David Kilgour

[Supply, May 1st, 2001]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Calgary. We enjoyed the first half of his speech better than the second half.

The author of “The Lexus and the Olive Tree”, Thomas Friedman, wrote after the Quebec summit the following:

That is not surprising, because if you actually look around Africa you see that the countries that are the most democratic, where the people have the most freedom to choose—South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana—are the most pro-trade, the most integrated in the world economy and the most globalized. The countries that are led by dictators, are the least open and where the people have the least freedom to choose—Sudan, Zimbabwe, Liberia, Libya, etc.—are those most hostile to globalization, openness and trade in goods and services.

At the end of his article he refers to protesters by saying:

By inhibiting global trade expansion, they are choking the only route out of poverty for the world's poor. Which is why these “protesters” should be called by their real name: The Coalition to Keep Poor People Poor.

I wonder if my hon. colleague would answer on behalf of members of the New Democratic Party what they would say to these comments.

[Supply, May 1st, 2001]

Madam Speaker, the member who just spoke and I are both from the class of '79. There are only three of us left in the House, so we have to treat each other well.

Virtually all the nations of the Caribbean have asked for a free trade agreement with Canada, and we are negotiating one with them. All the nations of Central America have asked for a free trade agreement with Canada, and we are negotiating one with them. We signed one last week with Costa Rica.

One or two per cent of our trade is with countries outside of the United States and Mexico. Why is the New Democratic Party so excited about possibly having a free trade agreement of the Americas with these other countries, which are all virtually asking for this trade agreement?

Why does the New Democratic Party not talk about the plan of action which deals with all of the issues which I thought were important to it such as: transparency and good governance; electoral processes; fight against corruption; strengthening human rights; human rights of children and adolescents; freedom of opinion and expression; rule of law; the drug problem; preventing violence; communications; and education?

Why does it only want to talk about chapter 11? Could it be that the NDP knows that the people of Canada and the 800 million people who live in this hemisphere are also concerned about all these other things? Could it be that it does not want to talk about the fact that the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank are agreeing to finance this plan of action?

Could it be that members of the NDP have picked out one thing, chapter 11, that they think Canadians might support them on and have ignored all the other good things about the summit, which was probably the most important event ever to take place on Canadian soil?

[Tobacco Tax Amendments Act, 2001, April 24th, 2001]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-26, an act to amend the Customs Act, the Customs Tariff, the Excise Act, the Excise Tax Act and the Income Tax Act in respect of tobacco.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

[Foreign Affairs, March 28th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada does not call for the divestiture of shares in any company including Talisman.

The Government of Canada is very concerned about the incalculable suffering that is going on among the people of southern Sudan. We call on all companies involved in Sudan to make sure they do everything they can to bring that tragedy to an end.

[Colombia, March 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, once again, until now Vector's involvement concerns civilian planes. There are no helicopters for military purposes. So the same response applies.

[Colombia, March 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, up to now, and I imagine this will continue to apply, we have not approved a permit for Vector to export helicopters to Colombia. That is the answer.

[Foreign Affairs, March 20th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the helicopters to which the member refers were built in Fort Worth, Texas, in the 1970s. They were brought to Canada and used by the Department of National Defence for about 20 years. They were then sold to the U.S. government. They were reconfigured by the U.S. government and sold to Colombia. We do not give re-export permits to the government of the United States.

[Foreign Affairs, March 19th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, a Canadian government official participated as an observer in those elections. Our government is concerned over reports of intimidation, violence and election rigging in four districts in Uganda. We have expressed concern over these reports by both the national resistance movement and the opposition parties.

The NGO election monitoring group, as the member will know, has declined to declare the presidential elections free and clear and the Canadian government is very concerned about that.

[Latin America, February 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, Plan Colombia has a very large social assistance program and a number of features to it which are not military.

Canada is not participating in any of the military side of Plan Colombia, as the Minister of National Defence knows. Canada will not be providing any military equipment as we would be violating our non-involvement in the war in Colombia.

[Foreign Affairs, February 27th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. leader of the New Democratic Party would ask me questions more often, I would listen very carefully.

She is absolutely right. There have been catastrophic losses of life in Colombia. On average, 71 people die violently in Colombia each day. Canada has not supported Plan Colombia. We are providing aid separate and apart from Plan Colombia.

As the hon. member from B.C., who went to Colombia with me last week, knows, there is 20% to 30% unemployment in Colombia. People there desperately want access to Canadian markets. There are 40 million people in Colombia—