Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to the motion concerning Canada's participation in the peace implementation force to be deployed within Bosnia-Hercegovina.
The Dayton peace agreement has given the world a great deal of hope; hope that the situation in the former Yugoslavia will once and for all improve, and hope that innocent people will no longer have to suffer the violence of war.
Having come from that region of the world, this peace agreement touches me more personally than it does most other Canadians. I would like nothing more than to see a lasting peace which would ensure safety and security for all people in the former Yugoslavia.
I have had the honour to debate the issue of Canadian involvement in the former Yugoslavia many times in the House. Each time I have stated very clearly that I support Canadian involvement as long as the lives of our men and women are not placed in danger.
There were many times when I felt that Canadian peacekeepers were not being given adequate tools to do the job which they had been sent to do or adequate tools to protect themselves. When I speak of adequate tools I am not only referring to weapons, I am also referring to the mandate of UNPROFOR which often tied their hands. In spite of these obstacles, Canadian peacekeepers managed to make a valuable contribution to the fragile peace in Croatia and to perform a valuable humanitarian role in Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Although not always evident, Canadian peacekeepers are well respected in the region. They have established a rapport with locals in the areas to which they were assigned. That is fundamental to the success of any peace mission.
The mission in which Canada is now being asked to participate is different from that of UNPROFOR. The peace implementation force will consist of approximately 60,000 military personnel. It will be responsible for overseeing the military aspects of the peace agreement recently reached in Dayton, Ohio. The force will be organized into three divisions: one American, one British and one French. Britain, France and the United States are collectively contributing the bulk of the forces necessary for this mission. They will send a combined total of 49,500 troops.
NATO will assume command of the mission once IFOR is deployed. However, it will operate under the authority of the United Nations Security Council resolution which permits the use of all necessary means to fulfil the mission.
Given that the formal peace agreement will not be signed until December 14 of this year in Paris, it is unlikely that any deployment of forces would take place prior to that date.
IFOR will not be a peacekeeping mission but rather a NATO led enforcement mission. Where UNPROFOR was mandated only to monitor the implementation of United Nations resolutions and to provide an escort for humanitarian operations, IFOR will be there to enforce the peace agreement.
Canadians and their allies have a great deal of work ahead of them. They will be required to co-ordinate arrangements to ensure freedom of movement and self-defence for IFOR troops within a given sector. They will be required to monitor and if necessary, enforce the withdrawal of parties to their respective territories. They will also co-ordinate and mark boundaries and lines of separation between parties and will establish, monitor and if necessary man lines of separation.
In addition to those responsibilities, IFOR troops will enforce the ceasefire provision of the peace agreement, defend persons, properties and areas designated as protected, monitor the clearing of minefields by parties to the agreement and provide a combat capability to reinforce IFOR troops as required.
In addition to this already lengthy list of responsibilities, IFOR will help to establish a joint military commission with civilians, military and non-governmental agencies in the area and will assist both the UNHCR and other civilian aid agencies in the conduct of their humanitarian missions. As well, IFOR will observe, secure and if necessary prevent interference in the movement of populations, refugees, displaced persons and their property.
Needless to say, what I have just outlined will be a challenge for all those participating in the IFOR mission. Canada has expertise in all of these areas simply because of our historic role in difficult peace missions around the globe.
As I stated earlier, our forces did an excellent job during the UNPROFOR mission and often without necessary means. Canada has already dedicated a great deal of time and effort to finding a peaceful resolution to the situation in the former Yugoslavia. To quit now when true peace is within reach would be a shame.
IFOR's mandate will give Canadian troops the tools needed to succeed in the implementation of the Dayton peace agreement. It will also give them the tools they need to protect themselves. To pull out now after we have done so much already would be like throwing in the towel in the third period of the Stanley Cup final.
We cannot let our allies down at this stage of the game. It would be wrong to let down the hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons who are counting on our help and who have trusted us for so long.
Not only would I encourage my government to contribute a modest force to IFOR so that we can finish what we started back in 1991, I would also encourage it to take a stronger leadership role in this region.