Mr. Chair, it is not a perfect solution, but Canada does support the Annan six-point plan, because at this point it is a tool. It is what we have to pressure the parties to seek a solution while containing the violence as much as possible.
It is true that the pressure has to come on the Assad regime from all angles. It has to come from sanctions, it has to come from the UN Security Council, and it has to come in a positive way. That is how I see the Annan plan. It is a positive—meaning unbiased—boots-on-the-ground kind of assessment that holds the regime's feet to the fire, in that Assad cannot tell the world that everything is fine if the envoy and his people are on the ground saying that the ceasefires are not being observed or people are not being allowed to assemble or refugees are not being allowed to leave the country.
Without that kind of information, countries like Canada could not make the decisions they are making, decisions that go a long way toward changing the situation, and neither could the UN Security Council.