Mr. Speaker, much has been said by members on both sides of the House regarding the present situation in Iraq. All have agreed that all actions must be taken, particularly in the area of diplomacy, to avoid war and that should an attack on Iraq be inevitable such action be sanctioned by the United Nations.
It also should be noted that throughout the last several months the position of the Canadian government, as articulated by the Prime Minister, has been consistent with both of these goals: accelerated diplomacy and support for the United Nations.
One of the most noteworthy accomplishments of this approach, which historically been the linchpin of Canadian foreign policy, has been to impress upon the United States that within an increasingly complicated global environment, multilateral action is preferable to unilateral initiative in pursuit of peace and, most important, the real war, the war on terrorism, which in effect is a war on humanity.
It should be stated categorically that Canadian leadership has been instrumental in successfully having the United States bring the issue of Iraq and, by corollary, terrorism to the United Nations where, if humanity and civil society as we know it is going to escape the Armageddon that will result from international nuclear and biological barbarism, solutions must be found.
But while we are all in agreement with this approach, what are we to do should the United Nations, because of Security Council veto, fail to take action with respect to Iraq's violation of resolution 1441? If not in the area of nuclear weapons of mass destruction, irrefutably Iraq is engaged in the proliferation of biological weapons of horrific magnitude.
History provides us a lesson with respect to the demise of the League of Nations and subsequent policies of appeasement: that there comes a time in the affairs of state where authoritarian and inhuman regimes not bound by rule of law and respect for human rights must be confronted by those that are.
Canadians of every political and religious persuasion and every national state of origin look to their government for profoundly intelligent and decisive leadership, leadership that will shape events and not simply react to them.
What, then, is the situation in which we find ourselves in terms of a reactive posture? On the other hand, given Canadian initiatives thus far, what is the direction that will continue the cohesive support that the government enjoys from Canadians on its position taken thus far?
I think it is clear that legally and technically Iraq is in violation of resolution 1441, and if not, at the very least it is not complying with the spirit of that resolution. It is clear that in the over 10 years since the Gulf war, Iraq has not disarmed and its very belligerence in the face of international solidarity demonstrates that it has the capacity for armed resistance on an alarming scale.
Can it be any wonder, therefore, that the world must take appropriate pre-emptive action against the Iraqi leadership, which in recent history has shown monstrous disregard for even its own citizens? There can be no question, therefore, that if it has not done so already, it will most certainly harbour terrorists who with time will prove a threat of a most serious proportion to world peace.
What, then, is the correct position for Canada to take in response to this threat? I would respectfully contend that in terms of world peace we have a very small window of opportunity to avert the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and find them in the hands of terrorists. In that respect, the United States is correct, and we are fortunate that the United States has the military capability to counterbalance the behaviour of criminally non-conforming regimes such as Iraq and North Korea. But the United States is wrong to believe it can be the world's policeman without incurring just the opposite, the enmity of the world, and this in spite of the fact that in almost every international calamity it is the United States that responds with humanitarian aid.
It is because of the role and credibility of the United States, and that they are so fundamental to world peace, that Canada must continue to play its leadership role in bridging its efforts with the United Nations. What this means is that a new world order is being created. It is really only the United States that shares with us a democratic moral imperative that can take us away from the kind of nuclear abyss that will mean the end of civil society as we know it, as we know it and as our children will know it.
Who will play this role if we do not? Not the Europeans alone, and not the Russian or Chinese regimes at this time, as they are only now just beginning to develop democratic institutions themselves. No, the world has come to expect that Canada will play this role of helpful fixer. This role has served the world well through peacekeeping initiatives in the past century, and it was Canadian diplomatic and political leadership that contributed to the recognition of the People's Republic of China and the end of the cold war.
In no time since the second world war has the world been more in danger and at no time has it been more incumbent that the House shed partisanship and support the government in doing what Canada has done best: forging alliances for peace, with the United States as its trusting and trusted neighbour.