Madam Speaker, I would like to assure the minister that I gladly excuse him, on behalf of the political formation I represent here in the House of Commons. I understand his obligations, and I certainly have no objections, since I know he will read our speeches carefully when he gets back to his office a bit later on.
First of all, I would like to thank all of my House colleagues for allowing us to have this exchange on the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. It would, I think, have been terribly unfortunate if we were to let the day go by without marking the Journée internationale de la Francophonie.
I am also extremely pleased to speak in this House today on the occasion of the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. To begin with, however, I would like to qualify what the minister has just said. Quebec was the one to initially show interest in the Francophonie, in the early 1960s, via its special relationship with France and its subsequent membership in 1971 in ACCT, the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique. Moreover, it managed to become a full-fledged member of ACCT as a participating government only after a great struggle with Ottawa.
The federal government then thought up ways to trivialize Quebec's presence within the institutions of the Francophonie, going so far as to fund New Brunswick's participation in order to show the international community that Canada's membership in the Francophonie was not solely related to the French character of Quebec.
Be that as it may, the Francophonie has undergone numerous major changes in recent years. The last was in 1996, when the ACCT finally became the Agence de la Francophonie. From that moment on, the Francophonie became a political body, with a Secretary General to be appointed at the Hanoi Summit later this year. In this connection, the name of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is being circulated at the moment as the potential first secretary of the Agence de la Francophonie.
This political tack which the Francophonie has taken shows how it has matured politically into an internationally recognized forum whose membership discusses vital issues. This new vocation also requires of us a greater solidarity, cemented together by language and culture.
At the very moment we are celebrating the great francophone family, I find it hard to understand the government's guilty silence concerning the catastrophic situation that currently prevails in Zaire, where civilian populations are the primary victims of the raging conflict. How can we celebrate this day joyfully, when the values which we hold dear and defend, the respect of human rights, democracy and of the rule of law, are being trampled upon daily in a number of the member countries of the Francophonie?
Next fall, the Sommet de la Francophonie will be held in Vietnam. Canada has always given precedence to multilateral approaches for advancing causes it holds dear. Will it take advantage of this important occasion to raise certain points, including human rights, child labour and excessive defence spending in developing countries?
Canada could also easily raise the case of Trân Triêu Quân, the Canadian citizen who has been unjustly imprisoned in that country for far too long already. Like the Commonwealth, the Francophonie is an important tool with which we can make the world a fairer and a safer place.