Mr. Speaker, the United Nations sanctions were imposed on Iraq to persuade the Iraqi government to comply with all UN Security Council resolutions which flowed from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
The Government of Canada has repeatedly expressed its full support to the UN Security Council resolutions and has called on Iraq to comply fully with the relevant security council resolutions.
Canada has also played an active role in the implementation of these resolutions through its presence in the United Nations special commission, UNSCOM, and the participation of its navy in the Maritime Interdiction Forces in the Gulf. During the most recent crisis Canada again demanded that the Government of Iraq comply fully with all the obligations imposed on it by the international community.
We hold the Government of Iraq and its leader Saddam Hussein fully responsible for the continued suffering of the Iraqi people by their persistent refusal of full co-operation with the international inspections. However, it was not the intention of the UN Security Council to inflict suffering on the Iraqi people. That is why the security council passed resolution 986 to permit the sale of humanitarian goods to Iraq to help the Iraqi people while sanctions are in place.
Canada and its principle partners, including the United States and the United Kingdom, fully supported this resolution which was opposed for a long time by the Iraqi government. Under this resolution Canadian companies are free to pursue sales of humanitarian goods subject to approval by the UN Sanctions Committee and the Government of Canada.
It is a Canadian legal requirement that all Canadian companies seeking to export goods to Iraq under this resolution, whether in Canada or overseas, must submit their application to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for approval. The Department examines each application to ensure that all conditions for such exports laid down in Canadian regulations are met before a certificate permitting the export will be issued or can be issued. One of these conditions is that the UN Sanctions Committee approve the deal.
The Government of Canada is aware that a recent Canadian business delegation to Iraq, led by a Kanata company, concluded several deals with the Iraqi government—