Mr. Obhrai, of course I don't do party politics. And we didn't try to write a report in any way written from a partisan point of view. I think most fair observers have said that we were critical of governments--plural--of different political stripes in some of the things we said in our report. We made recommendations that were fundamentally based on our view of what was in the national interest.
Perhaps I can put it this way: if you believe Canada should have an active role projecting Canadian values abroad, then that's a principle, and if you subscribe to that principle, then you need to ask yourself, how does any country do that?
I held the view for a long time--I held it when I was the Minister of Foreign Affairs--that there are essentially only three ways countries can influence the world and project their values. There is development assistance, there is diplomacy, and there is defence. Now, it's entirely legitimate to take the view that we should do only one or two of those things. That's a legitimate point of view. But it's not a point of view I share.
When I became foreign minister, I actually thought Canada punched above its weight in the world. It's something we all said, and we were all very proud of Lester B. Pearson's Nobel Prize and its legacy. But I discovered that in many of the international clubs we were members of, we didn't in fact have much of a voice. Quite frankly--well, I said it once, and the Prime Minister didn't like it that much, but I'll say it again--we sat at the table, and when the waiter came with the cheque, we excused ourselves and went to the washroom. That's not a way to project our values.
I believe in a robust foreign policy for Canada because I believe this country has an enormous amount to offer. I believe we have an enormous responsibility because of the wealth that, for whatever reason, we have inherited. It's therefore our duty.
Now, I'm not going to take issue with those who think we should only do development assistance, or maybe some diplomacy, or we shouldn't do military--that's not my role, even though I don't agree with that point of view--but I will take serious issue with anyone who says that Canada should just retreat into fortress North America and not play that role in the world. On that I'll take them on.