Just to give further background, first of all, I believe this is identical to a motion standing as a private member's motion in the name of Ms. Chow in the House. I personally agree with the intent of the motion, and I'm sure all the members do.
I think we should be aware of a couple of things. First of all, I understand that Foreign Affairs Minister MacKay did, last week, call his Japanese counterpart to express Canada's concern about Prime Minister Abe's remarks of three weeks ago, and he encouraged the Government of Japan to clearly express its regret and apologies for the comfort women system. Mr. Marston has alluded to the fact that because of the international pressure--and I would say hopefully in part because of the pressure that Canada exerted--yesterday Prime Minister Abe, in a session of the Japanese senate, said, “I apologize here and now, as Prime Minister.”
Now, apparently some of the communities in Canada that are concerned about the issue feel that this was not a full and sufficient apology. I'm just pointing this out. These are the facts. We're in a bit of a grey zone here; it's not as cut and dried as it was two days ago before his apology in the senate. I'm just putting those facts out there.
Ms. St-Hilaire, you have the floor.