Madam Speaker, the issue of Taiwan and of Canada's support for its bid to participate in the WHO as an observer has been debated repeatedly in this House.
Issues of health, especially given our experience with SARS, are understandably of great concern to Canadians and those who represent them in this Parliament.
Some members, however, are of the view that Canada has not lived up to the resolution on the issue passed by this House last year and that Canada somehow is not doing its part to ensure that the people of Taiwan have access to the health information they desire.
First, let me speak to the matter of the WHO. As has been the case for a number of consecutive years, Taipei's allies and supporters raised the Taiwan issue on the World Health Assembly's agenda at the general committee. The purpose of the committee is to meet and gain consensus regarding any additional proposed items for the assembly's agenda.
Once this has been achieved, the committee submits a report containing the agenda to the plenary which is comprised of all WHO member states. Although Canada was not a member of the committee and therefore did not take part in these discussions, the issue of adding Taiwan to the agenda was debated at length.
Finally, after monopolizing what was supposed to be a functional meeting, the chair noted a lack of consensus and concluded that the committee's report would not include an agenda item on Taiwan.
When the committee's report was submitted to the assembly, several of Taiwan's supporters once again raised objections and debate began anew. After what amounted to nearly a full day out of a total of five, the WHA agreed by consensus to suspend further discussions and call a vote.
The question posed to members was whether or not they supported the agenda as proposed by the general committee. Canada, along with 133 other members, such as the European Union, voted yes.
It is thus incorrect to state, as the hon. member has, that Canada voted against Taiwan as this was never the question that was asked. The question was a matter of procedure with the purpose of ending debate on an item where consensus could not be reached. This allowed the membership to get down to the business at hand, which was to discuss health issues affecting their populations.
I should point out that Canada's voting behaviour was guided by our tradition of strong emphasis on multilateralism. Canada supports the integrity of the WHO system which requires that issues be decided by consensus or vote among members. Canada believes that the substantive and important health matters being discussed remain the focus of the WHO's deliberations. We are a member of the WHO first and foremost and are there to address the health interests of Canadians and we acted in the best interests of Canada.
Following the vote, member states were invited to deliver for the public record an explanation of their voting behaviour. Although not obligated to do so, Canada recognized the importance of the Taiwan issue and felt that it was necessary to make very clear to Canadians and the membership in the WHO the reasoning behind our actions.
I should point out some of the compilations from the document that was set forth. Canada has voted to support the report of the general committee. A solution to Taiwan's desire for status at the WHO should be achieved through a pragmatic and non-politicized process that does not detract from the core mandate of the organization. Canada would support a formula for Taiwan's participation, as long as this formula was in accordance with WHO organizational constitutional rules and procedures and received broad based approval of WHO members.
I should point out that we are very interested in continuing with this process. It is important to know that Canada has always been there to assist Taiwan in developing its national health insurance programs. We will continue to do so in the days to come.
I want to point out to all members that it would be inaccurate to state that the position taken by Canada was not faithful to the record. There is a procedural problem that has to be taken into consideration. I think that in terms of how I described it, the member could not but conclude that indeed the government was faithful to that position.