the administrative structure of the Parliament. He provided an overview of the method by which parliamentarians’ sa laries and budgets are determined. He said that parliamentarians did not ordinarily have constituency offices. Because they were mostly involved in municipal affairs in their respective districts, they had access to offices through that channel. The Prime Minister and members of his cabinet are also active in municipal affairs. In reference to the European Parliament, Mr. Ahonen said that members could not sit in both the Finnish Parliament and the European Parliament at the same time. If a member of the Finnish Parliament is elected to the European Parliament, he or she is replaced in the national Parliament by a substitute who is chosen in advance. He also provided details about the budget, structure and role of the Office of Parliamentary Affairs and the reform that is currently being considered, and discussed the mechanisms for establishing and reviewing the salaries of senior officials and their deputies. Meeting with Ms. Anne Brunila, President and CEO, Finnish Forest Industries Federation Ms. Anne Brunila, President and CEO of the Finnish Forest Industries Federation, gave a description of the Federation and the challenges the forestry industry is facing today, and of a recently released report about the implementation of a national strategy to promote more efficient use of Finland’s natural resources. She also noted that for some of the field studies done for writing the report, a Finnish delegation travelled to Toronto. The presentations by Mr. Anders Portin, Senior Vice-President, Forestry and Infrastructure, and Mr. Antro Säilä, Senior Vice-President, Business Environment and Innovation, provided the delegation with more information about the structure of the Federation, about the industry itself and forests in Finland. One thing the delegates learned was that forests are integral to Finns’ lives. They are mainly pine and spruce, and cover 60% of the land mass. A feature peculiar to Finland is that 65% of its forests are privately owned, and this is a major challenge when it comes to establishing national forest resource management strategies. The Federation represents 107 members, divided into the lumber industry, pulp and paper and other wood products. It was noted that the industry is not subsidized in Finland and a majority of production is exported, mainly to Europe. The two largest markets are Germany and the United Kingdom. Brazil, Russia, India and China have been targeted as new markets to be developed. There are also Finnish companies throughout Europe and elsewhere in the world. Meeting with Mr. Timo E. Korva, Governor of Lapland The delegation members were warmly welcomed by Mr. Timo E. Korva, the Governor of Lapland. Mr. Korva presented a video with general information about the geography of the province and its aboriginal population and economy. The Governor confirmed that tourism and mining are expanding industries, while the pulp and paper industry is suffering from a scarcity of the resource. The governor noted that one of the three active mines in Lapland at this time, the Suurikuusikko Goldmine, is Canadian. He also said that a number of other mining projects might start up in the near future, with Canadian firms involved in three of them. The delegates were then given a presentation on security, emergency services and crime in the North. There is relatively good cooperation with the Nordic countries surrounding Finland—Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Russia—on all these subjects. Meeting with Ms. Outi Snellman, Vice-President, Administration, and Director of International Affairs, University of Lapland and University of the Arctic Secretariat Ms. Outi Snellman welcomed the delegation and gave a short guided tour of the central building and the University of Lapland Faculty of Art and Design. She then gave an overview of the University of Lapland and the University of the Arctic. The University of Lapland has 480 full-time students, including 12 Canadians in 2009. The university offers over 100 courses in English and has bilateral agreements with a number of Canadian universities and colleges, including Concordia, Laval, Saskatchewan, Lakehead, Northern British-Columbia, Nunavut Arctic College and Yukon College. The university is composed of five faculties: Art and Design, Education, Law, Social Sciences and Tourism and Business. The features of each faculty were reviewed. The delegates learned, for example, that the Faculty of Law has a unique program in Northern Environmental and Minority Law, and the Faculty of Education specializes in education and teaching adapted for sparsely populated regions. Mr. Pierre-André Forest, International Education Planner, explained that the University of Rovaniemi is not only a member of a network called University of the Arctic, but is also home to the international secretariat for the network. The University of the Arctic consists of 110 universities, colleges and other organizations in the circumpolar countries. Twenty-five of the 110 members are Canadian. The group’s mandate is to promote access to post-secondary education and contribute to education, research and circumpolar and interdisciplinary cooperation. Ms. Eila Linna, the Director of the Institute for Tourism, then gave a brief description of the Lapland Institute for Tourism Research, which will officially be pened in September 2009 and will have an enrolment of 1,000 students. The meeting concluded with a presentation by a Canadian student from Iqaluit, Ms. Ashley Tufts, who has been studying in Finland since September 2008.

Meeting with Mr. Jukka Jokinen, Vice-President and Director General of Bombardier Recreational Products Finland OY The delegation was welcomed by Mr. Jukka Jokinen, Vice-President and Director General of Bombardier Recreational Products Finland OY (BRP) at the company’s new assembly plant in Rovaniemi. To begin, the delegates learned that BRP Finland OY is a division of Bombardier Recreational Products Inc., which has been a private company since 2005. The company is now 50% owned by a private investor, 35% owned by the Bombardier/Beaudoin family and 15% owned by the Caisse de dépôts et placements du Québec. The company operates worldwide, including its facilities in Sherbrooke and Valcourt, Quebec. BRP Finland OY itself has two plants in Finland at present. The second BRP plant was opened in October 2008 in Rovaniemi because of growing demand for snowmobiles in Europe. It is intended to replace the first plant, opened in the 1960s, and to be more flexible, allowing for the design of vehicles other than the ones it is already suited to produce: Lynx snowmobiles and other Ski-Doo brand vehicles. The members of the delegation were given a general presentation about the company and a guided tour of the new plant. Meeting with Professors from the Arctic Centre and Visit to the Exhibition “The Arctic in Change” The members of the delegation were welcomed to Arktikum House in Rovaniemi by Professors from the Arctic Centre: Ms. Monica Tennberg, Mr. Bruce Forbes and Mr. Timo Koivuira, who each gave the delegation a brief description of their field of research and of projects underway. The Arktikum House is home to two important institutions in the region: the Arctic Centre and the Provincial Museum of Lapland. The Arctic Centre is attached to the University of Lapland, and is a multidisciplinary research centre devoted to research concerning Arctic issues. It is also Finland’s national institute for international Arctic expertise. It has three broad categories of research programs: climate change, sustainable development, and environment and minority law. Each program brings together experts from natural and social sciences. The Centre has Canadian students who come mainly from faculties at and the University of Calgary. The meeting concluded with a guided tour of the institution’s core exhibit, “The Arctic in Change”, with Mr. Nicolas Gunslay, the executive producer of the exhibition. Acknowledgements Members of the Canadian delegation would like to thank His Excellency Sauli Niinistö for his warm welcome and generous hospitality. It also thanks the Embassy of Canada in Finland, to whose support and efforts the visit’s success is in large part due. The delegation gives special thanks to Canadian Ambassador to Finland, Mr. Scott Fraser. It would also like to recognize the contribution of the staff of the Canadian embassy in Finland, in particular Ms. Jenni Koistinen, Political Affairs Program Manager, Mr. Stephen Chase, Senior Trade Commissioner, Ms. Tiuku Rask, Political Program Coordinator, and Mr. Peter Lönnberg, Public Affairs Program Manager. The members of the delegation left Finland convinced that they had helped to strengthen mutually beneficial parliamentary relations between Canada and Finland. Respectfully submitted,

The Honourable Peter Milliken, M.P. Speaker of the House of Commons

TRAVEL COSTS

Visit of the honourable Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons, and a parliamentary delegation to Finland.

TRAVEL $41,118.34

PER DIEMS $2,707.62

PROTOCOL $2,697.75

TOTAL $46,523.71