Easter attends National Conference of State Legislatures Summit

Malpeque MP Wayne Easter recently attended the annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Summit. Easter is the co-chair of the Canada-United States Inter Parliamentary group. The recent summit he attended was in Los Angeles, Calif., where Easter spoke before an international trade panel. “I really think in the Canada U.S. endeavour at the moment, relationships have never been as important. The NCSL panel was a great opportunity to outline the importance of Canada in the North American trading relationships and to address some of the perceived concerns on our domestic policies,” said Easter. Attendees discussed an array of issues such as the ongoing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiations, the current state of affairs and area of conflict between Canada and the U.S. as well as the importance of supply management. The NCSL is a bipartisan organization which provides resources, tools, and information to state legislatures all across the U.S. Attending the annual summit was a large collection of legislators, staff, CEOs and policy analysts from all across America. The focus of discussions ranged widely, addressing a large number of public policy issues effecting both Canada and the U.S. like trade, innovation, the environment and the global economy. Easter has previously discussed the importance of personal relationships in maintaining the connection between the two countries and hopes events such as the NCSL Summit allow these relationships to be strengthened.