Pierre Pettigrew

[National Defence, February 23rd, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we entered into agreements to amend Norad to allow it to use Norad information to appreciate the threats to North America. However we have not entered into any agreement with Washington over ballistic missile defence whatsoever.

[National Defence, February 23rd, 2005]

The Prime Minister, Mr. Speaker, has just read the very communiqué that we showed on August 5 that describes exactly the policy that this government has adopted.

Canada values its relationship with the United States a great deal. It is our neighbour, our friend and our ally. It is a great economic and trade partner.

We have negotiated and worked very closely with the U.S. on the security of our continent for a very long time. We amended Norad last August because we believe that Norad is great and should continue to perform very well in the future.

[Foreign Affairs, February 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, today, my colleague, the Minister for International Trade is attending a federal-provincial conference on the very topic of international trade. I can assure the hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île that what my colleague was trying to say, as am I, is that, after the vote, we will continue to do our job promoting both the interests and values of Canadians in terms of international trade and foreign policy. We will continue to work in the best interests of Canadians.

[Foreign Affairs, February 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I was in the Middle East all last week and I want everyone to know that the Prime Minister supported me in my work in every one of the jurisdictions I visited. I spoke with the Prime Minister throughout that week and he expressed to me his satisfaction with the messages I was passing on. The Prime Minister and I are singing from exactly the same hymn book on this issue.

[Foreign Affairs, February 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, what needs to be understood here is that our government has been extremely consistent and clear in its dealings with the Syrian and Lebanese governments. This was important when we did meet with them. We reiterated our support of Resolution 1559, which we have supported ever since it was passed by the UN Security Council. That is the Canadian government's position.

[Foreign Affairs, February 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, we are in a very important position right now, following the election of President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, to make progress in the Middle East.

This Parliament should support this government when it is trying to play an activist role in the Middle East where we are promoting peace. What we did last week was indeed to express to the Syrian government and the Lebanese government that we believe they have a contribution to make in ceasing the violence and supporting Mr. Abbas who is emerging as--

[Foreign Affairs, February 17th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, last week, with great clarity, I expressed to both the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Syria, Canada's foreign policy, which the Prime Minister fully supports, as he just has done here in this House. Canada supports resolution 1559 calling for Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

[Terrorism, February 16th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, our Canadian foreign policy is being made here in Canada and this decision has been made by our government. However, we do consult with our allies. When we talked about Sri Lanka, we consulted with Norway which has been playing an outstanding role in the peace process. We have consulted with the United States who are also interested.

Since the February 2002 ceasefire, no country has taken any action against the Tamil Tigers. We believe that at this time, given the situation, it should be in that direction.

[Middle East, February 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's position is extremely clear. We support Resolution 1559, which calls upon Syrian forces to withdraw from Lebanon. However, I must also point out that at press conferences in both Lebanon and Syria, I drew the attention of government leaders to the role being played by Hezbollah and Hamas. I asked these two countries to do whatever it took to avoid violence in the Middle East. If there is any real desire to support Mr. Abbas and help the Palestinian cause rather than exploit it, we must bring about an end to all violence, and Mr. Abbas must be given a chance.

[Middle East, February 14th, 2005]

Mr. Speaker, I certainly want to express our deepest condolences on the death of Prime Minister Hariri who was a great friend of Canada. I remember his two visits in 1997 and 2001, which were very much appreciated.

What I think is important is to meet these individuals, whether in Lebanon or in Syria, and tell them that Canada supports resolution 1559 which requires Syria to leave the territory of Lebanon. It was easy to meet people who, like Canada, think that Syria should leave the territory, but I prefer to meet the leaders in Syria and Lebanon and inform them that they--