Madam Speaker, I welcome the support of the member for Red Deer for the motion, but I did not want to let this opportunity pass without correcting one very grave misrepresentation by the hon. member during the course of his comments this morning.
The hon. member indicated that I as a spokesperson for the New Democratic Party had called at a meeting of the foreign affairs committee on March 31 for immediate use of ground troops in Kosovo.
The hon. member knows that is absolute nonsense. In fact, the hon. member will be aware of the fact that the position taken by the New Democratic Party then is the position that we take today and that my leader enunciated very clearly today. We must use every possible opportunity to arrive at a negotiated peaceful solution to this tragic conflict. We must accelerate our efforts to do so within the United Nations, within the OSCE and elsewhere.
Of course it will be necessary for there to be a peacekeeping force on the ground with the ability to protect Kosovar Albanians who are returning to their villages, to their homes.
We indicated as well that should diplomatic efforts fail, and I emphasize that, should the kinds of efforts that have been suggested including the importance of the Russian peace proposal fail, should the ethnic cleansing and the atrocities on the ground continue, then and only then there is a possibility we might look at some form of safe haven.
I remind the member that was the position taken then but that our fundamental objective is to stop the bombing, to stop the atrocities on the ground, to get back to the negotiating table under the auspices of the United Nations, to arrive at a diplomatic solution and to arrive at a solution that will allow the fundamental objective to be achieved, which is the return of Kosovar Albanians to their homes, to their villages, to be able to live in dignity, peace and security.