Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to speak today for the very first time ever in this House, particularly since the topic of this Bloc Quebecois opposition day is of such vital importance. It will, moreover, affect a large number of my fellow citizens in the riding of Lac-Saint-Jean—Saguenay.
The importance the Iraqi question is assuming on the international level forces us all to do some very serious thinking. Decisions that are fraught with consequences need to be reached here, decisions that will have a direct impact on the lives of millions of people, including the people of Canada and Quebec.
I will therefore indicate some points that need to be raised and given consideration by the government. First, the Bloc Quebecois has a duty to represent the will of the Quebec people. Through polls and directly, the people of Quebec have clearly demonstrated in recent days their opinion about a military intervention in Iraq without UN consent. It is clear, therefore, that my position is one that I have adopted without hesitation, hence my pleasure at being able to rise today in this place.
Since we are in a democratic system, the government cannot close its eyes to the opposition being raised by all the groups throughout Canada who object to war on Iraq.
I would also like to remind hon. members of the historical position of the Government of Canada. Before the present Prime Minister came along, Canada always acted via the United Nations. What is more, prime ministers always wisely decided to hold a vote before engaging in any major conflict.
We need think only of the two world wars, the Korean conflict, the Gulf War. On positions as crucial as these, it is up to the public to decide, because it is directly affected. I am calling upon the Liberal government to face up to its responsibilities and to put this decision back in the hands of parliamentarians, who are the representatives of the population.
Within a community, no citizen, powerful or rich though he may be, has the right to declare himself exempt from the rules and the law. If he does, he will be called to justice. Imagine what would happen if people decided to stop respecting the government institution that represents them. There would be confusion, if not downright anarchy. So, similarly, if countries, or one powerful country, consistently ignore the supranational institution that is the UN, world balance, which is already very fragile, is at risk.
In recent decades, we have seen how necessary the United Nations organization has been to international equilibrium. This was true in the past and is all the more so today. We must never return to the law of the jungle.
If the United States and Great Britain were to decide to take matters into their own hands and attack Iraq without UN approval, it would be a bit as if an individual decided to punish someone who had been accused without waiting for a verdict on the part of a recognized tribunal.
When such an international system is in place, it must be respected objectively. In a court of law, the Crown prosecutor does not impose and carry out the sentence. However, this is what the U.S. is getting ready to do, namely to convict without a finding of guilt. It is not only Saddam Hussein it is getting ready to eliminate, but thousands of innocent victims who happen to have been born in that country.
Maybe we should consider ousting Saddam Hussein and making him powerless to do harm? But first we have a paramount responsibility, namely protecting the women and children of that country, who are already suffering a lot due to the sanctions imposed after the last conflicts.
Once the UN report is completed and the UN has passed judgment on Saddam Hussein, we will have to take its recommendations into account, because if we do not trust this institution, whom shall we trust? Which country has the right to make its own laws or its own rules? It would not be very reasonable to allow just anybody to do it.
I have a question: Will the Canadian government blindly follow the United States in the hope that we will eventually be rewarded for our faithfulness? I will remind everybody that for years now we have virtually been stuck to them, and we know how we have been rewarded, for instance in the softwood lumber dispute. Because of this dispute many families in our communities, in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean for instance, are now destitute.
Today, the Liberal government has the opportunity to confirm what it has proclaimed loud and clear so often, namely its independence from the United States.
Finally, I myself was a paratrooper in the Canadian Forces for several years. Seeing some of my friends and young people from my riding go to Iraq when it has not been deemed necessary by the UN would sadden me terribly.
Today, as a parliamentarian, I want to be able to look my friends who are still in the military and their families straight in the eyes and tell them in all sincerity that the decision which has been made is justified. Going to war with the conviction it is essential and unavoidable can be motivating and gratifying. But leaving in a climate of uncertainty and ambiguity is not only distressing, it is deadly.