Meghalaya speaker joins Canada parliamentary seminar

Shillong: The speaker of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, Thomas A Sangma, participated in the 16th Canadian Parliamentary Seminar held in Ottawa, Canada, from May 25 to 29 on the theme, ‘Parliaments in the 21st Century: Innovation and Adaptation for Democracy’.The seminar, organised by the Parliament of Canada, aimed at facilitating deliberations amongst parliamentary leaders and officials on the evolving nature of democratic governance and pressing legislative issues.“A diverse range of topics are being explored, including an in-depth look at the Canadian parliamentary system, the role of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), enhancing youth participation in democratic processes, women’s leadership in politics, building robust parliamentary infrastructure, accountability frameworks for parliamentarians, managing traditional and social media, the implementation of electronic voting systems, and the dynamics of hybrid proceedings in the House of Commons,” an official statement said.A significant portion of the seminar was also dedicated to discussing the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in parliamentary proceedings, with an emphasis on innovation, ethics, and accountability.The Meghalaya Legislative Assembly said the participation of its Speaker in the global parliamentary seminar would provide him with “substantial learning regarding new parliamentary practices and innovations that would aid in fortifying the democratic governance and legislative proceedings” in Meghalaya.Meanwhile, Speaker of the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Prem Kumar, was in Meghalaya on an official study tour as part of a parliamentary exchange and learning visit aimed at studying legislative functioning and parliamentary activities in the state.Kumar arrived in Shillong on Tuesday, May 26, and was scheduled to remain in Meghalaya until May 29.He undertook a study of parliamentary activities in Shillong and Sohra (Cherrapunji), while also visiting places of historical and cultural importance.“The visit is expected to further strengthen inter-legislative cooperation and encourage the exchange of best practices in parliamentary governance between states,” a Meghalaya Assembly statement highlighted.