Aileen Carroll

[International Trade, February 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has a very proud record of supporting entrepreneurs in developing countries. We know that to grow those economies we have to unleash the entrepreneurs. We have to help them with the programs and microfinance building the regulatory systems and legal systems that enable those entrepreneurs to build their own economies.

In addition, my colleague, the Minister of International Trade, being the brilliant strategist that he is, has been pushing for market access for developing countries in the Doha round of the WTO.

[International Cooperation, February 1st, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, it delights me to respond to this gentleman face to face instead of through the papers. I did indeed leave the country on Sunday night. I managed the situation in conjunction with my department by phone for two days. The morning of the third day, I booked to return.

Every decision taken was the right decision. I did that in concert with my colleagues. I am very proud of what Canada did on day one, day two and day three and right where we stand as a government with Canadians today.

[International Cooperation, December 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member knows, as I do, that there is no shortage of entrepreneurs in developing countries, but there is a shortage of credit. That is why we are such a strong supporter of microfinance and why today I am announcing $4 million in new microfinance initiatives.

I am joined in assigning a great priority to this private sector development by the Prime Minister, who co-authored that excellent report at the United Nations.

[Softwood Lumber, December 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I think I have answered that question. I said that I would share these concerns with my colleagues and that is exactly what I will do.

[Softwood Lumber, December 10th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I will convey the views of the hon. member to my colleague, but at the same time, I reaffirm what is a very important two-track approach in Canada. We are continuing litigation as it involves the WTO and NAFTA and challenges of the U.S. duties. At the same time, we are negotiating for a long term resolution. There is a price to pay.

[Ukraine, December 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, we are participating in building governance in countries such as China and Ukraine. That is why we are sending observers. That is why the Canadian bar is working in China to create a separate and independent judiciary. That is why we have the programs we do, to assist these countries down the road to democracy.

I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that I am very proud of CIDA. I am very proud of the foreign policy of the government.

[Ukraine, December 8th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I fail to understand why the hon. member is unable to rejoice in our announcement. It was an announcement wherein we said that we will send the largest number of observers ever to Ukraine to assist in ensuring that there is a transparent election.

We will send up to 500 observers, more than any other nation. We will do that at a cost of up to $3.5 million. We are very proud of Canada's stand in Ukraine and on sending these people.

[Ukraine, December 6th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot conceive how the hon. member could fail to understand how important our announcement was today. We are sending up to 500 monitors, up to a cost of $3.5 million, the largest number of monitors of anyone in the international community. We are calling upon Canadians who wish to go to register with CANADEM to be a part of a very important exercise in transparent democracy.

[China, November 30th, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, the development in China is very uneven, socially, politically and economically.

We have the opportunity to engage China in a manner that allows us to assist with its reform. We do not give money to the Chinese government. We work on capacity building with the Canadian bar. We work with Agriteam in Calgary, and we have the opportunity to assist in its governance.

We are engaging China in a manner that the opposition fails to comprehend.

[Hiv-Aids, November 23rd, 2004]

Mr. Speaker, this is a very timely question. Just this morning the United Nations released its report that showed the terrible progression of this crisis. Almost 40 million people are now living with AIDS, and the toll on women is horrific.

In Africa fully 76% of young people with the disease are women. On this side of the House we are committed to leading the fight against AIDS. We provided $100 million to the World Health 3 by 5 initiative. The leader of World Health, Dr. Lee, told us that the Canadian lead is a historic--