Mr. Speaker, on January 21 I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs several questions regarding his government's position on the violation of human rights in Mexico.
At the time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs answered that his government would listen to suggestions and discuss the matter with the Mexican authorities.
We were surprised at the minister's comments. When one realizes that Canada has a long tradition of defending democracy and human rights, the government's silence was cause for concern. Considering also that the Prime Minister and the Minister for International Trade publicly announced there was no connection between our trade agreements with Mexico and respect for human rights in that country, we started asking some serious questions. On the other hand, the Secretary of State responsible for Africa and Latin America made it clear that Canada was always concerned about human rights issues among its trading partners.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment intervened on January 24 to establish clearly a link between our trade agreements and environmental protection. Are we to understand that the government sees human rights as being less important than the environment?
Quebecers and Canadians want to know once and for all whether Canada sees a link between respect for human rights and the signing of trade agreements and establishing close trading relationships.
If the answer is yes, why was the government not more energetic in its representations to the Mexican government following the brutal repression of the people of Chiapas, shortly after NAFTA was signed? And how do we justify the privileged business relationship Canada has with China, although human rights are still being violated in that country?
If, on the other hand, the new government does not see a direct link between respect for human rights and its trading relationships, how does it justify Canada's retaliatory measures against Haiti, for instance? Quebecers and Canadians want to know what the present government's position is and they want that
position to be consistent. How can we explain the fact that the government has a double standard?
Canada and Quebec enjoy an excellent reputation for development assistance and respect for democracy and human rights. The Bloc Quebecois also feels that the resulting economic space and reciprocal trade are very important for our economy. Finally, we ask the government to clearly establish consistent criteria for all these countries tp be applied consistently to problems concerning human rights and democracy.