Madam Speaker, I rise to present yet another petition from the people in the Peterborough area who are concerned about the people of Iraq.
The petitioners point out that peace building and human security, already a significant element in Canada's foreign policy, assume that enduring peace is built from the people up by meeting their basic needs and respecting their basic rights, and that Canada as a new member of the UN Security Council has an added opportunity to take leadership in proposing alternative approaches to the effort to bring about peace and stability in Iraq and the Middle East.
The petitioners call upon parliament to strongly appeal to the UN, the U.S. and Britain to reject any further military action against Iraq. They call for a serious attempt to be made at peace negotiations with Iraq and its neighbours; and further, in order to build a stable and sustainable society in Iraq, excluding an embargo on military goods, that all other sanctions be listed; and further, the petitioners urge Canada to vastly increase its effort in providing food, medicine and infrastructure reconstruction to Iraq and to take a lead in promoting the same through the United Nations.