Marcel Prud'homme was very active in the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) throughout his Parliamentary career. The IPU is a multilateral Parliamentary Association with a Canadian Group that receives budgetary and administrative support from Canadian Parliament. At the time of Prud'homme's involvement, the IPU met twice a year: its various study committees held preliminary meetings in the spring to debate topics to be considered at a full-scale conference in the fall. Since 1984, the Union has held two conferences each year, which since 2003 have been called assemblies.
Prud'homme served as president of the Canadian Group from 1982 to 1984. In Geneva in 1984, he was elected Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Committee on Political Questions, International Security and Disarmament. In this position, he played an important role balancing the diverse and often competing interests of different nations around the table. When asked about his experience in this role he stated that Canada played a quiet role working with other countries to find solutions, thus adding to Canada's prestige and reputation. He stepped down from this role in 1987. In 1985 he Chaired the Organization Committee of the 74th Conference of the IPU held in Ottawa. Having attended 25 conferences and assemblies Prud'homme is Canada's longest-serving delegate to the IPU.
The following is a complete list of IPU Conferences and Assemblies attended:
1981 Manila, Philippines, Spring Meeting of the IPU
1981 Havana, Cuba, 68th Conference of the IPU
1982 Lagos, Nigeria, Spring Meeting of the IPU
1982 Rome, Italy, 69th Conference of the IPU
1983 Helsinki, Finland, Spring Meeting of the IPU
1983 Seoul, Republic of Korea, 70th Conference of the IPU
1984 Geneva, Switzerland, 71st Conference of the IPU
1984 Geneva, Switzerland, 72nd Conference of the IPU
1985 Lomé, Togo, 73rd Conference of the IPU
1985 Ottawa, Canada, 74th Conference of the IPU
1986 Mexico City, Mexico, 75th Conference of the IPU
1986 Buenos Aires, Argentina, 76th Conference of the IPU
1987 Bangkok, Thailand, 78th Conference of the IPU
1989 Budapest, Hungary, 81st Conference of the IPU
1989 London, United Kingdom, 100th Conference of the IPU
1990 Nicosia, Cyprus, 83rd Conference of the IPU
1991 Pyongyang, D.P.R. Korea, 85th Conference of the IPU
1992 Stockholm, Sweden, 88th Conference of the IPU
1997 Seoul, Republic of Korea, 97th Conference of the IPU
1997 Cairo, Egypt, 98th Conference of the IPU
1998 Moscow, Russia, 100th Conference of the IPU
2000 Amman, Jordan, 103rd Conference of the IPU
2001 Havana, Cuba, 105th Conference of the IPU
2002 Marrakech, Morocco, 107th Conference of the IPU
2004 Mexico City, Mexico, 110th Assembly of the IPU
This sub-series also contains material from symposiums, working sessions and other special meetings of the IPU. Includes the Inter-Parliamentary Symposium on Parliaments of the United Nations (Geneva, April 1978) and the Inter-Parliamentary Symposium on the Participation of Women in the Political and Parliamentary Decision-Making Process (Geneva, 20-24 November 1989).
The "Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe" was established in 1975 and renamed the "Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe" at the Budapest Summit in December 1994. It is a primary instrument for early warning, conflict prevention and crisis management and includes Canada among its participating states. A multilateral Parliamentary Association exists to send a delegation to this organization; the IPU also held working sessions to discuss these conferences, which are represented in this sub-series. Files in this sub-series pertain to the IVth Inter-Parliamentary Conference on European Co-operation and Security (Brussels, Belgium, 12-17 May 1980), the Vth Inter-Parliamentary Conference on European-Cooperation and Security (Budapest, Hungary, 30 May - 5 June 1983), and the VIIth Inter-Parliamentary Conference on European Co-operation and Security (Vienna, Austria, 1-3 July 1993).
This series contains records from each of the Conferences, Symposiums and Meetings he attended for the IPU, as well as from the Canadian Group. These records include invitations, applications, travel documents, programs and guides, speeches and drafts, press releases, background information, resolutions and drafts, declarations, bulletins, budgets, meeting notes, letters, member lists, elections, reports, and other documents.