Mr. Speaker, I have a brief comment to make, which is that the Bloc Quebecois would be totally in favour of this motion, particularly since, during the previous Parliament, the Bloc Quebecois introduced two motions in the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs in response to this request by the Hong Kong combatants and veterans for fair compensation.
The government opposed those two motions, or at least the first. Those motions afforded the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs the opportunity to hear some very moving testimony from the POWs themselves, or their survivors, who revealed all the details of the dreadful treatment accorded these prisoners, who were used as forced labour, and worked on airports and other things from which the Japanese and the Japanese government benefited.
What our party finds most distressing is the government's total lack of compassion and sympathy for these prisoners and their survivors. The government is hiding behind an international treaty, a peace agreement and legal opinions on this matter, which have never been presented to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, despite demands from opposition parties including our own.
It is hard to understand why the Government of Canada is unwilling to demonstrate the requisite generosity toward these prisoners, as it did toward other prisoners and veterans.
We feel that the government should follow up on the recommendation in the report by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to pay each Hong Kong veteran fair compensation, particularly as this fair compensation has been estimated at about $23,000 per veteran and as there are only 200 to 400 of them left to receive it.
In conclusion, my question for my colleague in the Reform Party is this: Does he not think that this claim is justified and should be recognized, particularly as many other prisoners and veterans have had their right to fair compensation recognized?