Mr. Speaker, those are serious questions that my hon. colleague asks. I expected nothing less from him.
I was thinking about these questions on my way to the House. I too wish that we did not need armies. However, we are living in strange times in which there is more and more talk about Darfur. What do the NGOs want in Darfur? They want armed forces with mandates that allow them to shoot. In English they say robust. Such a request had not been made for some time. We will have to see how things develop in the world.
I do not know whether my colleague shares this feeling with me, but one realizes, in seeing the situation in Iran, Iraq, Africa and elsewhere, that events we thought never happened any more still happen. Under the circumstances, is the main concern to put an end to Norad and NATO?
I am obviously in favour of getting rid of nuclear weapons. However, until we can really succeed in doing so—and I will take the specific steps that seem important in this regard—NATO is becoming a political organization.
Late last week, I went to a meeting in Brussels—it was a kind of PPP—in which political representatives and senior journalists took part, as well as business people. There were some NATO representatives there too, including Mr. Scheffer, Mr. Javier Solana and others. They told us that we should make no mistake: NATO is a political organization. At this very moment and contrary to all expectations, it is conducting nine missions on four different continents. People want NATO troops everywhere. The NATO mission involves a certain coalition. Some participants in the meeting replied that it was not NATO that was needed but United Nations troops.
In Darfur, we hope to achieve a peace accord between the rebels and the government in Khartoum. A major UN mission can then be deployed in support of the African Union mission. However, it is still a question of troops. I know that General Dallaire will propose sending another 1,500 Canadian soldiers. Will I be opposed to that? No, I will be in favour
I am not quite answering my colleague. It seems to me that the situation is not conducive to putting an end to Norad and NATO.