Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the member's contributions in this place. He has also written a book on foreign policy. I would encourage members of the government to look at it, because it goes through many of the ideas that he has enunciated today.
I wholeheartedly agree that multilateralism is a commitment to work together toward issues of common interests but that it does not always mean following along. Members may remember Brian Mulroney and the policy of apartheid. Our allies were not aligned with the position of the Government of Canada, which was that apartheid was the wrong policy for South Africa and that it should change.
There are times when Canada can show leadership on the world stage and move the consensus to another area. That is not toeing the line, as the Liberal government seems to want to do in order to get a seat.
Can the member again explain how important it is to not just be a multilateralist but to actually stand for something and try to move the bar to a higher position?