Mr. Speaker, yesterday it was a particular pleasure for our Prime Minister to meet with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek in Ottawa. This is the 40th anniversary of the Prague Spring and also, sadly, of the subsequent Communist invasion and crackdown.
Czechs can nowadays travel freely in the world, and I am happy to report that last year Canada removed all visa requirements for visitors from the Czech Republic. Our two countries share a commitment to a principled foreign policy that promotes freedom, democracy and human rights.
Therefore, on the 40th anniversary of the Prague Spring, let us remember not only the past victims of European communism, but also the victims of present day communism who are still persecuted, imprisoned in gulags and re-education camps and tortured or murdered for the high crime of believing in human freedom.
And, in honour of the Czech nation, which blazed the path to freedom that so many others have subsequently followed, let us offer a warm welcome to a friend of Canada and a friend of freedom as he visits our capital.