Madam Speaker, I will share my time with the hon. member for Regina—Qu'Appelle.
It is with great sadness that I rise in this House today to express my thoughts on the action that Canada must take in light of the critical situation that currently prevails in Kosovo.
The NDP is raising this issue today because thousands of Kosovars are deprived and without shelter, security and recourse as a result of the unthinkable actions of their own government.
This is a complex issue and the decisions that face us are among the most difficult that our country has ever had to make.
Since the beginning of this crisis, the NDP has been advocating a diplomatic solution. But, tragically, initial efforts failed. Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused to participate in a constructive dialogue or to make compromises. Instead, he continued his reign of terror in Kosovo.
We are currently witnessing a serious humanitarian crisis. The Milosevic government embarked on an ethnic cleansing campaign, in an effort to scare away Kosovars from Albanian origin. Villages are in flames; men, women and children are being killed; women are being raped. Milosevic seems to have succeeded in scaring away terrified Albanian Kosovars.
We remember the atrocities committed in Bosnia by Milosevic, where over 200,000 people died. Can we allow ourselves to let Milosevic continue his rampage?
As this human tragedy worsened daily, the NDP acknowledged that there are times when the world community must react to human rights violations with actions, not just words. This is why the NDP has acknowledged the importance of responding with military strikes. Milosevic had to be shown that such atrocities would not be tolerated by the international community.
Before the NATO air strikes, 250,000 Albanian Kosovars saw their houses burned before their very eyes. If the western powers had not intervened after so many final warnings to Milosevic, they would have been sending a message to the Serbian leader and to other tyrants that it was acceptable to terrorize people and to violate human rights, without facing any consequences.
The decision to use air strikes is certainly not an easy one, but were we supposed to do nothing in response to Milosevic's attacks against humanity?
I would like to quote what Tommy Douglas said at the time of the Second World War:
—when a group of anarchists sets itself to destroying the fabric of law and order on which human civilization is based, then it is my duty to intervene—
But the success of the air strikes is now being questioned. Ethnic cleansing has been stepped up, and there has been a dramatic increase in the number of refugees.
We have a duty to put an end to this human suffering and to come to the aid of the hundreds of thousands of Kosovars who have lived with this terror for too long.
This is why the NDP is proposing, after 35 days of strikes, a solution based on five elements.
The first is the immediate cessation of NATO air strikes on the condition that the Serb government agree to resume negotiations and put an immediate end to hostilities against the Albanian Kosovars.
The second is the holding of negotiations under the auspices of the United Nations with Russia's participation.
The third is that the Canadian government should request a special meeting of the UN general assembly to debate the Kosovo crisis.
The fourth is that no Canadian military contingent is to be sent without a special debate in the House with the members voting on the matter.
And the fifth is that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees is to continue to help refugees in Macedonia and Albania.
I will use as an example my years of experience in negotiations between unions and employers, where there is a labour conflict. This boils down to pretty much the same thing, because conflict is also involved here. Conflicts are always resolved at the negotiating table. It may take a week, two weeks, a month, or three months, but in the end, the parties must return to the negotiating table. It is there that conflict is resolved.
This is why the NDP is saying that the negotiating table is where these conflicts will be resolved, sometimes with a change in position. I have an example. On the day of the strike, we are in a strong position and that is what we want. The employer too is in a strong position and that is what he wants. If no one is prepared to shift their position, the strike will go on. This is why no one can have an absolute position. You have to always be ready to change.
The five elements I mentioned earlier underscore the importance of a diplomatic solution. Following our interventions here in the House, the government finally recognized the importance of diplomatic efforts by sending the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Russia later this week.
We must focus all our efforts to bring an end to this conflict. This is why we are asking the government to intensify and speed up efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Kosovo by ensuring that Russia and the United Nations are involved.
Once again, I draw on my union example. Sometimes it is necessary to appeal to mediators to help the parties find a solution. Russia must be seen as a mediator and be able to intervene and propose solutions to this conflict.
NATO must also be encouraged not to take actions that would extend the conflict and hamper the search for a diplomatic solution.
I come back to my example of a union. When workers are on strike or in a lockout situation and solutions are being sought, if one party resorts to extreme measures, this will sometimes make matters worse. We then think “If only they would calm down and go back to the bargaining table”. Even the government agrees. This is why we must put these things into place today.
The context seems increasingly favourable to a diplomatic solution. We must help make things happen and create a situation where Russia and the United Nations can play a leading role in resolving this conflict.
That is why we are so categorically opposed to a naval embargo. Such an embargo would only increase tensions and adversely affect efforts to find a diplomatic solution.
Canada can provide meaningful leadership in the search for diplomatic solutions to this conflict. We should immediately focus our efforts on this type of solution. These must also focus on the assistance we can provide to the tens of thousands of refugees.
These people often find themselves separated from their families, after witnessing the killing of loved ones in some cases. In the safety of our homes here in Canada, it is hard for us to imagine a situation where people are deprived of everything and have no way out. We must therefore do our utmost to put an end to this suffering.
I would like to congratulate the thousands of Canadians for their efforts to contribute goods and money to help the Kosovar refugees. They have demonstrated once again that Canadian generosity can always be counted on in times of hardship.
I also want to mention the efforts of all the humanitarian groups that bring direct and indirect support to the refugees. It is through their efforts that we hope to be able to alleviate the devastating impact of Milosevic's actions.
Finally, we must turn our attention to the Canadian military personnel participating with courage and integrity in these operations. They are the ones making the greatest sacrifice and we are grateful for that. We also thank their families for being so understanding under the circumstances.
We all hope that this conflict will be settled as soon as possible, so that the members of our Canadian forces can come home safe and sound.