Thank you.
We again want to thank Mr. Marston for bringing this motion forward.
I may have supported this motion before the response we recently had from the Japanese Prime Minister. However, when a government is asked to make representation to call on another government and another Prime Minister to make an apology, and we see that after some reflection the Prime Minister then issues an apology, I would have great hesitancy in supporting a motion that says the Prime Minister in that faraway country is not official enough or it wasn't done in the way we would like to have seen it done.
I think we would be at great peril in asking the Prime Minister to enlarge it, to make it more official, or to do a better one than he did. I think we have to in some way say we exerted pressure, we asked for it, and they responded. In their culture, it was perhaps a major step to come forward and apologize in the way they did.
At this point, I really don't feel I can support this motion. I think when we look at a lot of the other things that are on the table, the relationship we have with this very important ally, friend, and trading partner, and the fact that there was a response to our request, I really fear that if we, at our own jeopardy, proceed with a motion like this, it might hurt our relationship. I will certainly not be supporting this motion.