Canada-Cuba Relations
Parliament Hosts Symposium on Cuba
The morning of May 28, a Symposium on Cuba was held
at the
federal Canadian Parliament, under the auspices of the Hon.
Senator Pierrette Ringuette and Member of Parliament T.J. Harvey,
Co-Chairs of the
Canada-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group, on the initiative of
the Canadian Network on Cuba.
The opening panel, made up of renowned scholars, namely,
Isaac
Saney, John Kirk and Julia Sagebien from Dalhousie University,
Halifax; and Professor Keith Ellis from York University,
Toronto, examined Cuba-Canada's long-standing positive bilateral
relations, current challenges and future prospects; as well as
Cuba's economy, society and foreign policy.
The second and last panel of the meeting focused on the
nature
of the Canadian trade relationship with Cuba, its importance for
both countries, and the impact of the escalation of U.S. economic
sanctions against Cuba on Canadian companies doing business with
the island, particularly, after the activation of Title III and
the threat to enact Title IV of the Helms-Burton Act.
Among the panelists were representatives of Canadian companies
and organizations that maintain links with Cuba, including
Sherritt International Corp., Acasta Capital, the National Bank of
Canada, Gowling WLG international law firm, Air Transat and the
Chamber of Commerce and Industry Canada-Cuba.
In addition to Senator Ringuette and MP Harvey, the
Honourable
Senators Stan
Kutcher, Beverley Busson and Diane Giffin; and Members of
Parliament Michel Picard, Anthony Rota and Fayçal
El-Khoury, were also in attendance.
Representating the Embassy
of
Cuba at the Symposium in Ottawa were Ambassador Josefina Vidal,
accompanied by
other members of the diplomatic staff.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 20 - June 1, 2019
Article Link:
Canada-Cuba Relations: Parliament Hosts Symposium on Cuba
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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