David Collenette

[Situation In Bosnia, April 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we did cover this last night in the debate. The instructions that we gave immediately following the cabinet meeting last night were to endorse the Secretary General's proposal for the Sarajevo type air strikes being widened to include the five safe havens under certain communications and control procedures of the United Nations and with NATO.

Our military people in Brussels will be consulted as to the exact methodology in terms of control to make sure that our objectives have been met.

With respect to the question of the safety of our troops, we did acknowledge yesterday that we have taken some precautions in and around our base in Visoko so that we do not unnecessarily expose our troops to the Bosnian Serb lines. However I should say that this does not mean, contrary to some media reports, that our troops are hunkered down in the base in Visoko. They are performing the humanitarian aid which has resumed into Sarajevo in the last day or so and they are carrying on their work.

Certainly any question of the safety of our troops will be taken in concert with all the members of the United Nations protective force in Bosnia.

[Situation In Bosnia, April 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, as you know the North Atlantic Council has been meeting since nine o'clock Ottawa time. We do not have any results of the discussions. Should I have them before the end of question period, I will perhaps rise at twelve o'clock and make a statement if the House is willing.

With respect to the position of the Russian government, as you know, Mr. Speaker, it has had some reservations on the whole question of broadening air strikes in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia. We have no information as of this moment as to whether or not it has changed its position, but it is certainly something that has to be taken into consideration by the council at its meeting this morning.

[Foreign Affairs, April 21st, 1994]

A member of our force is in Gorazde today as it is being shelled to pieces. A Canadian is there and we pray for his return.

The decision tomorrow will not be taken lightly but as my colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has said, too often in the past nations have turned a blind eye to wanton aggression. Too often we have accepted unconscionable atrocities being committed. They are being committed in other places around the world and that should give us equal cause for condemnation.

When we see this kind of situation happening in Europe in 1994, in the heart of western civilization, if you will, when we see people who are ethnoculturally the same but who are essentially divided along religious lines doing unspeakable things to each other, when we see one faction wantonly thumbing its nose at the international community, the time has come to act.

We cannot stand by as we did not stand by-others did not stand by-earlier in this century because if we do, we will only encourage the aggressor more. We will allow more and more atrocities to occur, more and more rights to be abused.

More and more we will see the end of civility in a part of the world where civility has been very much the norm for the past 50 years, in a relatively peaceful situation, notwithstanding the enmities in the history of the past.

As we go forward this evening in cabinet and make a final decision, we will weigh the remarks of hon. members opposite and those on the government side of the House.

We certainly appreciate the valuable contributions made by the Leader of the Opposition and the hon. member from Saanich-Gulf Islands, the critic for the Reform Party. When we stand here tonight discussing this issue we stand here not as Liberals or as Reformers or as members of the Bloc Quebecois or other political parties. We stand here as Canadians.

Canadians are serving with resolve and determination. They have our total support. They will be pleased to know members of the House of Commons are thinking about them and are trying to ensure the world community brings about some course of action that will help them return safely home when this mandate is completed but equally important, brings lasting peace to the former republic of Yugoslavia.

[Foreign Affairs, April 21st, 1994]

Madam Speaker, in September 1992, the UN Security Council broadened the mandate and increased the size of UNPROFOR to provide protection to humanitarian assistance convoys in Bosnia-Hercegovina, under the supervision of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Canada agreed to send about 1,200 more troops and, by November 5, 1992, the second battalion group had been

deployed. In December 1992, the UN Security Council established a deterrent presence in the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. A company of the Second Canadian Battalion carried out this operation from January until March of last year.

When these troops were relieved last autumn, the participation of Canadian forces in UNPROFOR was reviewed and increased to about 2,000 soldiers divided in two smaller battalion groups. Currently, almost 2,000 Canadians troops are supporting UNPROFOR efforts in Croatia and Bosnia- Hercegovina.

We have taken a number of steps in the last couple of years. I believe the ones I have just mentioned outlined Canada's commitment to peace and stability in the former republic of Bosnia-Hercegovina of the former republic of Yugoslavia. It has been a great challenge to thousands of Canadians, friends and families of those who have been affected and those who have served in this particular theatre.

We believe that the contributions that we have made in the past two years in the former republic of Yugoslavia, both in Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, have been significant. The Canadian forces have made a difference. They have saved lives. They have helped foster what peace there is in that region and have contributed effectively to the humanitarian effort.

We are talking this evening about the massive deterioration of the situation in Bosnia. Bosnian Serb forces have been unrelenting in their attacks on Gorazde which is a designated United Nations safe area. On numerous occasions UNPROFOR officials have attempted to persuade Bosnian Serbs to halt their aggressive activities. So far these attempts have been unsuccessful and Bosnian Serbs remain. They have detained UN officials and impeded the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

In this environment it is becoming increasingly difficult for UNPROFOR to fulfil its objectives. The international community and in particular NATO countries, the European union and Russia were faced with a fundamental dilemma of how to encourage co-operation without either escalating or widening the conflict.

Taking into consideration all of the factors before him the UN Secretary-General Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali has concluded that stronger military action is required.

The House will recall that in February of this year NATO agreed to provide air support to protect the UN safe area of Sarajevo. Three days ago Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali wrote to Manfred Woerner, the Secretary General of NATO, requesting that the arrangement be made to protect the Sarajevo safe area and be extended to the five other UN safe areas in and around Gorazde, Srebrenica, Zepa, Tuzla and the Bihac pocket area.

