For Italy, President Fico: "Citizens are sure if they can benefit of all the rights and constitutional freedoms"

 

*Francesca Paolucci

 

From 5 to 8 September 2018, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Hon. Roberto Fico, on a mission to Canada in view of the G7 of Presidents of Parliaments.

The trip was the occasion for a stopover in Montréal, where President Fico, accompanied by Ambassador Claudio Taffuri and the Consul General Marco Riccardo Rusconi, visited the Santa Cabrini hospital to meet the local Italian community. The meeting was a moment of exchange and sharing, of dialogue between the parties, thanks to the presence of representatives of large organizations, such as Comites, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada, the Italian-Canadian Community Foundation, the National Congress of Italian-Canadians, Casa d'Italia, the Leonardo da Vinci Center and the Italian-Canadian Association of businessmen and professionals.

On September 6, the departure to Halifax, to support a bilateral meeting with the President of the Bundestag of the German Federal Republic, Wolfgang Schauble, where the President Fico said he was satisfied for this meeting.

 

The 16th Meeting of the Presidents of the Parliaments of the G7 countries was held on September 7 in Halifax (capital of the province of Nova Scotia) where the theme "Parliamentary control and national security" was deepened. During the work, the intervention of President Fico, emphasized the role of Parliaments in the management of security: "Parliaments must be the places where serious and strong reflection on the word security takes place and therefore on the exact and forward-looking policies to be pursued".  The President's speech focused on the importance of ensuring a functioning and solid welfare state, as the first security shield. In fact, he recalled the importance of investing in culture and education, to ensure a dignified life for all, to create a dialogue between institutions and citizens, to achieve a national cohesion able to face the dangers. "The policies to be put in place on this issue cannot be based only on the 'perception' of security, otherwise they are limited. We need to start from a broader and more complex vision to take a forward-looking approach", continued the Hon. Fico, "Italy is a model for how it managed to reconcile Parliament's control over intelligence, the requirements of confidentiality and promptness of the government".

Following the G7 meeting, as scheduled, President Fico visited the Canadian Museum of Immigration and the following day the bilateral meeting with the President of the House of Commons of Canada, Geoff Regan and the visit to the rural community of Peggy's Cove.

 

* Research coordination and Public Relations