It's not your usual summer vacation spot but Ottawa Centre MP Paul Dewar spent this past week in Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Thankfully for him it is one of the more peaceable areas of the country.

Dewar was there for a conference on "Practical Federalism in Iraq" organized by two groups, No Peace Without Justice and the International Alliance for Justice, with the support of the Italian ministry of foreign affairs, the Kurdistan regional government and both the Iraqi National Assembly and the Kurdistan National Assembly.

Dewar is representing Canada and was there to discuss our adventures with split jurisdictions. He says he's already explained to Iraqi legislators from Baghdad and Erbil that life isn't always rosy when deciding such thorny issues as how oil revenues should be divided.

He also observed that he was impressed that his fellow conference attendees "actually know what fiscal imbalance is." (They are probably ahead of many Canadians on that front.)

It was Dewar's first trip to Iraq. He says he was surprised by the number of mosques (there is only one in his riding), and that he enjoyed speaking to regular Iraqis who said they were concerned about finding work.

"Their lives are on hold but they are so desperate to move on. There are so many religions and ethnic groups here, that's why Canada's experience is so relevant."

Interestingly the NDP MP says some of the people he spoke with want the Americans to leave "but they don't want them to leave entirely. They want support for some sort of model in the future." That's why, Dewar says, the international community should continue to play a role in Iraq.

He's not advocating that Canadian forces should have a role there, mind you, only that Canada should help with governance.