Yesterday the NATO Council discussed this request and asked NATO military authorities to develop an operational plan. The operational plan that is being developed will cover such areas as command and control arrangements, selection of targets and the safety of UN personnel.

In any agreement that Canada would have to the UN Secretary-General's proposal we would have to be assured that the command and control of such air strikes meet Canadian expectations and normal NATO requirements for effectiveness and safety. My military officials have been in touch with those of other NATO countries to ensure that if such strikes were permitted our concerns will indeed be addressed.

The plan of the Secretary-General will define the size of the exclusion zones in and around each safe area and will specify how and under which condition air strikes will be used. Some members of the House will say that the government has in the past been opposed to air strikes and will wonder why we have not flatly opposed the UN Secretary-General's latest request.

I would just like to better explain our position. My colleague, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, has enlightened us this evening on his position.

We have supported the use of air strikes for the protection of UN troops. We said that we would consider other requests as long as they took into consideration a number of factors, these factors being that air strikes contributed to the overall peace process, would not clearly associate the UN with one side, would not make it impossible for UN forces to assist in the delivery of humanitarian aid and would not expose UN personnel to unacceptable risks.

There has been much discussion of the American plan posed by President Clinton yesterday. It was a much more comprehensive plan which goes beyond Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali's request and this plan not only includes the extension of air support projecting Sarajevo to other safe areas but also calls for tighter sanctions aimed at limiting the ability of Serbia and Bosnia to wage war and for a high level meeting between the United States, Europe, Russia and the United Nations.

Tomorrow morning, as my colleague, the secretary of state for foreign affairs has said, the NATO Council will meet to consider the operational plan that is being developed by military authorities and to discuss President Clinton's proposal.

Of course, any decision NATO takes will have an impact on UNPROFOR and more specifically we will have to look closely at whether all of these proposals will change the nature of the UNPROFOR mission. In addition, we will have to look at the operational plan to determine its military viability and its impact on the safety of UN personnel.

We have known from the start that deploying forces in the former Yugoslavia meant exposing our personnel to some risk. This concern has been with us since the beginning of the mission and the situation in Srebrenica as well as the incident last week involving 16 members of the Canadian forces when they were detained by Bosnian Serbs reminded us that the risks were very real.

I would like to pay particular tribute at this point to those 16 individuals and to the other United Nations observer, a Canadian, being detained.

[Bosnia, April 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would rather not deal with this hypothetical situation in today's very emotionally charged context.

I think we have to acknowledge the fact that Lieutenant-Colonel Moore has taken the right decision to minimize the danger to his people in and around Visoko. However any further steps and any further anticipation of difficult action will have to be measured by him as the hours and the days go by. I do not think that we should prejudge anything he may do.

[Conflict In Former Yugoslavia, April 15th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I should point out the Minister of Foreign Affairs is in Montreal today. However he has been holding discussions throughout the early hours of this morning and right now with his various counterparts in the NATO countries. I believe he talked with Mr. Hurd a few moments ago. These discussions are going on at the highest levels with our NATO allies and with a representative at the United Nations.

[Conflict In Former Yugoslavia, April 15th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, our people in Bosnia were able to contact our soldiers; the situation is calm, and I must add that the soldiers are not being mistreated.

We hope to have some resolution of this situation soon. There was a meeting this morning between Mr. Akashi, the representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the Serb leader Karadzic. I think that meeting is still going on. As soon as we have any results of that we will let members know.

I do resent somewhat the assertion of the hon. member that we are trying to minimize this. We find this situation completely unacceptable and we are very concerned.

Given the delicacy of the problem in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia it is wise for everyone to be rational at this particular stage because the lives of Canadians and others are at stake.

[Official Languages, March 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the House and the hon. member that it is possible to work in French at headquarters in Ottawa. As minister, I work in French, as do all of my senior officials.

It is an ongoing problem we have in Canadian society that we feel very strongly about. We are committed to bilingual national institutions. We are committed to bilingualism within the operation of government throughout the headquarters of national defence. We have made great strides. That is not to say that we cannot make even greater strides in the weeks ahead.

I invite the hon. member opposite and his colleagues to help us make the Canadian Armed Forces much more bilingual and acceptable to Canadians who speak both official languages.

[Official Languages, March 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. We have implemented many of the recommendations of the Department of National Defence. The former minister established a ministerial committee. We also have a general Canadian Forces-wide committee. We have carried out many recommendations and we still have a great deal of work to do.

It is a good point at which to state to the House that in view of the questions that came about in recent weeks regarding military colleges we have been reviewing the whole question of bilingualism in the armed forces.

In a few weeks, when we come back after our Easter recess, I might be in a position to make a statement to the House. It will deal with how we propose to make the military college in Kingston acceptably bilingual for members opposite. It is a bilingual institution and we are going to enhance that bilingualism.

We will also generally deal with some of the concerns raised by the Commissioner of Official Languages and others who have criticized the department in the past.

[Points Of Order, March 21st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to correct the Hansard record.

Last Thursday, March 17, I made a statement on the Somalian incident and I would like the record to reflect that several military police investigations were ordered into the significant incidents experienced by the Canadian Airborne Regiment battle group in Somalia and that the first one commenced on March 19, 1993, not on April 15, 1993 as stated in the House.