Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in this take note debate. Clearly over the last seven hours, members of Parliament have made it very clear this is a very important issue for Canada. It is not to be taken lightly. We are talking about a threat to world peace.
Members have been very clear. I have written many notes, which I have changed often over the last number of hours. I want to abandon a few of the points I was going to make, only because I believe they have already been well made by members, including the hon. member for Scarborough—Rouge River.
The president of the United States has asked Canada to provide non-combat support. It is important to understand that the request is for non-combat support.
The Prime Minister undertook to consult with the House prior to making his decision with his cabinet. I want to start by thanking the Prime Minister for providing the opportunity to all members of Parliament to voice the views of their constituents and their own views on behalf of their constituents.
Today I received a fax from a constituent, Ms. Janis Alton, who has written me often on matters of international peace and security and human rights issues. Ms. Alton has touched on a few points which I think Canadians would like expressed in the House.
There are just as many questions that have to be answered. The importance of the debate is not necessarily for us to answer those questions but rather to ensure those questions are posed and fully explored as part of the decision making process.
Ms. Alton is utterly opposed to any military action. She stated in her fax: “While Iraq's leadership continues to resist full compliance with a security council order for inspection and destruction of its weapon sites, at the same time, its civil society has no voice in the matter”.
She goes on to talk about human rights issues and the plight of the civilians. That is certainly an important aspect. Canadians want that assurance. That is part of the consideration. I believe that all members of Parliament hope that every possible protection and consideration will be given to innocent victims to ensure that the kinds of things that people can only imagine do not occur.
Ms. Alton concludes that military action should only take place with the sanction of the security council. It has been pointed out a number of times today that only two of the five security council members have given their support at this point.
The question is whether the reasons for the non-support at this point of the other members, France, Germany and Russia, are substantive which should be exhausted prior to taking any further actions. Ms. Alton has suggested seeking the resolution of the lack of unanimity of the security council is an important question for us to raise.
A number of constituents have raised with me the issue of the United States. It is the indictment that this is a unilateral action of the United States and Canada cannot be pushed around and manipulated.
This kind of attitude probably has no place in terms of the decision making process. We are talking about the fundamental issues of peace and security of the world, very serious issue, and to suggest that somehow this is a unilateral action is somewhat shortsighted.
There is no question that Saddam Hussein has not complied with resolution 687 of April 1991 nor with any subsequent resolutions. We cannot forget, however, that historically in matters of peace and security Canada has not been a bystander. Thousands and thousands of Canadians lost their lives for peace in the world. Canada has been a player, has been supportive.
The security council itself, however, has made it known very clearly that in its view Saddam Hussein represents a threat to the neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran. When we mention these countries altogether, I think we cannot help but recall how many conflicts have gone on there for how many years and how volatile the situation is. This is a very serious situation.
There is the question of guarantees. Clearly there can be no guarantee that any military strike is going to achieve the desired results. But the question then becomes if every diplomatic option has been exhausted fully to the satisfaction of all and no further action is taken, then what?
It is a very good question. What happens? I believe it is the view of the UN that failure to comply with the UN resolution is not a passive position. It is in fact taken to be a threat, a real threat to world peace.
In the ceasefire agreement, Saddam Hussein in writing accepted that he would, under international supervision, destroy, remove or render harmless the weapons of mass destruction and that economic sanctions would be in place until compliance.
This compliance, as many members have outlined, is under the auspices of UNSCOM, the UN special commission which was established by UN security council resolution 687. Many members have outlined its responsibilities. It has not been allowed to do its job. This is important from the standpoint that this agency represents the interests of all the members of the UN.
It represents the monitoring agency and the agency which is going to deal with things. One of the previous speakers went through a very substantial list of the destruction of chemical weapons, missiles and missile launchers and other warheads that UNSCOM has succeeded in destroying to date. Yet there are still many more there. This is a serious threat.
Before I came to the House today I looked on the web. I wanted to see what CNN was reporting. One of the stories says that defence officials said on Monday that the U.S. is sending as many as 3,000 ground troops to Kuwait as tensions heightened over the weapons inspection impasse. Secretary of state Madeleine Albright said the United States has the authority, responsibility, means and will to launch substantial military action against Iraq if there was no diplomatic solution. These are very powerful words and no one can question the commitment or the resolve in regard to dealing with Saddam Hussein.
In closing, I want to make my input to the Prime Minister as follows, and I think it is supported by the House, that all diplomatic options be exhausted fully. We need those assurances. Second, that every effort be made to secure the support of the UN security council. This is a very important element. Third, we have to have the kind of assurances that there would be the greatest possible protection for civilians. Finally, that we take every precaution to ensure the protection of our troops if they participate.
It is a very serious issue and I believe that the House has spoken very clearly that we have no choice if there is no diplomatic solution.