10:00-10:10           Welcome by Dr. Arnold Koller, Chairman, Forum of Federations

10:10-10:15           Review of House Rules by George Anderson,

                              President, Forum of Federations and moderator for the day

10:15-10:30           Summary of topics discussed International Roundtable discussions

(Oct. 23 & 24, 2006) and presentation of innovative insights

by Prof. Hans Michelmann

10:30-11:15           Discussion on Constitutional Issues (lead discussant Daniel Thürer)

11:15-12:00           Discussion on Intergovernmental Relations (lead discussant Patrick Peeters)

12:00 – 13:30         LUNCH

1:30 - 2:30             Discussion on Foreign Policy/Foreign Relations (lead discussant Earl Fry)

2:30- 2:45              Break

2:45 - 3:45             Discussion on Legitimacy and Accountability (lead discussant Christina Murray)

3:45 – 4:00           Main conclusions of the day and closing remarks by George Anderson

Questions To Facilitate

A Dialogue on Foreign Relations in Federal Countries

Constitutional Issues

1        Are the nature and scope of provincial-national interactions on foreign relations justified in theory by the discourse of division of powers, but shaped in practice by actual competency in the subject-matter at hand? (South Africa)

2        What are the implications of federal constitutional features for day – to – day politics in foreign relations? (Germany)

3        To what extent is there a need and are there possible ways of bringing under a legally formalized constitutional framework the extensive informal foreign relations practiced by the Austrian Laender? (Austria)

Intergovernmental Relations

1        What should be a federal government’s response to federated entities’ claims for a greater role in foreign affairs, especially when these claims come from a region where there is a strong nationalist movement? (Canada)

2        Does greater participation of constituent units, including local self-governments, in foreign relations help in containing separatist tendencies? (India, Spain)

3        How can intergovernmental lines of communication and exchange be strengthened and expanded in order to assist all levels of government in federal systems to cope with the dual challenges of globalization and         unprecedented technology change? (United States, Switzerland)

4        Do institutional structures matter for conducting efficient provincial international actions? Do the provinces need to manage their foreign relations through specialized agencies enjoying a prominent institutional/bureaucratic standing in each provincial government? (Argentina)

5        To what extent have federal-state relations in traditionally centralized federal systems been realigned to facilitate increasing involvement of the constituent states in foreign trade and investments, and the need for efficient decision-making, so that these states can maintain a competitive edge in a globalized world? (Malaysia)

6        What should be the extent of the formalization of the mechanisms for consultation by the federal government of constituent units previous to the       federal government taking a position internationally (especially) in areas of constituent unit jurisdiction? (Canada, Australia, Switzerland)

Foreign Policy/Foreign Relations

1        Do the foreign policies (relations) of sub-national entities converge with stated national foreign policy objectives and the aims or targets set by regional integration organizations? (South Africa, Belgium)

2        In an effort to decrease intergovernmental disputes, is it possible for national, state, and local governments in federal systems to reach agreement on how to differentiate between the pursuit of “foreign policy” and “foreign relations” by non-central governments? (United States)

3        How to put forward/perform/implement/conduct an effective national foreign policy which includes the increasing role of the sub-national actors at the three levels (regions, provinces and the cities)? (Argentina)

4        Has the process of globalization weakened the federal government’s control over foreign relations? (India)

5        After decades of intense discussion, can we say that federal governments across the world have finally come to recognize the unavoidable foreign dimension of their own constituent units' areas of jurisdiction? (Spain)

Legitimacy and Accountability

1        How do federations ensure the political accountability of dealings between central and constituent governments on foreign affairs/foreign policy issues? (Australia, Switzerland)

2        To what extent does the more or less reluctant recognition by federal governments of the international dimensions of its own constituent units’ policy domain affect the legitimacy of the whole political system? (Spain)

A Dialogue on Foreign Relations in Federal Countries

What We Can Learn From Each Other

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

10:00 am to 4:00 pm

Canadian Room

Fairmont Château Laurier Hotel

Ottawa

List of Participants

1.      Abigail Karos, Forum of Federations (observer)

2.      Abraham Sokhaya Nkomo, High Commissioner of South Africa

3.      Alexey Lisenkov, Embassy of Russia

4.      Alfred MacLeod, Privy Council Office

5.      André Lecours, Concordia University

6.      Anne Twomey, Australia

7.      Arnold Koller, Forum of Federations

8.      Celine Auclair, Forum  des fédérations

9.      Chandra Pasma, Forum des fédérations (observer)

10.  Chris Kukucha, University of Lethbridge, Alberta

11.  Christina Murray, South Africa

12.  Colin Robertson, Historica Foundation

13.  Daniel Thürer, Switzerland

14.  David-Alexandre Mac Donald, Forum des fédérations

15.  Denis Bédard, Gouvernement du Québec

16.  Desneiges Gauthier, University of Saskatchewan (notetaker)

17.  Diana Chebenova, Forum of Federations, (observer)

18.  Earl Fry, United States of America

19.  Eduardo Iglesias, Argentina

20.  Faiza Hassan Taha, Ambassador of the Sudan

21.  Fern Doctoroff, Forum of Federations (observer)

22.  Ferry de Kerckhove, Foreign Affairs Canada

23.  Francis Loh, Indonesia

24.  George Anderson, Forum of Federations

25.  Getachew Hamussa, Ambassador of Ethiopia

26.  Gilberto Rodriguez, Brazil

27.  Graham Schantz, Foreign Affairs Canada

28.  Hans Michelmann, University of Saskatchewan

29.  Harley Trudeau, Government of Yukon

30.  Howar Ziad, Ambassador of Iraq

31.  Hugo Rangel, Forum of Federations (observer)

32.  Jörn Rohde, Embassy of Germany

33.  Julian Evans, A/High Commissioner of the United Kingdom

34.  Keith W. Mines, Embassy of the United States of America

35.  Louis Lévesque, Privy Council Office

36.  Luis del Solar, Embassy of Argentina

37.  Manon Dumas, Foreign Affairs Canada

38.  Marc Lemieux, Forum of Federations (observer)

39.  Mariano Buron y Aberasturi, Ambassador of Spain

40.  Matthew Mendelsohn, Government of Ontario (TBC)

41.  Michèle Kingsley, Privy Council Office (observer)

42.  Niraj Srivastava, Embassy of India

43.  Patrick Fafard, University of Ottawa

44.  Patrick Peeters, Belgium

45.  Paul Osborne, Government of Saskatchewan

46.  Pedro Terra, Embassy of Brazil

47.  Peter Meekison, University of Alberta

48.  Professor Noe Cornago, Spain

49.  Rachel Auclair, Transport Canada

50.  Raoul Blinderbacher, Forum of Federations

51.  Rita Champagne, Forum of Federations (photographer)

52.  Rod Macdonell, Forum of Federations (Observer)

53.  Ronald Watts, Queens University

54.  Rudolf Hrbek, Germany

55.  Rupak Chattopadhyay, Forum of Federations (observer)

56.  Sadewo Joedo, Embassy of Indonesia

57.  Sigurd Pacher, Embassy of Austria

58.  Stéphane Paquin, Université de Sherbrooke

59.  Suzanne Levesque, Gouvernement du Québec

60.  Suzilah Sidek, Embassy of Malaysia

61.  Valeria Iglesias, Argentina

62.  Wayne Clifford, Government of Alberta

63.  Werner Baumann, Ambassador of Switzerland

64.  William Fisher, High Commission of Australia