Mr. Speaker, today Canada welcomes the President of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat, on the occasion of his first official visit to this country.
It is worthy of mention that, in addition to numerous humanitarian aid projects in Palestine, Canada has recently signed a free trade agreement with the Palestinian government. We hope that this agreement will pave the way for a mutually advantageous relationship and a more diversified economic base for the territories administered by the Palestinian Authority.
I would point out as well that, with his participation in the peace process by signing the Oslo agreements, President Arafat has joined the ranks of middle eastern peacemakers, along with Anwar Sadat, Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin. We can only hope that the Palestinian identity and autonomy will grow over the coming years within an overall context of peace between the Palestinian people and their Israeli and Arab neighbours.