The Parliamentary Centre in China

The Parliamentary Centre was recently chosen by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to undertake a legislative capacity-building project with the Chinese National People's Congress. In February 2003, a design team from the Parliamentary Centre spent three weeks in China to work on the project design with Chinese counterparts from the National People’s Congress (NPC), the Yunnan Provincial People's Congress and Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress.

Residents of Yunnan Province

Background

The China-Canada Legislative Cooperation Project (CCLCP) builds on a previous initiative, the Cooperation Project between the Parliamentary Centre of Canada and the National People's Congress of China spanning from 1998 to 2001. The purpose of this new project is to strengthen democratic rule in China by increasing the People's Congresses capacity to legislate and improve governance, while simultaneously encouraging respect for human rights and the development of public participation processes. The project will further support the People's Congress System (nationally and locally) in strengthening its capacity with respect to legislative work, its internal management processes, its interaction with the public through consultation and participation mechanisms as well as its capacity to supervise the work of government organs and increase their accountability. It will also seek to enhance capacity to integrate poverty and gender issues in its legislative and policy analysis.

Current Status

The Parliamentary Centre signed the contribution agreement with CIDA in June 2004 to start implementing the project. The Joint Project Steering Committee, which is the project decision-making body consisting of important stakeholders of the project, i.e. CIDA, MOFCOM, NPC and the Parliamentary Centre, held its first meeting in June 2005. The meeting officially approved the project management strategy as set out in the Project Implementation Plan, the first annual workplan and the annual progress report. In the meanwhile, a series of activities have been planned or implemented with various committees and staff institutions of the NPC designed as the beneficiaries of the Project, such as the Agriculture Committee, Budget Affairs Commissions, Legislative Affairs Commission, Research Office and Training Centre.

Guiding Principles:

Democratic Lawmaking
Poverty Reduction
Gender Equality

Project Objectives:

Stronger mechanisms, processes and standards for legislative drafting, analysis and implementation established in the NPC and selected provincial people’s congresses
Improved mechanisms and increased awareness for public consultation in the Congress system in support of representative legislation
Increased capacity of the congress system to supervise the implementation of government policies including a strengthened legislative and budgetary oversight role

Legislative Priorities:

Rural Development, Agriculture and Poverty Reduction
Others (to be prioritized iteratively)

Intended Beneficiaries

Special Committees and Staff Institutions at the National People's Congress
Provincial People’s Congresses of Jiangsu, , Yunnan, Zhejiang and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region
other provincial and local congresses when needs arise
Legislative staff and deputies

Parliamentary Exchange Visit to China on Strengthening the Role Of Parliamentary Committees in Budget Oversight and Accountability: April 12-18, 2009
Canada-China Legislative Cooperation Project

A Canadian Parliamentary delegation visited China, April 12-18, 2009, to exchange views and explore ideas with their Chinese counterparts on the challenges in strengthening the oversight role of parliament and its committees and ensuring the accountability of government to citizens. The Canadian parliamentary delegation was composed of two members of the Parliament and two members of provincial legislative assembly: Derek Lee, Member of Parliament from Ontario, Chairman of Government Operation and Estimates Committee, Andrew Saxton, Member of Parliament from British Columbia, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of Treasury Board, Katherine Whittred, Member of Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Maureen MacDonald, Member of Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia, Chair of Public Accounts Committee. More ...

The photo above was taken on April 13 after the meeting with Mr Gao Qiang, Chairman of the Budget Affair Commission of the National People`s Congress (from left to right): Amelita Armit, President and CEO, Parliamentary Centre, Maureen MacDonald, Derek Lee, Gao Qiang, Andrew Saxton, Katherine Whittrred.

Canada-China Workshop on Legislative Processes

A Canada-China workshop on legislative processes took place in Beijing from June 19-20, 2008, under the Parliamentary Centre’s Canada-China Legislative Cooperation Program. The event, which was hosted by the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress allowed for an audience of 35 Chinese parliamentarians, parliamentary and government staff and Chinese academics to be introduced for the first time to Canada’s experience in several important aspects of the legislative process: (1) Legislative Planning and Drafting, (2) Assessing the Impact of Draft Legislation, and (3) Sunset Legislation. The events also allowed for detailed discussions to be held on relevant practices, reforms, needs and challenges in both China and Canada.

Three-Month Study Attachment on Rural Development

Governance Workshop on Public Participation in Canada and ChinaThe Canada-China Legislative Project (CCLCP) participated in the Governance Workshop on Public Participation in Canada and China held in Ottawa, September 10-12, 2007. Amelita Armit, Vice President, Programs and Project Director, CCLCP, made a presentation on "Public Participation in Canada and the Role of Parliament". The workshop, organised by CIDA's China and Northeast Asia Division, was attended by more than fifty representatives from the Chinese and Canadian executing agencies and CIDA officials. It provided a forum for Canadian and Chinese partners to explain current practices in public participation and learn from each other's experience in this area. Participants also discussed best practices from ten projects and identified strategies for addressing challenges to public participation. A half-day session on Gender Equality Toolkit and Training concluded the workshop program.

Getting the Most out of Knowledge Sharing

On January 30, 2007, the Canada-China Legislative Cooperation Project (CCLCP) hosted a knowledge exchange event in Beijing that, for the first time in the project's history, brought together representatives from various NPC institutions to share knowledge and insights gained from previous activities implemented by the CCLCP. The success of the event was apparent in the active participation of our Chinese partners and their insightful reflections on the knowledge acquired from previous project activities on wide-ranging themes such as rural development, public consultation, law drafting, etc. Participants shared observations on the Canadian approaches, lessons learned and their applicability to the Chinese in the spirit of openness and candidness. The forum highlighted the value of strengthening information linkages across various NPC partners and enhancing sustainable local ownership for the project. Full text of the report.

Past Activities

Three-Month Study Attachment on Rural Development

Helping to Construct an Enabling Corporate Environment in China: Contribution of Canadian Expertise




		Website services by Lola Giraldo