Mr. Speaker, last week, the UN carried out a mid-term review of its new agenda for Africa. This five-year program is aimed at helping the 47 nations on that disaster-stricken continent, including the 35 poorest countries in the world. Canada maintained only a discreet presence at this rather important meeting to deal with the pressing poverty problem.
Eliminating world poverty is one of the priorities of Canada's foreign policy. Despite this and although Canada has always favoured international forums, the government did not see fit to
send a ministerial representative to this meeting to debate these vital issues.
It just so happens that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is in New York this week for the opening of the 51st session of the UN General Assembly. In light of the major differences between the two Canadian delegations, we question the government's real commitment to a priority it set itself. We hope this is only an honest mistake and not a decision to turn away from Africa and even from the UN.