Madam Speaker, I agree with the member who spoke before me and who mentioned the sovereignty and independence of our territory. I think that in the Bloc Quebecois we all accept this.
Canada's primary mission in the world is peacemaking, peacebuilding or peacekeeping.
May I first mention that before today's debate on missiles, we had yesterday, in this House, an extensive special debate on Bosnia and the peacekeepers' mandate in that country. The purpose of that debate, which lasted over 14 hours, was to find out whether Canada should extend the peacekeepers' mandate in Bosnia after March 31, 1994, in spite of the tremendous cost of such a mission. Are we going to listen to our heart or our wallet?
I think that we will listen to our heart for the following reasons: to protect senior citizens who are defenceless; to protect fathers and mothers whose role is to provide food and shelter to millions of children; and also to protect millions of children who are in danger.
Regarding cruise missile testing, will we listen to our heart or our wallet? Maybe our heart, but then again maybe our wallet. Testing on Canadian territory is done at no cost to Quebec or Canadian taxpayers. Canada cannot afford an army the size of the United States' or Russia's.
Should Canada be unfortunately dragged into war, its main ally would certainly be the United States. For a reason close to our heart, the cruise missiles are being refined to render them more efficient and to weaken the enemy with greater precision, without costing thousands of human lives.