The Hon. Members of both Houses of the Parliament of Canada formed Canada-Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group on October 4, 2016. The first general meeting of the Friendship Group was coordinated by Hon. Geng Tan, MP for Don Valley North. The election of the Executive Committee was presided over by Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Hon. Bruce Stanton. Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Hon. Jiwan Bahadur Shahi and the Nepalese leader of the Nepalese delegation to the 39th General Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was present in the meeting. The meeting elected Hon. Gen Tan from the governing Liberal party as the Chair of the 7-member Executive committee. Two Vice-Chairs- Hon.Harold Albrecht and Hon. Julie Dabrusin, and 4 Directors- Hon. Jati Sidhu, Hon. Mark Marawa, Hon. Ramesh Sangha, and Hon. Raynell Andrychuk, were also elected by the meeting. Hon. Brad Trost, Hon. Bruce Stanton, Hon. Chandra Arya, Hon. Deepak Obhrai, Hon. Francesco Sorbara, Hon. Gord Johns, Hon. Joseph Day Senator, Hon. Julian Peter, Hon. Larry Bagnell, Hon. Larry Campbell, Hon. Larry Miller, Hon. Mark Serre, Hon. Michelle Rempel, Hon. Paul Lefebvre, Hon. Robert Kitchen, Hon. Robert Oliphant, and Hon. Sonia Sidhu joined as members of the Group.

Speaking on the occasion, Hon. Minister Shahi said Nepal has embarked on the path of political stability and economic development after the promulgation of new constitution in September 2015. Hon. Minister also expressed confidence that the newly formed Canada Nepal Parliamentary Friendship Group would be a corner stone to facilitate the strengthening of bilateral relations between Nepal and Canada.

Ambassador of Nepal to Canada HE Kali Prasad Pokhrel thanked Hon. MPs and Senators for showing interest in joining the Friendship Group and expressed his determination to work closely with the Executive and members of the Group.

– Embassy of Nepal, Ottawa, Canada