Madam Speaker, this arises from a question on October 21. To be candid, it is a bit stale-dated because events have overtaken the question, which was whether the Minister of Foreign Affairs was concerned with the manner of the death of Colonel Gadhafi, particularly the extrajudicial killing and egregious breach of the rule of law.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs answered in his usual offhand fashion and said that he identified with the people of Libya and was not overly fussed about the manner of the death. Frankly, I did not think too much about it at the time. I have very low expectations of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He never fails to disappoint me.
I left the chamber at the end of question period and, to my great surprise, was involved in a scrum with a number of reporters, all of whom were very concerned. The thrust of their questions related to their concern for the rule of law. They presumed that I also was concerned and wanted to know what the answer was that I had received.
I told them that I did not have high expectations of the minister, so I could not say that I was overly surprised but was disappointed that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the situation such as he was in, chose not to emphasize the importance of the rule of law and that the manner of Colonel Gadhafi's death was critical to the success of the mission.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs then spent the balance of the weekend going on various talk shows saying that he too believed in the rule of law, which of course was comforting.
It is somewhat ironic that we are dealing with this on the day when General Bouchard is being honoured. Certainly, he did us all proud. He certainly put the precision in “precision bombing”. Having met him, I find him to be an admirable man in every way. Ironically, the care with which he set out the bombing runs speaks to his understanding and knowledge of the rule of law.
One of the reasons that we got so little push back on the bombing issue had to do with the way in which General Bouchard appreciated the issues around the rule of law. The irony is the minister having less appreciation for the rule of law than General Bouchard.
We are now at the point where the hard work begins. We have absolutely superb representation in the embassy. I have nothing but admiration for our ambassador and her staff. One of the things that informed us, as we were critiquing the government's execution of the Libyan mission, was the Libyan diaspora. The Libyan diaspora has seen how the rule of law operates in this country and it is a wonderful asset to exploit as we move forward and try to help the Libyan people develop institutions where there may well be an opportunity for the rule of law to flourish.
In conclusion, I was somewhat disappointed but not surprised by the minister's answer. I think he, on reflection, might regret it.