Madam Speaker, there are times in politics which go beyond partisanship; I believe the motion before us today is one of those.
I believe I am speaking for all of us here, and certainly for all Canadians, when I say that our priority is to reach a lasting and peaceful solution as soon as possible.
When I spoke last week about Kosovo, as did many of my colleagues, I mentioned that a peaceful solution would be more likely if the Russian government were involved on a more proactive basis. The Prime Minister also pointed this out on several occasions.
This is why I really congratulate the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is soon to leave for Moscow to urge the Russian government to participate proactively in the quest for a solution involving the United Nations.
The talks the minister is about to embark on with Russia, together with certain NATO colleagues and the UN secretary general, could open the door to the possibility of a real and lasting solution. I believe this is the way to go in this conflict.
In the meantime we must do whatever we can, together with the UN community, to avoid an escalation of the conflict including a naval blockade, which will make it all that more difficult to enlist Russian co-operation. We must resist at all cost the temptation placed in our way by the British, among others, to escalate the NATO intervention toward an eventual ground war. I rejoice in this connection. At a summit meeting in Washington last week NATO leaders, including our Prime Minister, rejected the use of ground forces for military purposes.
I think, however, we all agree that Canada should play a leading role in the peacekeeping effort. In this sense I welcome the intervention of the Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence today that we will get ready with our peacekeeping forces to participate actively in that effort.
More than ever now we must put our partisan differences aside and support wholeheartedly the initiative of the foreign minister and his colleagues in the search for prompt diplomatic solutions which might include economic and other sanctions through the United Nations, a solution which will achieve the return home of the Kosovars so savagely cast away from their rightful place and home in Kosovo.
Any solution should guarantee a lasting peace, and we are committed to guaranteeing a lasting peace through peacekeeping operations and the return of the Kosovars home to lead a normal life again.
I hope this will be a UN peacekeeping force which will include a broad spectrum of the various nations that usually participate in peacekeeping operations. We must be mindful that any solution will include the need to have a plan for reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Kosovars into their rightful homes and the reconstruction of the damage caused by the conflict. Once peace has returned it will take a formidable international challenge including massive financial resources both to guarantee peace and to ensure reconstruction and renewal of Kosovo and the areas destroyed by the conflict.
Therefore I join with all of us in the House in praying that the initiative of the foreign minister will be successful. I wish him and his colleagues in NATO and other countries, including the Secretary General of the United Nations, a successful and positive result in Moscow and Godspeed.