Mr. Speaker, I have the honour today to associate myself with the tabling of the report of the Special Joint Committee on Reviewing Canada's Foreign Policy, especially the tabling of the dissenting report by the Bloc Quebecois members on the committee.
Throughout the proceedings, committee members honestly tried to offer an innovative vision of what Canada's new foreign policy could be. For that, I want to thank and congratulate them wholeheartedly.
I would also like to join my colleague for Ottawa-Vanier, the joint chairman of the committee, in thanking all those who contributed in one way or another to the preparation of the report, especially all the Canadians and Quebecers who made the effort to appear before the committee or send in a brief.
However, in spite of everybody's good will, the majority report is based on an interpretation of the international situation we cannot accept. The Bloc Quebecois's dissenting report highlights the aberrations and the shortcomings of the majority report, offering alternatives which, we believe, are closer to what a foreign policy that would be both progressive and realistic should be.
We especially fault the government for not taking into account such fundamental issues as nationalism, the emergence of new states and the recent arrival on the international scene of many new actors.
We also deplore the lack of clear guidelines regarding foreign aid, the interference in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction, especially education and culture, and their impact on the international level.
Finally, we find the lack of a chapter dealing specifically with human rights inexplicable. Moreover, we cannot endorse the unjustified mistrust of the majority report for our main partner, the United States.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I bring this report to your attention, hoping that the government will find it highly instructive.