Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary, as I did the minister last week, whether he can assure us that Canada will vote for a socially and environmentally responsible resolution that is going to come before the United Nations General Assembly.
The background to this resolution is as follows. It is a resolution that is asking the international court of justice for an opinion on whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons is ever justified.
When the vote came up in the first committee, as I understand it, Canada abstained. Tonight I want to tell the parliamentary secretary that I am ashamed of the fact that Canada decided to abstain from the vote, considering its fine, long and historical record particularly highlighted and developed over time by Prime Minister Pearson and followed in his footsteps by Prime Minister Trudeau. We have a tremendous reputation in the international community and we cannot abstain on such an important vote.
Let me also inform the House that in Canada there are about 100 national and regional groups supporting the resolution, including professional organizations such as Physicians for Global Survival, Lawyers for Social Responsibility, Project Ploughshares and the like.
In addition, city councils such as those in St. John's, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria have passed motions in support of the resolution. This resolution was put forward at the United Nations by Indonesia on behalf of a large group of non-aligned nations. For the life of me I cannot understand why Canada cannot identify itself with non-aligned nations on a method that is related to nuclear arms and support this resolution to go to the International Court of Justice.
Surely our record is such that it should remove any doubt, any uncertainty and move us away from abstaining and vote in favour of this motion.
Madam Speaker, I am looking forward to the reply of the parliamentary secretary.