Bill Graham

[Foreign Affairs, June 18th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that the United States has an embassy here in Canada. The embassy staff is just as capable as the member of reading the newspapers.

It is not necessary to communicate our position officially. However, I again state before the House that Canada still intends to act in accordance with international standards in this regard. We call on all our friends and also those in other countries to try to respect established international standards in applying their law and international policies.

[Committees of the House, June 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to what the member had to say. He is knowledgeable about this area. I want to assure him that we on the government side are closely following events in Colombia. I understand he has some reasonable points to make. We will review them, we will work with him and we will work with everyone we can.

I happened to meet on Friday with the sister of the presidential candidate who has been kidnapped in Colombia. This is an extraordinary situation. We in Canada and Canadians generally will do everything we can to bring peace to that troubled country. I will follow with interest the propositions that the member has been good enough to make. I wish to congratulate the subcommittee on its important report which we will be looking at and doing our best to implement.

[Foreign Affairs, June 17th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question. She knows, as do all other members of this House, that Canada has always been in favour of respecting international law and others. We make sure that everything done in the international arena is under UN auspices and respects international law and standards.

[Foreign Affairs, June 10th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that last week I contacted the ministers of foreign affairs of both India and Pakistan. I urged the minister of Pakistan to end the terrorist attacks of any kind and any support of the Pakistani government, and we urged India to take steps to reduce tension between the two countries.

I will be meeting with my G-8 partners later this week. We will be addressing the issue of India-Pakistan. We believe that we can bring a co-ordinated approach to bear on this issue, which will enable the parties to get to a peaceful solution to what is an extremely dangerous situation.

[Terrorism, June 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I had the occasion and the pride to represent our country at that meeting. I made it clear to all the participants at the meeting that Canada will sign that agreement. As was put to me by the secretary general of the organization itself, Canada is ensuring that we have everything in proper order in our own house before we do so.

We will get this through cabinet. This agreement will be signed. We have full co-operation with every nation in the Americas in the fight against terrorism.

[Foreign Affairs, June 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, what the government will do is use the leverage we have to ensure and advance the rule of law throughout the world, in all our relationships with all governments. That does not necessarily mean doing exactly what the hon. member wants to do in a specific case.

What we need to do is what the Prime Minister is doing with his leadership at the G-8, which is to bring the African partners into a respect for the rule of law because they recognize that it is in their interests to do so. We will continue to press that aggressively with them and in the interests of all Canadians.

[Foreign Affairs, June 7th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the member has raised with the House what the Prime Minister is doing in respect of the NEPAD initiative which he is to advance at the G-8 meeting in Kananaskis. It is an extremely important initiative for our country. It will enable us to deal with issues of this kind and enable us to speak to African governments and tell them that they must live up to the rule of law.

I can assure the hon. gentleman that we do this in all our relationships with all our trading partners. We will continue to advance Canadian interests in all respects with all trading partners. We will particularly--

[Bilateral Treaties, June 5th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the bilateral treaties that came into force in Canada in 2001.

[Middle East, May 30th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I know the House will be following this question with a great deal of interest. I had an opportunity to speak about it at committee this morning. It is obviously an extremely complex issue.

What Canada is seeking to do is allow the two parties who came very close to an agreement some time ago to restore some confidence which will enable them to once again begin a political dialogue which will end this terrible dispute. It is not capable of being ended by a military solution. We urge the parties and Mr. Arafat to find a way to stop the violence. We urge the Israeli government to make the life of the Palestinian people such that they will have hope and that we can go forward and turn the page on a past which has been terrible for everybody in that country.

[Foreign Affairs, May 29th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I wish the hon. member had been with me when I was with the Prime Minister at the NATO meeting in Rome yesterday. If he thinks we have no influence in the world, he should travel with us. In every country I have had the privilege to go to people have asked us for the help of Canada precisely because we do have a consistent foreign policy.

The consistency in that policy is balance, tolerance, respect for others and a wish to help them end the violence between themselves when they are not able to do so, and we are proud of that record.