Mr. Speaker, the hon. member speaks of soft power but let me suggest he has the idea to send the Saudi ambassador home, and perhaps have our ambassador return to Canada, when there are 8,000 Canadians living and working in Saudi Arabia who need diplomatic representation in times of difficulty. This is not soft power. This is useless power. This is political rhetoric for one purpose only, political rhetoric, that is all.
In the House of Commons on September 16th, 2003. See this statement in context.