Madam Speaker, I do not want to get into partisan politics, but I can tell the hon. member that the debate started at 6:30 this evening and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the minister responsible for CIDA have spoken on those issues he is talking about.
Now, when he did not hear it from me, he seems a little disappointed, but if he had given his attention to the debate, he would have got his answers. The Minister of Foreign Affairs said today is that he is very much concerned. He is absolutely right on one point, that there have to be transparent, democratic elections in Haiti. There has to be a transparent government in Haiti.
Yes, there is a concern with the way the elections have taken place. TheMinister of Foreign Affairs has called the President of Haiti and the Prime Minister has talked to them and has told them that Canada would help out to ensure that there is a free, democratic election. Good governance is the most important aspect and, as he rightly pointed out, the trust of the Haitians toward their government is a key element. If the Haitians do not have trust in their government, it will become very hard for a reconstruction process to go on and to address many of the issues.
On that we agree very much with the hon. member. The Government of Canada, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has talked, as I said, and we will give whatever is necessary to the Haitian government to ensure that there is a transparent, fair election. We are very happy to hear there will be a recount, and we will be sending observers to that.