Legislative Leadership Academy
 
After 19 years of summits and leadership forums in the PNWER region, we have found that having this knowledge is of significant value to key legislative leadership on both sides of the border. It is the opinion of our Executive Committee that an ongoing program that can bring a select group together for a week-long session would go far in improving the overall Canada-U.S. relationship.

In our experience, legislators and government leaders are very interested in the day-to-day differences in the two political systems and the practical ways that decisions are actually made in the other country. PNWER has had sessions on this topic numerous times and new issues are constantly being discovered. Sessions on this topic have consistently been the highest rated programs at our Annual Summit. 
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PNWER's goal in establishing the Legislative Academy is to help existing leadership develop important relationships with their counterparts across the the border, and help them better understand the functioning political realities of the state and provincial governments through a series of hands-on workshops.  The Academy provides an excellent opportunity for leaders in the Canadian provinces to understand how decisions are made at the US  federal and state levels, and conversely, allows an opportunity to US state-level legislative and executive branch leaders to better understand how decisions are made at the Canadian federal and provincial levels.

In addition to the material on the Canadian and US political systems, the Academy includes a leadership development curriculum  that fosters relationship building, and assists in career development.

Participants

Participation is limited to 40 people that are carefully selected and nominated by each PNWER lead officer of executive committee member in each State and Province. Participants include members from each jurisdiction, plus our PNWER offices and the past presidents who are able to be present. Selections from each jurisdiction should be bi-partisan, but the main criteria asks for future leadership and involvement in PNWER and regional issues, especially cross border. Good candidates are:
  • Elected legislators or senior administration officials
  • Designated by their caucus as future leaders
  • Interested in cross-border issues
  • Likely to remain in government for at least the next four to six years
 

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