Mr. Speaker, at the recent Commonwealth conference the Prime Minister reacted to the execution of Ogoni playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa by calling on the assembled heads of government to speak out with one voice in the face of flagrant violations of democratic principles and basic tenets of justice.
Following up actions with words, the Prime Minister pushed for an unprecedented suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth in the face of its flagrant violation of human rights and yet another example of the utter contempt held by General Abacha's regime for world opinion.
In light of this, I urge my colleagues in the Government of Canada to take this condemnation one step further by sending a stern message to the Government of Nigeria by cancelling all of its oil imports and imposing economic sanctions.
In light of these events, the citizens of the world must also send a message to multinational companies such as Royal Dutch Shell that they are responsible for more than simply maintaining the bottom line of their balance sheets. These companies must adopt environmental standards for their operations, especially in societies where opposition to their operations is repressed.