Algeria 's Ambassador to Canada has paid an official visit to the authorities of the province of Alberta from April 29 th to May 5 th , 2007.

During this visit, Mr. Smail Benamara met in the capital Edmonton :

•  The Honourable Mel Knight, Minister of Energy;

•  The Honourable Richard Marz, Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly;

•  The Honourable Hector Goudreau, Minister of Tourism, Parks, Recreation and Culture;

•  The Honourable Guy Boutilier, Minister of International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations, who offered a luncheon on his honor;

He attended the question period at the Legislative Assembly during which, he was introduced to all the members.

•  His Worship Stephen Mandel, Mayor of Edmonton ;

•  Mr. John Cotton, Executive Director, Energy Industries and Services, International Offices and Trade, Alberta International, Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Relations;

The discussions focused on means and ways of strengthening relations between Algeria and the Province of Alberta . In this regards, it was agreed to prepare an economic mission to Algeria in 2008 which would be probably led by an Albertan Minister.

The Algerian Ambassador also met with Presidents of Calgary-based Canadian big oil companies, who mainly are:

•  Mr. John C.S. Lau, President and CEO of Husky Energy Inc;

•  Mr. Ronald A. Brenneman, President and CEO of Petro-Canada;

•  Dr. James Buckee, President and CEO of Talisman Energy Inc;

•  Mr. Barrie Wright, President and CEO of Madison Petrogas;

•  Mr. Travis Robertson, Vice-President at Weatherford Canada Partnership;

The presence of those companies in Algeria , mainly in the fields of prospecting and developing investments in the energy sector, were the main topics of the discussions.

It was also agreed to create in Calgary a Business Council with the companies based in this city that operate in Algeria.

The Algerian Ambassador seized this opportunity to meet with members of the Algerian community based in Calgary and Edmonton .