moved for leave to introduce Bill C-295, an act to provide for the control of Canadian peacekeeping activities by Parliament and to amend the National Defence Act in consequence thereof.
Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to introduce this bill the short name of which could be called the peacekeeping act.
In recent months both the defence review and the foreign affairs review have pointed out the need to have peacekeeping criteria established in advance of peacekeeping operations.
Recent unfortunate developments in the former Yugoslavia have reinforced the necessity to establish these criteria now while our excellent peacekeeping reputation remains untarnished.
The private member's bill I have introduced today requires the government to pass a resolution in this House before a peacekeeping mission starts. The resolution would lay out the goals, the duration and the maximum cost of the mission. Once the resolution expired troops would be withdrawn or a new resolution passed to continue the mission.
A peacekeeping bill such as this would allow Parliament to ask the hard questions before peacekeeping missions began. It would also help to secure the lives of our peacekeepers.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)