Vivian Barbot

[Afghanistan, March 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, that is good because I, too, would like to talk about a letter.

How can the minister claim to be cooperating fully when a spokesperson for the commission, Stan Blythe, said that he received a letter from the government announcing that it would oppose requests for that public inquiry?

[Afghanistan, March 13th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, this government is known for its unhealthy culture of secrecy. The most recent victim was the Military Police Complaints Commission of Canada, in the transfer of Afghan detainees. The Department of Foreign Affairs refused to give the commission access to relevant documents.

If the minister really is cooperating fully, as he claims to be, then why did the chair of the commission have to launch a public inquiry to do his work?

[Afghanistan, March 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the government's pattern of concealing information and not being transparent will prolong the investigation by several months and cost taxpayers an additional $2 million.

Will the minister finally make public the information the commission needs to determine whether detainees transferred to the Afghan authorities were tortured?

[Afghanistan, March 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, after trying for more than a year to investigate Afghan detainee transfers, the chair of the Military Police Complaints Commission has decided to hold a public hearing on allegations of torture of transferred detainees. The main reason for this decision is the government's refusal to give the commission full access to Foreign Affairs and Correctional Service Canada documents.

Given this new blatant example of lack of transparency, will the Minister of Foreign Affairs transfer all—

[Quebec Declaration, March 12th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, together with numerous representatives of Quebec's civil society and international partners, the members of the Bloc Québécois have expressed support for the Quebec association of international cooperation organizations' manifesto, Déclaration du Québec: Responsables aussi du monde.

This declaration expresses our shared vision for international development and solidarity. Among other things, we want to build a world based on the law and individual and group rights, a world where men and women are truly equal, a world that condemns war and military action as pathways to conflict resolution, a world where access to basic education for all people, male or female, is a priority.

The Bloc Québécois invites all parliamentarians to sign the Déclaration du Québec: Responsables aussi du monde.

[International Cooperation, March 11th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, last December, the Minister of International Cooperation told this House that the government did not plan to close the Montreal office of the Pearson Peacekeeping Centre. International peacekeeping organizations are already complaining about the lack of staff trained in French. This is part of the Pearson centre's mandate. Since then, the Montreal office has been empty and calls have been transferred to the Ottawa office.

Can the Minister of International Cooperation confirm whether or not the Pearson centre in Montreal is closed?

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, it is obviously a matter of balance. If all the money is used for the military mission because we tell ourselves that there has to be security and we do nothing else, the same people we are supposed to be helping, and who are also being killed—we should not forget that—will turn against us and tell us to go home. Therefore, we must rebalance the mission so that we invest at least 0.7% of our GDP—

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by telling my hon. colleague that the Bloc Québécois does not claim to have a monopoly on representing women and children. We hope that all the members of this House feel that it is their duty to protect women and children. However, men who wage war have always used women and children as an excuse for their aggressive attitudes. They always say they are going to protect women and children, yet all over the world we see that women and children are always at the bottom of the heap. And that makes no sense.

However, we understand that men use women and children in this way in order to ease their conscience. Things being what they are, this is something we must keep in mind. We are saying that we must pull out, because there are other people who share the responsibility for looking after the weakest members of society. We should let them do their part.

Nowhere does it say that Canadians are the only ones who can defend the people of Afghanistan or other countries. It makes no sense that we should be the only ones who realize this.

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that there is no military solution. This has been demonstrated by the years and decades of war in that part of the world. A military solution is not a solution. However, the solution could be military if combined with something else. The military aspect alone is not enough, which is why we called for a reorganization of Canada's efforts.

We are not alone in this. Thus, when we say we want to leave the combat zone, we have taken into account that others can take up that part of the mission so that we can focus our efforts on development and reconstruction, which, incidentally, would be more in line with what is important to Canadians, rather than always being deployed in combat zones.

We do not feel it would be appropriate for the mission to end, and we are not calling for the mission to end completely. However, with 38 countries present, we believe that it is totally unfair that Canada should remain in the most dangerous part of the country any longer. We have given our share and done our part. Let us leave this role to others and engage in more diplomacy and development in Afghanistan.

We are not really saying that the entire mission should end, but as Canadians and as Quebeckers, we need to recognize that our efforts have earned us the right to work more in other areas where we have expertise. And that is what the public is calling on us to do. This is a key part of the Bloc Québécois position.

[Business of Supply, March 10th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. Yes, there has been a change in government in Pakistan. But in the absence of immediate results, we should not assume that things will change.

We must ensure that Canada's diplomatic position and diplomatic statements are continuous and that we are able to see the trends at any given time. That would enable us to intervene and prevent the situation from returning to what it was in the past.

As we have known since the start of the war, the Taliban are extremely powerful and they are everywhere. If we leave them alone, telling ourselves that since there has been a change in government, the Taliban will change, we would be kidding ourselves, because that part of the world has been at war for a very long time. We will probably see long-term changes over the years. But we must monitor things and there must always be a diplomatic presence so that we can take action at any time.