Pierre Pettigrew

[Natural Resources, June 20th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, this is precisely why the Minister of the Environment and I have been working very hard. I am grateful to the Prime Minister who has discussed this issue with President Bush. We have been a team. The file is being reviewed by the Council on Environment Quality. Our officials have met twice to obtain exactly what it is that we want to have for the IJC. Should we not get it that way, we will get it through these negotiations. We will have been meeting exactly the objectives we had in mind when we started.

[Foreign Affairs, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the Palestinian refugees are in a unique political and humanitarian situation.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, was established prior to the refugee convention relating to the status of refugees. It was given specific authority to provide assistance to Palestinian refugees.

Reflecting this unique political situation of the Palestinian refugees, the international community, through the UN General Assembly, requires UNRWA to continue to provide humanitarian assistance pending a political situation.

[Natural Resources, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the longstanding first course of action that the government has been supporting has been to refer the matter to the IJC.

However, in parallel, the White House has been seized with the dossier and with its own environmental analysis that it is doing on the United States side. We are now sitting down with the Americans and looking at how we can absolutely protect the integrity of the water system in Canada.

We have placed our demands out there but we want the boundary waters treaty to be respected in every way.

[Foreign Affairs, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Vietnam requires its children to be protected by an international treaty with the legal effect of international law. We must respect that reality.

We do, of course, respect Quebec's jurisdiction over adoption, but we have succeeded in reaching agreement with all the provinces and territories of this country. We will also be successful with Quebec, for the sake of the adopting families in this country and the children in Vietnam who need to be adopted.

[Foreign Affairs, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, the negotiations have intensified and considerable progress has been made in recent days. I hope that this difficult situation can be resolved, for the sake of those wishing to start or expand their families, and for the sake of these Vietnamese children, whom their government is anxious to protect with an international treaty having the effect of international law. I very much hope that we will be able to conclude the negotiations within days.

[National Security, June 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we always take all these allegations very seriously. Clearly, we enjoy a very constructive dialogue with China. We work with the Chinese. We expect from them respect for our sovereignty. When they are here, they are meant to respect our Canadian laws.

When things are brought to our attention, we refer them to the appropriate authorities in our country.

[China, June 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we never lose any opportunity to have discussions with Chinese officials here in this country. We will always ensure that the rights of citizens to express themselves in whatever way they choose will always be respected in Canada.

[China, June 15th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we are always in touch with Chinese officials in the capital. We discuss a number of issues relating to the respect for human rights and the right of Canadian citizens to express themselves in the way they want. This is a free country. We will always insist that people are free to do so in this country. This is what we have been expressing to the Chinese officials.

[Arts and Culture, June 10th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I must express Canada's extreme pleasure with what we consider a great victory for this country. We have worked with the Government of Quebec, and our success in connection with this weekend's Madrid conference constitutes a giant step forward as far as cultural diversity is concerned.

Hon. members can, of course, count on Canadian diplomacy throughout the world to play a part in this progress, which is a direct reflection of the priorities we have been promoting in collaboration with the Government of Quebec. Our embassies will ensure that a large number of countries follow us along this great path. Already, there are 45 ministers of culture in Madrid and—

[Haiti, June 8th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, naturally, our government believes that disarmament is absolutely essential. The mandate of MINUSTAH, the UN mission, must be renewed by June 24. and should be reinforced. Canada is pleased to contribute 100 police officers to assist with policing.

MINUSTAH must not only carry out its military obligations but also assist the police. I believe that is a priority for the international community.