Exploring Similarities and Differences Between

Official Panel Description:

– CSG 2010 International Session –

Exploring Similarities and Differences Between

U.S. States and Canadian Provinces

Monday, December 6, 10:30-12:00 p.m.

Room: 556AB

North American citizens enjoy a unique advantage in that they all operate under a similar (federalist) system of government – that said, each nation is not without its unique characteristics and differences. In this session, CSG international partners will provide participants with a basic understanding of the roles and jurisdictional responsibilities of legislators in Canadian Provinces, in addition to a simple analysis of how they are similar to and differ from those of their U.S. counterparts. Participants are encouraged to engage with speakers and colleagues to discuss and determine which issue areas are of greatest interest and importance – themes emerging from this discussion will be used to shape the agenda for the 2011 CSG North American Summit.

Biographical Information (Panelists):

Senator Mark Norris(Tennessee) - Moderator

Senator Mark Norris was first elected Majority Leader of the Tennessee Senate on January 10, 2007. He served as Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus in 2006 and was the first chairman to serve from West Tennessee since 1982. He was re-elected Senate Majority Leader of the 106th General Assembly beginning in 2009 and is the first Republican Majority Leader to serve from West Tennessee in more than a generation.

Norris came to the State Senate in 2000 as a Republican County Commissioner from rural Shelby County. He represents District 32 which is “the West Coast of Tennessee” including Dyer, Lauderdale, Tipton and Shelby County. He was re-elected by a wide margin in 2004 and is the first Republican in state history elected to represent Dyer County in the Tennessee General Assembly. Norris was elected to a third term in November 2008. He currently serves as Chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and is a member of the Finance, Ways and Means Committee, Ethics Committee, and State and Local Government Committee.

Norris served as Chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee from January 2005 to January 2007. During that time, he presided over the adoption of the state’s first long-range transportation plan and the creation of rural transportation planning organizations for grass-roots initiatives to meet the needs of local citizens. He led the fight to stop the annual diversion of taxpayers’ money from the state’s transportation trust fund to the general fund. He successfully increased funding for public transportation from existing revenues and was recognized by the Tennessee Public Transportation Association as 2006 Tennessee Legislator of the Year.

He also served as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee for eight years during which he was responsible for initiating the referendum to amend the Tennessee Constitution to provide property tax relief for senior citizens. Once on the ballot, the referendum passed in 2006 with nearly 1.4 million votes constituting over 80% of the vote. Norris subsequently sponsored and passed the Property Tax Freeze Act of 2007.
Norris continues to serve on the Joint Oversight Committees of Veterans Affairs, Pensions and Insurance and Workers’ Compensation. He is a member of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) and was elected its Chairman in 2009. He served as Chairman of the Southern Legislative Conference’s Economic Development, Transportation and Cultural Affairs Committee from 2006 to 2008, and he was elected Vice-Chairman of the Conference in 2008.
Norris has practiced law in Tennessee since graduating from the University of Denver College of Law in 1980. He received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Colorado College. He serves as Special Counsel to the law firm of Adams and Reese LLP. The Senator and his wife, Chris, have been married since 1978, and they have two sons.

Gary Mar Q.C. - Minister-Counsellor, Government of Alberta

Gary Mar was appointed on December 3, 2007 as the Official Representative (Minister-Counsellor) of the Province of Alberta to the United States of America. He leads the Alberta Office in Washington, D.C., co-located in the Canadian Embassy.

Prior to his diplomatic posting, Gary served for 14 years as a Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Province of Alberta, Canada, winning four consecutive elections in Calgary, Alberta. Gary held several Cabinet portfolios – Community Development; Health and Wellness; Education; Environment; and International and Intergovernmental Relations.

As Minister of Environment, Gary served as co-chair of Climate Change Central, a public/private partnership formed in response to the international agreement on climate change. He led efforts to create a new provincial park in the Spray Valley to protect this unique and vulnerable area of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains.

As Minister of Education, Gary introduced First Things First…Our Children, an initiative that focussed on school children of all ages. It made a commitment to ensuring children can read well by grade 3, and focussed on high standards for junior and senior high school students, keeping them in school and ensuring they have the skills they need when they graduate.

As Minister of Health and Wellness, Gary introduced a series of reforms to Alberta’s health care system, including a province-wide electronic health record system and an innovative pilot project to reduce wait times for hip and knee surgeries.

As Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, Gary led the highly successful Alberta at the Smithsonian project in 2006 which included Alberta as the first Canadian province ever featured at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Leading up to the Folklife Festival, Alberta Week in Washington included forums and meetings between Alberta leaders and U.S. decision makers and policy makers in Washington, D.C.

Before serving Albertans as an elected Member of the Alberta Legislature, Gary had a broad general practice including criminal, civil, corporate, commercial and real estate law in Calgary, Alberta. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1994, a honourary designation conferred by the Crown in Commonwealth countries and recognized by the courts.

Gary has a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degree from the University of Calgary, and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Alberta.

Gary and his wife Nancy have three children, Lauren, Jared and Mackenzie.

Speaker Charlie Parker (Nova Scotia)

Charlie Parker was born and raised on the family's farm at Durham, Pictou County, and has been active in his community throughout his life. He is a consensus builder and believes that working with people to find solutions will build strong communities. He served for four terms as a municipal councillor in the Municipality of Pictou County.

Charlie has worked in real estate sales, owned and operated a garden centre business for a number of years, and taught at the junior high and elementary school levels. He is a graduate of West Pictou District High School, obtained his Bachelor of Science from Acadia University and is a graduate of the Nova Scotia Teacher's College.

Charlie is a member and Past President of the Westville Rotary Club, is actively involved with his church, and is active around issues of the environment and forestry. He is a past Board member of Riverview Home, and has served on the Board at Valleyview Villa. He currently serves as a director of Landsdowne Outdoor Recreation Development Association (LORDA) - a park for seniors and the disabled.

In 1998 voters in Pictou West chose Charlie as their MLA and he held the seat until the 1999 election. Charlie was re-elected in Pictou West in 2003, 2006 and again in 2009. Also in 2009, Charlie became the Speaker of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly.

Charlie is an avid curler and continues to enjoy the sport. He is also a former Boy Scout Leader. Charlie lives with his wife Marilyn in Loch Broom, Pictou County. They have two grown children and two grandchildren.

Dr. David Biette - Director, Canada Institute, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

David Biette is Director of the Canada Institute, a program of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC.

Prior to joining the Wilson Center in October 2001, Biette was executive director for Canadian Studies in the United States, a national not-for-profit multidisciplinary academic professional association dedicated to the promotion of Canadian Studies in the United States.

From 1986 to 1992, he served as a political-economic officer at the Canadian Consulate General in New York City, where he was a policy analyst for environmental, political, energy, native affairs, and transportation portfolios for the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York City.

David has an M.A. in international relations with a concentration in Canadian Studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.