Mr. Speaker, in January 2001 the Vector Aerospace company of Newfoundland proudly announced that it had won a contract worth $6.5 million to sell military helicopter parts to Colombia.
According to Amnesty International, the Colombian armed forces and paramilitaries have killed 20,000 civilians since 1996. This situation, under Canadian policy, should prohibit this export.
How does the minister explain his department's permitting the violation of its own guidelines?