Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party of Canada recognizes the Journée internationale de la Francophonie, that was officially celebrated yesterday, March 20.
Our party, being a party of the people, recognizes on this day that 23 per cent of Canadians are francophones.
At the same time, we realize that Canadians are part of la Francophonie, a worldwide group of 400 million people.
Canada is a fortunate country. Despite our financial problems, we continue to provide assistance to other countries, but our help does not necessarily involve money.
We agree with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who just said that Canada will continue to promote the fundamental values dear to all Canadians such as democracy, human rights, women's equality, child welfare, education and training. By supporting these values in other countries, we hope to reinforce them at home.
We congratulate francophones from Canada and other countries around the world on this international day of la Francophonie.