André Ouellet

[Foreign Affairs, April 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, all I can say to the House today is that talks are continuing between government leaders in an effort to thrash out a unified policy. A short while ago, the Prime Minister of Canada spoke with the President of the United States who himself was scheduled to speak with the Russian president. These talks will continue during the next few hours, the objective being to devise a plan of action, one that has the widest possible support, to bring an end to the conflict raging in the former Yugoslavia.

[Foreign Affairs, April 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we are extremely concerned about the deteriorating situation in Bosnia. The decision by the UN Secretary General to ask NATO to order offensive, rather than purely defensive, air strikes is obviously one fraught with implications.

In light of this change of policy, forces serving under the auspices of the UN will no longer be in the field solely to maintain peace and provide safe passage for humanitarian aid convoys. They could be called upon to take action to impose peace. Ambassadors to NATO are currently meeting to discuss this request and once a final decision has been made, I will be happy to convey it to the House.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, certainly, Canadian representatives at NATO and the UN consulted one another and are participating in meetings to develop a common strategy. A first meeting at the level of NATO ambassadors was held yesterday and another one will take place tomorrow to decide on a common position in response to the UN Secretary General's written request.

We continue to think that negotiations are still the safest way to achieve lasting peace in the former Yugoslavia. We will not solve the problem by aggravating the military conflict. On the other hand, we are aware that we cannot remain indifferent to a handful of Serb fighters who ignore the ceasefires negotiated on all sides. We think that considerable efforts have been made by both the Croats and the Moslems, and it is now time for the Bosnian Serbs to come to the table and agree with the other parties on a peaceful solution to this conflict that has lasted for too long.

[Foreign Affairs, April 19th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, at lunch time, the Minister of Defence and I spoke with the Vice-President of Bosnia, Mr. Ganic. We reviewed the situation and we certainly deplore the escalation that seems to have taken place around some safe areas or enclaves where the Moslem population is at the mercy of Serbian troops' artillery. We cannot, of course, remain insensitive to this situation. There will be discussions with the representatives of allied countries to find as quickly as possible a solution to this situation that seems to be getting worse.

[Ukraine, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, first of all I want to thank the hon. member for giving me notice of his question. I want to thank him and those with him who participated as Canadian observers to the elections in Ukraine. A number of parliamentarians, senators, MPs and representatives of various Ukrainian organizations in Canada were willing to devote some of their time to go there to witness a country moving to a democratic process. It is to the credit of all those who accepted to serve in these circumstances.

To specifically answer his question I want to assure him that Canada is committed to co-operating with the authorities in Ukraine to move this country toward a more democratic society, to move this country toward a market economy, and certainly to increase trade and good relations with the people of Ukraine.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that we have seen very risky operations on the part of the Bosnian Serbs. There is a genuine effort involving the participation and the co-operation of the Croatians, of the Muslims, in order to make some progress toward peace.

Representations have been made at the highest levels with the involvement of the Russian representative, the American representative and also obviously the representative of the United Nations.

We are doing our utmost to convince the Serbs it is in their own interests to be part of these peace negotiations. We hope they will understand it is in the interest of everybody, including themselves, to come to the table and negotiate a total peace settlement for the entire ex-Yugoslavia.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the situation is changing by the hour. According to the latest information we received, an agreement in principle had apparently been reached with the Bosnian Serbs and relative peace was to return to that part of the country.

I cannot tell you what the situation is at this precise moment. Intensive negotiations are continuing. However, I can tell the House that the United Nations Security Council will be meeting this afternoon to discuss the situation and that this morning, NATO ambassadors were briefed on the situation in Bosnia.

Obviously, our goal is to get all warring factions to come to an agreement and to accept a peace plan for all of the territories of the former Yugoslavia.

[Canadian Peacekeepers In Bosnia, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I know that all members of this House were extremely happy to hear the wonderful news over the weekend that, following negotiations, the Canadian soldiers were finally freed.

I can tell the hon. Leader of the Opposition that Canadian soldiers and those from other countries serving under the UN flag face difficult situations while on duty, particularly when the warring factions do not respect the peace agreements that have been negotiated.

May I remind this House that in several regions of the former Yugoslavia, peace agreements have been brokered and UN peacekeepers are maintaining peace and order. Unfortunately, agreements are being violated in certain regions and problems have arisen. That is why we are stepping up our efforts to secure peace among all factions throughout the former Yugoslavia.

[Members Of Parliament, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I believe there is some difficulty on the part of members of the Reform Party to participate in international visits. I tried to convince their leader to participate in these activities on the grounds that they serve a useful purpose.

I take in good standing the request to submit in advance the cost, the reason for going and the advantage of such a trip. I will do so in the future because there are regular requests for parliamentarians to go abroad to sustain the objectives of the Canadian government or to promote the interests and points of view of Canadians.

For instance, there was a request recently to send a delegation to Washington to impress upon Americans the importance of respecting the steelworkers of Canada. Unfortunately so far we have not been able to convince the Reform Party to join forces with other representatives of Parliament.

I believe there are a number of useful visits abroad. We would like to have the support of that party in joining the two other parties in Parliament to promote Canadian interests abroad.

[Foreign Affairs, April 14th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I accept the hon. member's question by recalling that today is the 46th anniversary of Israel's independence. I can tell the hon. member that we are particularly troubled by this act of violence which killed some six people and injured thirty. We expressed our condolences to the Embassy of Israel and offered our heartfelt sympathies to the victims' families.

As for the broader question of the peace process in the Middle East, I am pleased to point out that the chairman of the task force on refugees is a Canadian and that Canada will continue to support the peace process, and we earnestly hope that these acts of violence will not derail the peace process which is well under way.