Madam Speaker, it is indeed a pleasure to rise and speak to this motion which was introduced by my colleague. The motion calls for co-operation among like-minded nations to develop multilateral initiatives in order to strengthen the capacity of international organizations and prevent conflicts that have created havoc on civilian populations. This is a very important subject as today's conflicts are unfortunately using civilians as pawns in people's desire for power.
I will talk for a moment about what we see on television screens these days. We see conflicts, havoc, devastation and the misery that civilian populations are subjected to these days. The horror stories resulting from these conflicts boggles the mind. An urgent response from the international community is needed in order to respond to these cries for help. These are helpless civilians caught in a conflict for which they have no say.
What is even more tragic is that the majority of these conflicts taking place on continents around the world are against democracy. Democracy is under attack. Elected governments are under severe attack by individuals and organizations that have no ideological desire to improve the lot of the people but are attempting to seize power for their own egotistical desire for power. At the dawn of the 21st century, this is a serious concern that the world community must take into account.
Therefore, my colleague has introduced this motion asking that like-minded nations—when we talk about like-minded nations we are discussing countries that hold democratic values very high—put pressure on countries in conflict and work toward preventing these conflicts from taking place.
There is no point in reacting after the fact. As we have witnessed in the Rwanda genocide, in Kosovo and today in Sierra Leone, the conflicts explode so rapidly, with the civilian population being murdered, that by the time today's international intervention takes place, misery has already been created.
We witnessed the late reaction to Rwanda, the late reaction now to Sierra Leone and, to a degree, the late reaction even in Kosovo where when the international community finally came it was after thousands had already died or had been displaced from their homes. In Sierra Leone, tragically, many people had limbs cut off and children were being used as soldiers.
When we see these things at the dawn of the 21st century, we cannot understand how, with the rapid communications we have and the ability and co-operation we have, we continue to fail to address these issues.
This motion is asking that we address the issue far in advance, identify the areas of potential conflict and move in rapidly to diffuse the situation. We are now trying to address the issue through the international code, but this is after the fact when the damage has already been done to future generations.
We must, for the sake of democracy, for the sake of humanity and for the sake of the children, address this issue now.
What is the driving force that creates these conflicts? Prior to the collapse of the cold war, we had ideologies that drove these conflicts. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the cold war, we now see a marked change in these conflicts. They have now moved in order to fulfil some people's egos. They are fueled by money.
The key issue is that these conflicts are no longer supported by other ideological nations but are supported by money. Where is the money coming from? It is quite sad to see the conflicts that are now being fueled by money. Who is financing these conflicts?
In many Latin American countries, the money comes from drug sales. Where does the money come from on the continent of Africa? It comes from the rich diamond fields. For those engaged in the conflicts today it has become very evident that they are in control of the natural resources and specifically diamonds. They market these diamonds in the international marketplace, take the money and then fuel their war where they create misery.
Aside from plundering the natural wealth, which is not being used to advance the social fabric, the democratic fabric nor the lives of the citizens of that nation, this has been squandered and has helped fuel the majority of the wars that are taking place in many countries around the world.
We in the developed world have the ability to starve off the financial resources that these people are getting by helping to identify the potential future areas of conflict and diffuse them. We are bound to create a situation where they can no longer access money from the international market by selling their diamonds or other natural products, including drugs.
More important, we know from experience that sanctions are not working. Iraq is one example of where sanctions have not worked. In many other countries in the world sanctions have not worked. If sanctions have not worked, what else will work? Dialogue? Diplomacy? Those are good ideas but how will we put pressure on them? In the first place, these people who are responsible for the conflict have refused to listen to the voice of reason.
We are asking all members of the House to look at this motion and at its long term implication that will help solve and prevent conflicts. This is an extremely important motion to me. I hope all my colleagues in the House see the motion in that capacity and support it.