Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak as a consequence of the comments the Prime Minister made in reacting to my well-documented observations regarding the numerous border disputes we are having with our largest trading partner, disputes that are costing Canadians jobs.
Canadians find the comments of the Prime Minister particularly offensive when he denies the corrupt practice of the Liberal Party to appoint party hacks to sensitive, diplomatic postings. The culture of corruption has become so pervasive in Ottawa that the Prime Minister has lost all sense of right from wrong.
The decision to appoint the disgraced former minister of public works as ambassador to Denmark was an insult to all Canadians of Nordic origin. What ambassadorship is being offered to the member for Charleswood St. James--Assiniboia so that he will give up his seat? What a way to prove that a democratic deficit is alive and well, with a Prime Minister who insists on appointing candidates. Is it Washington?
Actions do speak louder than words. Now that the member for Ottawa South has turned down the Washington posting, is the Prime Minister saving this posting for a family relative or a favoured nephew the way his former leader did?
The Prime Minister knows full well that my question regarding the foreign service as a dumping ground for Liberal Party hacks who are no longer of use to the party is not a criticism but rather a defence of the professional foreign services. What a message that sends to our largest trading partner and to all countries who are treated so disrespectfully.
Tens of thousands of jobs are at risk in our trade with the United States. Nothing could be more humiliating for Canadians than to see a Canadian Prime Minister meeting the president and grovelling before him, and grovel he will for any scrap of news to take back to the unemployed softwood lumber workers and to our cattle producers. However this will not repair the years of damage done by the government in which the former finance minister, now Prime Minister, was the architect.
The fact is that internationally Canada does not pull its weight. As has been pointed out recently, when it comes to international peacekeeping, Canada is 38th out of 94 nations, behind nations like Ghana and Ethiopia, when it comes to UN-led missions.
It is a myth that Canada is this nation of peacekeepers when we look at the facts. Canada has lost credibility on the international stage and the ability to criticize when we do not back up our own words with action, which is all Canadians will hear from the Prime Minister: cheap talk when he goes to Washington, lots of talk, lots of pious platitudes but no action.
Jean Chrétien did not commit to sending troops to Iraq because Canada has little useful military assets to contribute after years of underfunding. Canada did have an obligation to provide moral support. Now Canadian loggers and farmers have to deal with the problems created by only being critical of our historic ally and largest trading partner.