Bill Graham

[Foreign Affairs, February 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian citizens recognize that providing a passport is a service that we have to offer and many citizens have expressed to us a willingness to pay additional money if they can have an expedited processing of their form. We are trying to serve the Canadian public as best we can.

I urge members of the House to look at the memorandum which they will be receiving. I believe that the backlog will be reduced. Within a very short period of time we will have a system in place where people applying for passports will be immediately informed whether their form is in proper shape or whether it requires rectification. Procedures are in place and the system will be reformed for Canadians.

[Foreign Affairs, February 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member was good enough in the introduction to his question to point out there is a problem in terms of new security measures and there is a great deal of increased flow of demands for passports. The passport office is making a serious and concerted effort to respond to these requests. I regret any inconvenience to the hon. member or to Canadian citizens.

I want to assure the House that we are taking measures. We have brought in people this weekend and we will be working around the clock to reduce and eliminate the backlog of requests. We have put in measures to enable people to get their passports more quickly and to deal with it more efficiently. I will be circulating to the hon. member, and all members, statements as to how the department is responding to this.

[Foreign Affairs, February 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that excellent question.

As the member pointed out, the Prime Minister has clearly spelled out that Canada has been clear on this issue. We believe strongly that NATO is a defensive alliance. Turkey does run a risk of being attacked in the event that violence takes place in the region. We believe strongly that NATO should be taking prudent and preparatory measures together. My colleague the hon. Minister of National Defence was there and urged Canada's case.

There is no question about what our position is, NATO must be maintained. NATO is an important alliance for Canada. It is a defensive alliance and we wish to support it in this respect.

[Iraq, February 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, they may be in opposition, but they must not exaggerate.

It is a well-known fact that we have worked for peace. We must work within an international system. This is a system that we have developed and have worked toward for years. We are there, we worked to build this system. This is the only chance for peace. We will continue our policy and our efforts, despite such statements that have nothing to do with reality.

[Iraq, February 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I firmly reject the suggestion that the Prime Minister has been silent. On the contrary, he has been active, diplomatically. He has spoken with President Bush directly on several occasions. He has spoken with all world leaders. He is speaking here in the House.

Our position is clear. We have always encouraged and supported an approach that goes through the United Nations and through the Security Council. We have gotten here, in some measure, thanks to the efforts of the Prime Minister. He has never been silent, he has been active on the international scene and we are very proud of what he has done.

[Iraq, February 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it would surprise me greatly if Mr. Rumsfeld had said that the United States intends to use chemical weapons. This is totally out of character for our staunch ally, the United States. It is not the type of policy they espouse and it is not the direction they are headed in as a world leader. I am certain that the hon. member is mistaken. In a situation as delicate as this, one must choose one's words very carefully.

[Iraq, February 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the applicable law in this situation is resolution 1441. Resolution 1441, paragraph 4, stipulates that Saddam Hussein must cooperate fully with inspections.

Mr. Blix and American Secretary of State Colin Powell are both in agreement on this point. We need to wait until Friday to see what Mr. Blix says and not make false analogies in this regard.

[Iraq, February 11th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has always been very clear on this. There is complete agreement to support the UN initiative and wait for Mr. Blix to give his report on February 14. That is how things stand. We will assess the situation. We have always been clear that it is essential to see what the inspection system put in place by the Security Council finds before reaching a decision. That is the responsible, logical position in this very complex situation.

[Ivory Coast, February 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we are following the situation in Ivory Coast closely. It is a concern to us. We are providing assistance to Canadians who are there. We are prepared to work together with the international community, first to restore peace, and then to lay the foundations of civil society in this important African country.

[Iraq, February 6th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, there is no question that the government is engaged in a very active policy of supporting a UN system which is a possible solution to an enormously grave problem in the world. That is our policy and that is why we pushed it.

It may not be the policy that the opposition likes. I know what the opposition's policy is because it has said it over and over again: if the Americans ask, go for it. We have heard that.

I do not consider that a policy. It is a nice easy thing to do, but we have followed a much more complicated, much more difficult, but responsible policy that responds to the needs of the world and the needs of this particular crisis.