Mr. Speaker, my seatmate understood the question very well. If he does represent Canada at this job conference I am sure he will be staying in Windsor.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 1993, with 52% of the vote.
G-7 Conference February 8th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, my seatmate understood the question very well. If he does represent Canada at this job conference I am sure he will be staying in Windsor.
Bosnia February 3rd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, let me say that in the past few days I have spoken on the telephone with my colleagues, the French foreign minister and Secretary Hurd, and that in the next few hours I am to speak with Warren Christopher, the American secretary. Of course we are all trying now to make diplomatic efforts to bring the parties to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia to make peace.
Regardless of what we may all try to do, it is up to the belligerents themselves, first and foremost, to decide to make peace. Only then can we reach the goals which have been set. I also asked a small delegation of senior Canadian officials to make a tour in the coming days to meet the UN authorities in the field, to go to Geneva and also to the major capitals of the countries whose troops are involved in peace operations in the former Yugoslavia, in order to try to have a coherent, unified policy on solving the continuing impasse over there.
Foreign Affairs February 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I remind the hon. member that the previous government, without any notice or consultation, made a 10 per cent cut in CIDA's budget, thereby adversely affecting many non-governmental organizations which are active everywhere in the world and which complement the work of the Canadian International Development Agency.
I can assure the hon. member that we want to cut what is called the fat in the federal administration, but that we will be very careful and try to maintain, as much as possible, the budgets earmarked for non-governmental organizations working throughout the world.
Foreign Affairs February 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I want to correct the hon. member's allegation to the effect that the interview shown on the CTV network referred to an internal study done by CIDA. The study was conducted seven
years ago by an external consultant and refers to a behaviour which clearly is associated with another era.
It is true that the Auditor General criticized in rather strong terms some CIDA programs, but he also congratulated all those who work in that field for the good will, the integrity and the efficiency they display in most situations.
It is unfortunate that some, like the member opposite, insist on a few bad cases and forget the importance of international development throughout the world.
Law Of The Sea February 2nd, 1994
Mr. Speaker, let me first of all compliment the hon. member for his active effort in this regard. As an opposition member he fought very vigorously to try to impress on the Tory government the necessity to ratify this convention.
As the member understands, there are a few difficulties in regard to the convention. We are diligently working to improve it and will hopefully be able to ratify it in the near future.
Yugoslavia January 27th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his questions and for his interesting suggestions.
I would like to indicate that a diplomatic avenue should be pursued to complement the tremendous contributions of Canadian forces and the humanitarian aid that we are bringing to the area.
I have been in touch with our ambassador in Geneva and have conveyed to him our feelings following the debate that took place in the House, that every avenue has to be explored in order to bring peace to the area.
With regard to the suggestion to bring a number of prominent Canadians to advise and assist us, I want to remind the House that there will not only be a parliamentary committee struck to review our foreign policy in which parliamentarians in a traditional way will ask witnesses to appear before it, but in keeping with our promises in the red book we will hold a two-day national forum at the end of March to review our foreign policy.
It is in that context that people across the country could be invited to participate and give us their advice.
Canadian Embassy In China January 26th, 1994
The answer is quite simply, yes, Mr. Speaker.
Canadian Embassy In China January 26th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, I must say I agree with the hon. member who asked the question. I think some very serious mistakes were made when this project was carried out. Unfortunately, there are now a lot of people who want to be ambassador, just to be in this magnificent building that was put there by the previous administration.
I have asked my officials to ensure that further construction or repairs to government property abroad meet very specific criteria, and that there be no cost overruns.
Foreign Affairs January 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister discussed this matter when he met with the Secretary General of the United Nations in Paris. We feel it would be a good idea to organize under the auspices of the United Nations this kind of training program for police officers from countries under military dictatorship.
This proposal which was put forward by Canada could apply first to Haiti, and could later be extended to several other countries under military rule where a counterbalance such as a police force could be useful in terms of instituting and maintaining democracy. Consequently, during the course of our discussions with President Aristide yesterday, we obtained his support for such an initiative.
Obviously we cannot take this kind of initiative without the approval of the Haitian government. And we have obtained it. We will be appointing a representative who, along with President Aristide's representative, will review the terms and conditions of this kind of police officer training program.
Foreign Affairs January 25th, 1994
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question is very relevant. Clearly, given the present situation where Haiti basically has four friends working within the United Nations to advance the cause of democracy in this country, we lack support.
One of our goals is to extend Haiti's circle of friends to include a certain number of countries, specifically neighbouring Caribbean nations which could, working together with Haiti's four traditional friends, help to enforce a comprehensive and truly effective blockade.