Svend Robinson

[Iraq, January 29th, 2003]

Madam Chairman, I want to come back to a very important question about the role of the House and particularly the role of elected representatives.

Did I understand the member from London to be saying that if the United Nations Security Council authorized military action against Iraq, she would agree that Canada should participate in that without the House and without the elected members of the House being given an opportunity to vote on behalf of their constituents about that fundamentally important decision? Is that what she is saying? If that is what she is saying, how on earth can she justify that?

She may think that is an appropriate position to take, to send men and women into war after reviewing the evidence. That may be her position, but each and every member of the House surely has the right to vote on behalf of their constituents.

I know she has a constituency in which there would be many people opposed to that, particularly from the Arab and Muslim Canadian communities.

Why is there contempt for the role of elected representatives? Why would she not support the right to vote even in the event of a UN Security Council authorized military action?

[Iraq, January 29th, 2003]

Madam Chairman, I commend the hon. member for standing with many of her constituents and speaking out against the possibility of war on the people of Iraq who have already suffered so tragically as a result of the economic sanctions which this Parliament in the foreign affairs committee unanimously recommended be lifted.

I see one of the members of that committee joined in that eloquent plea which to date has fallen on the deaf ears of her own government.

First, does the hon. member agree with the position that is taken by her colleague, the Liberal chair of the defence committee, who has said that there is no need for United Nations support, that Canada should join in a U.S.-led coalition of the willing? To quote him, he said:

We were prepared to say, “If the UN doesn't approve military action in Iraq, then we're not going. I think that's an abdication of a national responsibility”.

That is the position of the chair of the defence committee. The national defence minister in Washington, D.C. took a similar position. The Minister of Foreign Affairs had another position. The Prime Minister had yet another position, on which we are not quite clear.

Could the hon. member perhaps enlighten the House and through the House, Canadians, as to where the Liberal government stands on this issue?

Second, and very important, because the member is one for whom I have great respect and she has been in the House for a while, does she not agree that on an issue this fundamental, that if indeed it comes to the point that Canadian men and women are called into military action under the umbrella of a United Nations resolution or otherwise, that each and every member of the House should have the right to vote, not just to debate but to vote, on that fundamental question?

[Iraq, January 29th, 2003]

Mr. Chairman, I wish to congratulate the hon. member for a thoughtful and compassionate speech.

I would like to briefly comment on the question asked by my colleague from the Canadian Alliance. It reminded me of the time that Madeleine Albright was being interviewed by a journalist named Lesley Stahl. She was asked about the possibility that hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children might die as a result of the economic sanctions imposed on the people of Iraq. She was asked whether she was prepared to accept the death of hundreds of thousands of children. She paused and said that yes, that was a price worth paying. What an appalling response. We know that those children have died.

I want to ask the hon. member, for whom I have great respect, a question that I put to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and which he did not answer, and has not answered yet. In the event that the government of this country decides to participate in the military coalition either under the framework of the United Nations or as a member of the coalition of the willing, God help us, is it the position of this member that the House of Commons should have an opportunity not just to debate this profoundly important issue of life and death, but also have the opportunity to vote on that question?

[Iraq, January 29th, 2003]

Mr. Chairman, I will be brief. First, I want to congratulate the hon. member on his speech. We must never forget that during the gas attacks on the Kurds of Halabja in 1988, the United States remained silent and Canada remained silent.

My question for the hon. member and leader of the Bloc Quebecois will be brief. If there was ever a possibility of military strikes, would the hon. leader agree that these military strikes and attacks should not only be approved by a United Nations resolution but should also respect the fundamental principles of international law?

[Iraq, January 29th, 2003]

Mr. Chairman, to the minister, I think it is fair to say that every member of the House shares the fundamental objective of ridding not only Iraq of weapons of mass destruction but that region and ultimately the planet. The minister was an eloquent advocate of eradicating all nuclear weapons from the planet and indeed of strengthening and protecting the Iraqi people from the brutality to which they are subjected and the human rights violations.

That must be done within the framework both of the United Nations and of course with respect to international law. This brings me to my questions.

My first question is with respect to the issue of a second resolution. On this issue the minister has still not been clear. Should it be the case that the international community through the Security Council believes that there has been a material breach under the terms of resolution 1441, both France and Germany have stated clearly and unequivocally that they believe the use of force would not be accepted without an additional resolution to authorize that.

What is Canada's position on that and what is Canada's position with respect to the fundamental right of members of the House to vote on whether to send men and women into war?

[Foreign Affairs, January 29th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, last night I and many Canadians watched in horror as George Bush made clear his intention to wage war on the people of Iraq. At the same time he announced that the U.S. is pushing ahead with a dangerous new star wars missile defence system.

Today we learned that the Liberal government is sending officials to the United States this week to look at a possible role for Canada in this dangerous scheme. Will the Liberals really let George Bush put nuclear weapons on Canadian territory as part of this dangerous scheme?

It is time the Liberal government finally took a stand on these two grave threats to world peace. The Liberal foreign minister meets tomorrow with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. I urge him to give a loud and clear message from the people of Canada that Canada will not participate in a war on the people of Iraq under any circumstances, and Canada will have nothing to do with the U.S. missile defence scheme. No contracts and no missile sites.

Finally, MPs should be allowed to have a vote, not a debate but a vote, on this most fundamental of issues.

[Foreign Affairs, December 13th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Over two years ago the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, renounced its armed struggle for the rights of the Kurdish people and committed itself to peace and democratization.

Despite this decision, this week the government announced, in response to pressure from the U.S. and Turkey, that it is adding the PKK to its list of terrorist organizations.

Why is the government now criminalizing Canadians who want to support the peaceful struggle of the Kurds for justice and human rights, for respect for their language and culture, and for an end to the jailing of Kurdish MPs like Leyla Zana? Why this shameful decision?

[Government of Canada, December 13th, 2002]

Well, that's turkey, Mr. Speaker.

[Voices in the Wilderness Peace Team, December 13th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to four courageous Vancouver women, Irene MacInnes, Linda Morgan, Irene Vandas and Jennifer Ziemann, who are presently in Iraq to support the people of Iraq.

They are there as part of the Voices In The Wilderness Peace Team whose members go in relays so that there will be members in Iraq if and when the U.S. launches a war. In effect, they are there to act as human shields.

The purposes of the peace team are to live among the Iraqi people, to be there with them during any aggression, to use their presence to protect life supporting facilities and to speak truthfully about Iraq from the perspective of peace activists and to look at the effect of sanctions and war on the people of Iraq.

They are joined by two Canadian doctors, Dr. Amir Khadir and Dr. David Swann.

War would have devastating consequences on the people of Iraq who have suffered too much already.

New Democrats call once again for the lifting of the genocidal economic sanctions on the people of Iraq. We call as well for an end to any suggestion of war on the people of Iraq, with or without the sanction of the United Nations.

[Employment Insurance Act, December 12th, 2002]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. friend for his response on this and for recognizing the seriousness of the issue.

I really want to pursue one particular area and that is with respect to the question of the importance of Canada seeking the full cooperation of China in the event that an arrest warrant is issued for the arrest of Ang Li, the former boyfriend of Amanda Zhao.

As my friend will know, there is no extradition treaty in place between Canada and China but clearly there have been a number of precedents in similar circumstances for seeking the return of an individual who is charged with an offence to stand trial in Canada.

I would simply ask for his assurance that Canada will make every possible effort to do that in the event that an arrest warrant is issued, in order that he face justice and stand trial in Canada.