Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question goes to the heart of what a human rights foreign policy is all about.
I mentioned just yesterday the fact that China in the year 2000 has been the recipient of $1.67 billion in loan assistance from the World Bank. We need to review the policies of the World Bank, the IMF and international financial institutions to ensure that we are not licensing or rewarding human rights violations, be it in Angola, China or elsewhere.
With respect to the question of my involvement in these issues, my whole approach with regard to human rights foreign policy, including not only international financial institutions but corporate involvement, is that we cannot have a situation where corporations are themselves, however inadvertent, acquiescing in those violations.
We need more than just voluntary codes of conduct. We need to review whether we can regulate the character of our corporations when they are carrying out mandates that are effectively given to them by the Canadian government in the manner in which they relate to other countries.
I am referring to where the Export Development Corporation may be assisting corporations acting in countries that are committing the most egregious of human rights violations.
We will need to review our whole pattern of both corporate involvement as well as assistance by international financial institutions to human rights violator countries.