59^th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference Report

The 59th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Johannesburg, South Africa was a success and culminated with the Speaker of the House, the Honourable Juliana O’Connor-Connolly receiving a plaque in recognition of her service to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. She has just finished her term as an Executive Committee member of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians Association (“CPA”), representing the Caribbean Region.

The official Cayman Islands delegation sent to the Conference on behalf of the CI Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association included the Speaker of the House, the Honourable Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, the Minister of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs, the Honourable Tara Rivers, and the Leader of the Opposition, the Honourable McKeeva Bush.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Effective Solutions to Commonwealth Developmental Challenges” and it lasted from 28th August until 6th September 2013. Over 170 Commonwealth countries were represented at the conference. In addition to the General Assembly of Commonwealth Parliamentarians meeting, the conference included a preliminary conference specifically geared for Small Branches delegates (delegates from countries and territories with a population of 500,000 or less) and a conference for Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (“CWP”). This year’s CWP Conference also included a very important meeting of the CWP group to elect a new Chairperson to serve for the 2013-2016 period. One of the mandates adopted previously by the CPA and its various branches, including the Cayman Islands, is increasing women’s participation and representation in the political process with an aim of achieving 30% representation by women in the parliaments of each commonwealth member country by 2015.

“The involvement of women parliamentarians is vital to the aims and goals of the CPA, and member branches are encouraged to send as many women parliamentarians to the conferences as possible,” said the Honourable Juliana O-Connor Connolly. “Minister Rivers, being the only women in Cabinet, was initially asked to attend the regional conference held earlier this year in July, but was unable to do so at that time. She was, however, able to participate at the annual conference in Johannesburg and I am delighted that she was able to attend. She made many poignant contributions and a very favourable impression on many of the other delegates in attendance.”

Minister Rivers felt that it was “…a very enlightening and beneficial experience”, and actively contributed to the discussions at the Small Branches Conference, the CWP conference and at the General Assembly. “The networking opportunities and the sharing of ideas and solutions to the challenges facing our respective jurisdictions have been very informative,” added Minister Rivers. “As Minister of Education, Employment and Gender Affairs, it was particularly important and relevant that I attended this conference as many of the plenary sessions focused on the theme of whether education was meeting local employment needs, increasing women’s political participation and leadership and women, poverty and homelessness, to name a few, and discussing strategies to address these  issues.”

The CI Branch of the CPA typically sends two delegates – one member of the opposition and one member of government to each of the CPA conferences in which the Cayman Islands are invited to attend. The cost of delegates attending the CPC conference, including accommodation, was borne by the CPA, with the CI Branch of the CPA contributing to the airfare of the two delegates. The cost of the Honorable Speaker’s airfare was covered by the CPA, as she was a Member on its Executive Committee.

Related story:

Cayman’s Speaker recognized for service to CPA

Cayman Islands Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, received a plaque in recognition of her service to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in South Africa last week at its 59th conference in Johannesburg as she ended her term as an Executive Committee member for the Caribbean.

In 1997 Mrs. O’Connor-Connolly became Cayman’s first woman minister when she was chosen to fill a vacancy on Executive Council as the Minister of Community Affairs, Sports, Women, Youth and Culture.

She was also Cayman’s first woman premier when she succeeded McKeeva Bush on  19th December 2012 who was removed by way of a no confidence motion the previous day. She served as premier until 29th May 2013.

This is her second time as Speaker of the House. Her first time in this position was from November 2001 to October 2003, when she followed the Hon. Sybil McLaughlin and the Hon. Capt. Mabry Kirkconnell (also from Cayman Brac where O’Connor-Connolly hails from) to become the third Caymanian speaker.

O’Connor-Connolly was elected Deputy Premier during the Cayman Islands general election in 2009, and in addition to assuming the post of Deputy Premier, she served as Minister of District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture. In 2012 O’Connor-Connolly assumed the post of Premier of the Cayman Islands she also served as Minister of Finance, District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture.

Mrs O’Connor-Connolly has been elected to the Legislative Assembly since 1996; she is the first woman to represent the Sister Islands. In November 2001 she was a founding member of the United Democratic Party. Born and raised on Cayman Brac, she first pursued a career in teaching but later received a law degree from the University of Liverpool and was a practicing attorney before entering politics.