Mr. Speaker, the member opposite offers a hope that there will be some reason in my remarks today. I am afraid I may be a little less crisp than I like to be in the House as I have just gotten off a plane from Geneva. It is a bit of a shock. I am feeling a little bit of culture shock right now as I have been away from Canada for the last three weeks, and to drop back into the middle of this debate is a bit jarring.
Before I address the substance of the motion put forward, I would like to say one thing. I had the opportunity over the past three weeks to travel to China. I am in China frequently these days. I followed that up with some time in Delhi and in Geneva. In Geneva I had the opportunity to spend some time with the people who are working on the human rights commission.
One does not have to get very far out of this country to realize what an absolutely incredible country this is and what a privilege it is to be a Canadian and how we are admired all around the world by almost every other country. People in every other country want to be here.
We show leadership. I was absolutely astounded in Geneva to note that a little country like Canada provides almost 10% of the resolutions that are debated in Geneva in a community of 123 to 190 countries.
We hear about disunity and division in our country but Canadians outside the country are doing an incredible job on behalf of all of us. We all benefit from it enormously.
I think about the sense of the regional divisions. In Geneva there are young francophones from Quebec working very hard and energetically. They are very proud of their country and are very proud to be representing Canada in the very important work they do.
There are western entrepreneurs in and out of China all the time working hard to build relationships and expand trade. I was pleased to note that there are New Brunswickers and Nova Scotians in China trying to forge some new pathways. I even heard talk of some port building. I believe there is some accommodation for the post-Panamax ships which will carry large quantities of containers into the Pacific Rim.
They are Canadians from all over the country who are working hard. They are building upon the goodwill all of us have built for all of us to enjoy.
I was a little surprised to note the kind of querulous tone in the House today. If the concern is that the government is not sensitive to the regions, one would think that with a task force going into western Canada and one going into Quebec people would be celebrating and saying that it is wonderful we are doing that.
Perhaps some of the concern about it comes from something my friend from Charleswood St. James—Assiniboia is a little too modest to talk about, which is the tremendous success of the task force. He mentioned that the task force he chairs will be going to B.C. in May. The B.C. caucus has been touring the province. We all do that. The Manitoba caucus holds meetings right around the province every three to four months. It hears submissions from people, as members do in their ridings every day.
That information comes back and forms part of the information that builds the kind of consensus which allows the government to do the work it does. The government has done some pretty remarkable things over the last five or six years.