Foreign Affairs Committee on May 25th, 2009

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

There's a point of order.

We'll see very quickly if it's a point of order.

[Bob Rae, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, this is a matter of privilege for me.

I was contacted on Friday by the minister's office. I could not change my schedule for this week. There is no reluctance to pair with him. I'm surprised the minister referred to it in his statement. I chose not to use up my time discussing it publicly. I'm happy to have a private conversation with the minister on it.

There's no reluctance on our part to pair with the minister in going to Haiti or anywhere else. It's a matter of whether one person can do it or another. As far as I'm concerned, this is not an appropriate issue to be dealt with in committee.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Mr. Rae.

Continue, Mr. Obhrai.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Pontiac, QC]

I'll take up my colleague's offer to discuss it off record.

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary East, AB]

Mr. Rae, for your information, when I went to South Africa, one of you guys couldn't come. Your whip paired somebody else. So you could have actually done that.

However, as you've agreed to discuss this with the minister, let me move forward and ask the minister to describe our engagement in Haiti and why what we've done for Haiti is important for us.

I'm glad the Liberals have clarified they will join you. Hopefully, you can go to Haiti.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you, Mr. Obhrai.

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Pontiac, QC]

I think Haiti remains a long-term commitment for Canada. It's at the heart of Canada's vocation for the Americas. We're directing an unprecedented amount of financial assistance and political resources towards ensuring the success of our efforts. I'll remind colleagues that between 2006 and 2011, $555 million is being devoted to this country, which is the poorest one in the Americas. It's our single largest investment, and the second one worldwide.

Our involvement is based on a strong national interest in terms of security and values, and we believe it reflects the close cultural and demographic links between our countries. As you know, we're participating as well in the UN stabilization mission in Haiti with a contribution of some Canadian Forces personnel. We also have civilian police officers and correctional officers to help and assist in bringing political stability to this country.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Go ahead, Ms. Brown.

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I'd just like to change the channel, if I may, Mr. Minister.

Could you give us an assessment of the relationship between Turkey and Canada right now, and of the relationship between Armenia and Turkey, in your estimation?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Pontiac, QC]

Yes, I'll be pleased to.

Turkey is a cherished ally of Canada in NATO. As you know, we've worked with the Turkish government over the course of the last number of years. There are and have been differences between us over the term Canada uses to describe the suffering that the Ottomans inflicted upon the Armenians in 1915. The basis of the government's policy on the issue is to support the Armenian genocide recognition resolution that the House adopted, you'll recall, in 2004, but we don't attribute the acts carried out in 1915 to the modern Republic of Turkey, which, as I mentioned, Canada admires greatly.

Turkey plays a moderating role and makes extremely valuable contributions to regional stability in a complex neighbourhood. As a friend of Israel, Turkey has made a special effort to contribute to the resolution of disputes in the Middle East. Canada also welcomes the news that Armenia and Turkey, with the help of Swiss mediation, have agreed on a framework to normalize their bilateral relations. Canada strongly supports Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and praises the efforts of the governments and individuals who have pursued this goal. Their task certainly won't be easy, given the challenging historical legacy that divides them, but we encourage them to continue to do so.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Go ahead, Mr. Lunney, please.

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Minister, welcome to our committee.

I also want to change the dial. I appreciate those remarks on Turkey, but I wanted to take us over to China.

You mentioned China, and our relationship with China is certainly a very important one. You've recently been to China yourself, and I understand that many of our ministers have been there also. In fact, I think there have been as many 16 ministerial visits in the last short while. I think we've opened about six new offices in China, and even three in India, as you mentioned in your remarks.

Would you comment on the objectives and the results of your recent Canadian high-level visit to China, and the importance of that to the Canada-China relationship?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Pontiac, QC]

Let me say that the Government of Canada is promoting a frank, friendly, and forward-looking relationship with China. We are extremely pleased with the results of the high-level visits made to China by both my colleague Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade, and me.

On the occasion of these visits, we had broad and constructive discussions with China's leadership on a whole range of global and bilateral interests. We agreed to make tangible progress on a number of important issues. We also committed to working together to address global and pressing issues, such as the financial crisis, the economic downturn, climate change, counter-terrorism, and emerging infectious diseases. Both sides are committed to redoubling their efforts to be able to move forward.

I did have, at the same time, along with my colleague the member for Toronto Centre, the opportunity to visit Canada's 2010 Expo site, which is now under construction. We also had the opportunity to meet with and announce the new commissioner general, Mark Rowswell, an individual who has been with the Canadian foreign service for some time. He will be acting as our commissioner general. He is better known in China. I think he's probably Canada's best export to China, as a matter of fact. He's better known to a lot of Chinese for his role as Dashan, which literally means “big mountain”. He is extremely popular, as both I and Mr. Rae can attest—as well as Olivia Chow, who was there with us.

[Dave Van Kesteren, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Essex, ON]

Do we have time for—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Yes, one more quickly.

Mr. Abbott.

[Jim Abbott, Conservative, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

I don't have any questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Mr. Van Kesteren.

[Dave Van Kesteren, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Essex, ON]

Well, I'd like to ask a question, if I could, Minister. Thank you for appearing, as well.

I want to talk about the Arctic. You had mentioned that this government's foreign policy was exercising or strengthening our Arctic sovereignty. Could you summarize, Minister, the actions the government has taken to promote Canada's international leadership in the Arctic region?

[Lawrence Cannon, Conservative, Pontiac, QC]

Thank you for that question.

I mentioned in my statement before that Canada is pursuing an Arctic policy that is based on our northern strategy. As you know, our northern strategy promotes governance and democracy. It promotes economic development, the protection of the environment, and of course, sovereignty.

I had the opportunity to meet with a lot of my counterparts, ministers responsible for the Arctic Council, when I was in Tromsø, Norway, not long ago, where we had the opportunity to hold our meeting. A number of issues were discussed there, some extremely important, as you know, particularly in terms of doing the geographic mapping of the Arctic and the continental plateau. That is under way as we speak.

Canada is doing a great job in cooperation with the Americans sometimes, and with the Danes. We're out there making sure that by the year 2013 we will have done all of the surveying and will have finished the mapping of that area, so that the decisions made at Ilulissat two years ago will indeed have a basis in terms of respecting the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and so that we will have the necessary data in place to be able to make that determination.

So briefly, as you know, Canada has its border; then beyond that, we have our 200-mile economic zone; and beyond that, we are now doing the mapping of the continental plateau. I've had the opportunity to speak with people from our department, as well as people from NRCan, as to how that is progressing. It's going very well. We do have, on the part of all of the coastal members as well as the members of the Arctic Council, not only a willingness but also a commitment to respect the decisions that will come forward from that process.

On another front, of course, I might want to point out how the EU had made a request to become a permanent observer at the Arctic Council. Canada refused that request. We refused it because we feel the sensitivities needed by some of the states or some of the countries in the EU, particularly regarding the well-being of the Inuit and the first nations who live there in terms of their seal hunting and their procuring of their basic needs, have not yet been well recognized by the EU. Therefore, over the coming year, given certain criteria that are going to be put forward, we will be able to evaluate observer status for different countries, as well as for the European Union.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. I think we'll just leave it at that for today.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I would like to ask questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

Do you not want to go to committee business?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I don't want to play games. I want to have committee business, and I think it's up to the committee if we want to decide to do our business. We've already adopted part of the steering report.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kevin Sorenson]

If you want to keep going, we'll do that. If that's the case, Mr. Dewar, at 5:30 I will just lower the hammer.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

I just want my rights as a member of this committee to ask the minister questions.

Is that okay?