Mr. Speaker, almost one year ago, the House of Commons adopted a motion to support Taiwan's application for observer status in the World Health Organization. At the time, this motion was of an urgent nature, because the Asia-Pacific region had just been hit by SARS.
Given that almost an entire year has passed, and now bird flu is hitting that same part of the world, why is the Minister of Foreign Affairs still refusing to intervene with WHO member states so as to facilitate Taiwan's application for observer status in this organization, even if it means changing the organization's bylaws.