MINISTER DION ANNOUNCES THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF COMMITTEES TO LEAD PREPARATIONS FOR AN
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON FEDERALISM

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, August 18, 1998 – The Honourable Stéphane Dion, President of the Privy Council and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, announced today that two prominent members of the political community have agreed to play a key role in organizing an international conference on federalism, which is planned to be held in Canada in late 1999.

The Honourable Bob Rae, former premier of Ontario, has agreed to be the co-chair of the International Advisory Committee, together with Dr. Henning Voscherau, former premier of the state of Hamburg, Germany. Mr. Rae will also chair the Canadian Planning Committee, which will organize the conference.

The conference will bring together elected officials, public servants and academics from a large number of federal countries to discuss governance challenges in federal systems, including economic and fiscal management, the accommodation of social diversity, public policy and intergovernmental relations. The conference could be the first step in acting on the Government's commitment to foster the establishment of a permanent International Forum of Federations. The Forum would allow federal countries to develop a network for exchanging information and to share ideas and best practices.

"As a former Premier of Ontario as well as a former Member of our federal Parliament, I am delighted to be able to help organize a conference on the functioning of federations," said Mr. Rae. "The proposed Forum would undoubtedly be an invaluable tool for improving our federative practices," he added.

The Honourable Stéphane Dion has ministerial responsibility for overall coordination of the Government's efforts to support the establishment of the Forum, and will work closely with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy.

"I am pleased that such high calibre figures as Messrs. Rae and Voscherau have agreed to assume these positions," Mr. Dion noted. "Their vast experience will be a definite asset in carrying out this initiative which will help us expand our knowledge of the functioning of federations," the Minister added.

"My meetings with representatives of other federations have made me see my own country with fresh eyes, and have convinced me that such a Forum would help well-established federations, as well as those implementing a new federal system, to draw on the strengths of this system by sharing their experiences," Mr. Dion concluded.

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The Honourable Bob Rae will be available for interviews. You may contact his office at (416) 979-2211, extension 6055.

Please find attached biographical notes for Mr. Rae and Mr. Voscherau.

For information: André Lamarre
Press Secretary
(613) 943-1838

BOB RAE

Bob Rae is a partner at the Canadian international law firm of Goodman Phillips & Vineberg. His Canadian clients have included companies, trade unions, charitable and non governmental organizations, and governments themselves. He has extensive experience in negotiation, mediation and arbitration. He also has responsibilities within the firm for the operation of the firm's foreign offices.

He served as Premier of Ontario from 1990 to 1995, and was elected eight times to federal and provincial parliaments before his retirement from politics in 1996. He led the New Democratic Party of Ontario from 1982 to 1996, and served as Leader of the Official Opposition before becoming Premier.

Mr. Rae has a B.A. and an LL.B. from the University of Toronto and was a Rhodes Scholar from Ontario in 1969. He obtained a B.Phil. degree from Oxford University in 1971 and was named a Queen's Counsel in 1984. Mr. Rae was made a Privy Councillor in 1998.

Mr. Rae is the National Spokesperson of the Leukemia Research Fund, a member of the National Advisory Committee of the Canadian Bone Marrow Registry, and a member of the International Council of the Asia Society. Mr. Rae serves on the board of directors of Tesma International Inc., Tembec Ltd., Canadian Airlines Corporation, Credit Lyonnais of Canada, Atlas Steels Inc. and the Canadian Ditchley Foundation. He is also a panel member of the Internal Trade Disputes Tribunal, and a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee.

Mr. Rae is the author of numerous articles and speeches on labour and employment law, public and constitutional law, changes in the modern state, and the challenge of political leadership. His book, From Protest to Power (Penguin) was published in the fall of 1996. His second book, The Three Questions: Prosperity and the Public Good, will appear in the fall of 1998.

He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and an Associate Fellow of Massey College.

Born in Ottawa in 1948, he is married to Arlene Perly and they have three daughters: Judith, Lisa and Eleanor. Mr. Rae is fluent in English and French and speaks some Italian. He enjoys skiing, tennis, golf, hockey and fishing, and he plays piano and guitar.

HENNING VOSCHERAU

Dr. Henning Voscherau is a native of Hamburg, Germany, and has been active in the politics of that Land (state) since 1974.

A student of law and economics, Dr. Voscherau received a Doctorate in Jurisprudence in 1969. He subsequently worked as a notary in Hamburg from 1974 to 1988.

Dr. Voscherau was elected to the Hamburg Parliament in 1974 as a member of the Social
Democratic Party. From that year until 1982, he served as Chairman of the Parliament's Internal Affairs Committee.

In 1981, he became Vice-Chairman of the Social Democratic Party in Hamburg and served as Chairman from 1982 to 1987.

In 1988, Dr. Voscherau was elected Premier of the state of Hamburg, a position he held until 1997, when he returned to the practice of law. During his time as Premier, he served as the President of Germany's second chamber, the Bundesrat (1990-91) and as Chair of the Joint Bundestag-Bundesrat Mediation Committee (1996-97).

Since the reunification of Germany, Dr. Voscherau has been working with former German
Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and others to expand Hamburg's economic links with the former EastGerman states.

He is married and has three children.

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