Mr. Speaker, yesterday, referring to the current tensions in Burundi, I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs whether he recognized that concrete action was urgently needed, by supporting the deployment of a monitoring force in that country among other things, as the Burundian ambassador to Canada requested on March 23 before the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs.
In response, all the minister said was that no request had been received from the Government of Burundi along the lines of the moving plea made by the Burundian ambassador. The minister should know that the Government of Burundi has no leeway.
This response from the minister confirmed our worst fears. This government is turning a blind eye to the tragedy waiting to happen in Burundi. The optimist front put up by the minister, who talks about an illusive will to reconcile, brings back sad memories of the tragedy in Rwanda, where the international community was confronted with a crisis it was unable to prevent.