Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak to this motion because I will have the chance to reveal some truths about both the Liberal Party and the Reform Party, which put forward this motion.
While the Liberal Party has no interest in seeing parliament's having a real role in the most crucial national decisions, those involving sending young Canadians into danger, the Reform Party by wording the motion the way it has chosen to demonstrates once again it has absolutely no concept of foreign affairs or the way the real world works.
I want to read the motion so the House is clear on what I am speaking to:
That, in the opinion of this House, the government should seek majority support, through an official vote in the House of Commons, prior to committing a significant contingent of Canadian military personnel to an active military mission beyond the boundaries of Canada.
The sentiment behind this motion is good and I applaud the Reform Party for that. Twice since this parliamentary session began in September the House has met to debate the government's decision to send Canadian troops abroad. The first instance was in February of this year. I remember it well. Let me share with the House the reasons why I remember it so clearly.
As tensions in the Persian Gulf grew because Saddam Hussein refused to allow United Nations weapons inspectors to do their job, United States and Britain continued to build up their power in the region. The situation looked very serious. It looked like there might be another war.
The Sunday before this House resumed sitting after the winter break the leader of my party called the Prime Minister and told him we were going to request an emergency debate. The Prime Minister and this House refused my party's request for an emergency debate. It was not until the following week after President Bill Clinton requested Canada's help did the Prime Minister concede that debate was needed.
He told this House that he had told the president that he could not give him an answer until it was debated publicly in the House. He told Canadians he would not give the President of the United States an okay that Canada's troops could be used until he checked with this House. That was not accurate.
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright went on U.S. television and told the world that President Clinton had Canada's support. That was on the Sunday morning, February 8. The Prime Minister did not tell the Canadian public that he had even spoken to the president until Sunday afternoon.
The same debate the Prime Minister said was necessary before he made a commitment to the Americans was not until Monday evening, February 9. By that chronology either the U.S. secretary of state said she had Canada's support before she really did or the Prime Minister gave the U.S. Canada's support before there was a debate. Under the latter scenario the Prime Minister fooled Canadians into thinking the debate had actual meaning. That is disgraceful.
The second time this House met to debate sending troops abroad was on April 28 of this year. That debate concerned Canadian participation in Bosnia, now under the NATO banner, beyond the current June 20 deadline.
The motion put forward that night by the government was that this House take note of an intention of the Government of Canada to renew its participation in the NATO led stabilization force.
Take note of the government's intentions; that is all that was accomplished on that evening. The ministers concerned in such a decision, a decision to keep young Canadians in a dangerous military zone, had the right under House rules to speak for 20 minutes. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of National Defence split their time that evening. Keeping Canadian forces in Bosnia was not important enough for this government's ministers to take all the time available to them. That is rather disgraceful. It is disheartening to Canadians and to members of the Canadian forces who serve Canadians.
Let there be no mistake, when this government enters into a debate of crucial importance it is not because the Prime Minister is interested in the opinions of other parties. It has everything to do with optics, the show, the media.
I made the point that it should not have been a take note debate. I said that if this government had the courage it would not have been a take note debate but a votable motion. This government has no courage.
But just because this government has no courage, the Reform Party seems to think there has never been a Canadian government to show courage or that there will ever be a government that will show courage.
I am in favour of the sentiment behind this motion. Unfortunately the Reform Party as usual did not get it right. The phrase “significant contingent of Canadian military personnel” is not clear. The hon. member for Red Deer said it was to give the government more leeway. If we give it an inch it will take a mile, just as it does now. That is no change at all. I suppose I should give the member for Red Deer credit. I am sure he was under pressure from Reform leadership to include in his motion a referendum. Is that not what the Reform Party would like, a referendum to send a significant number of troops out of Canada? Would the party of referendum not support that idea?
The Reform Party has no faith in Canada's institutions, including the institution of the prime minister. To be fair, this Liberal government does not provide much reason to have faith. However, my party believes that the prime minister must have the ability to act decisively in times of crisis. That means sending troops at short notice when they are needed. Only a fool would pretend to know what sort of emergencies a prime minister will face. To say that there will never be a time when national security depends on the prime minister's acting decisively and immediately would not be prudent. I support the intentions of the this motion and I am eager to discuss it further with the member for Red Deer.
In my view one of the problems is that parliamentarians do not have the information the prime minister and cabinet have needed to make such a decisive decision. Most parliamentarians and, as is sometimes evident with this government, some ministers get their information from press and once in a while limited departmental briefing. In my opinion that is the root of the problem.
Earlier today we debated Bill C-25, an act to amend the National Defence Act. During this debate and at other times I referred to a report from the commissioner of the defunct Somalia inquiry called “The Need for a Vigilant Parliament”. Its recommendations included having a real staff of experts that answered directly to the defence committee. This would inform parliamentarians, keep parliament vigilant and improve democracy.
Although this government does not have respect for this place, as was demonstrated earlier this week by not having members in this Chamber, I am eager to discuss this with the member for Red Deer and any other members in this House who are eager to make this place more democratic.