Vic Toews Concludes Successful Visit to Paraguay

For immediate release

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Ottawa – The Honourable Vic Toews, President of the Treasury Board, has wrapped up a five-day visit to Paraguay where he met with several senior Paraguayan government and aid officials, made a series of announcements on behalf of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, and visited projects linked to Canada.

"The Americas are a priority for the Government of Canada. I was very pleased to see first-hand the scope and breadth of the bilateral relations between Paraguay and Canada," said Minister Toews.

Mr. Toews met with Paraguay's President Fernando Lugo, Foreign Minister Héctor Lacognata and Miguel Abdon Saguier, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate. They discussed Canada's work with Paraguay toward strengthening and promoting freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law throughout the Americas.

Canada and Paraguay enjoy strong academic and people-to-people links. The Canadian Studies Centre in Asunción, for instance, regularly invites Canadian professors to universities in Paraguay. Mr. Toews met with representatives of the Centre and also met with representatives from the Paraguay Centre of Law, Economics and Political Studies.

In addition to his meetings with Paraguayan officials, including Economy Minister Dionisio Borda, Minister Toews also visited a number of very successful projects that have benefited from technical assistance provided by the Government of Canada, including a meat packing plant in Loma Plata and a dairy plant in Filadelfia. He also met with the Paraguayan Technical Director of the Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam, the largest of its kind in the world and second only to the Three Gorges Dam in China in terms of energy production, and toured the facility.

Minister Toews also met with members of Paraguay's 30,000-strong Mennonite community, delivering a speech to its leadership on Canada's new citizenship legislation and what it means for the 9,000 Canadians in Paraguay and their future generations.

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For more information, contact:

Christine Csversko
Director of Communications
Office of the President of the Treasury Board
(613) 957-2666

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