Madam Speaker, on this international day of La Francophonie, I want to point out that Canada's efforts with La Francophonie aim above all to affirm the political, cultural and economic values dear to Canadians.
Some 40 member countries of La Francophonie are developing nations. Of these, 22 are among the 28 least developed countries. We want to accelerate their integration into the global marketplace.
Development aid and debt relief alone cannot solve all development problems.
We must also take into consideration the interests and concerns of developing nations and reinforce their bargaining power within the global economy, and these are values that Canada promotes with the international Francophonie.