Honourable senators, earlier this week I was in Washington for the Global Parliamentary Forum organized by the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Founded in 2000, the network is an independent, non-governmental organization that provides a platform for parliamentarians from 189 member countries to advocate for increased accountability and transparency in development cooperation. I am honoured to serve as chair of our Canadian chapter, and I encourage you to join our group if you haven’t done so already.

This year’s theme was Multilateralism: Achievements, Challenges and the Way Forward. It gave legislators an opportunity to exchange views with representatives from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, and the World Bank on how multilateralism should evolve. I had the honour of participating in a panel on the eightieth anniversary of the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference that resulted in the founding of the IMF and the World Bank. For eight decades, these two institutions have been at the forefront of global economic development, multilateral cooperation and the stability of an orderly monetary system.

Joined by senior staff from both organizations and parliamentarians from Denmark and Zambia, I spoke about Canada’s support, financial and otherwise, to multilateral institutions and our commitment to providing financing to low‑income and vulnerable economies.

I also reiterated Canada’s position and that of its international partners on calling on multilateral development banks to undertake reforms to scale up the resources they can provide by using innovative financial instruments. These institutions need to be more adaptable and flexible in how they assist countries with reducing poverty and raising living standards.

We also explored other topics such as climate change, poverty and inequality, conflict resolution, economic gender disparities and how nations must coordinate their efforts in addressing these pressing issues.

Honourable senators, parliamentary diplomacy is an important part of our role as legislators, and it is a valuable complement to diplomatic initiatives undertaken by the government itself. We are uniquely positioned to open dialogue on difficult subjects and to engage with our international counterparts and civil society.

The Governor of the Bank of Canada recently said that we need to invest in effective multilateral institutions since they are more important than ever in this fragmented world, and I agree. Thanks to the Parliamentary Network, parliamentarians from around the world can engage with one another to advance our common interest for a healthy and prosperous global community. Our advocacy can, indeed, lead to positive changes and a better tomorrow for citizens the world over. Thank you. Meegwetch.