Deepak Obhrai

[Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, October 1st, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada takes issues of animal welfare seriously, and it strongly pursues issues of animal protection. For this reason, our government is actively involved in issues of animal welfare, both on the domestic level and internationally.

Canada has long contributed to the development of international standards for animal health and welfare. Since taking up the request of member countries to become the lead international organization for animal welfare, the World Organisation for Animal Health has become the main international institution for advancing the development of science-based animal welfare standards and thus for improving the well-being and care of animals worldwide.

The World Organisation for Animal Health has formulated a number of international guidelines for the humane slaughter of animals, killing for disease control and for the transport of animals by air, land and sea.

As a member of the World Organisation for Animal Health, Canada supported that body's Resolution XIV of May 2007, in which it was decided to support in principle the development of a universal declaration on animal welfare calling on countries to acknowledge the importance of animal welfare. The same resolution recognized that the World Organisation for Animal Health is the established international animal welfare standard-setting body.

Our government wants to make sure that the subject of animal welfare continues to be given the attention it deserves and that positive progress continues to be made in order to improve the well-being of animals as an end in itself. For this reason, we support in principle the development of the universal declaration on animal welfare as a reflection of Canadians' commitment to the well-being of animals and this government's vigorous commitment to their protection.

However, while the development of a universal declaration on animal welfare is a laudable goal, we do not believe that the United Nations is the appropriate forum to address this issue. The United Nations Charter does not give the United Nations a mandate to address issues relating to animal welfare. Rather, the United Nations focuses its efforts on matters more immediately related to human welfare, such as peace and security, human rights and economic development. To suggest a new mandate for the United Nations would carry the risk of further stretching that organization's already expansive responsibilities and it would be inconsistent with Canada's strong efforts to improve the effectiveness and focus of the United Nations in its mandated areas of activity.

This government is committed to ensuring that the United Nations pursues a course of reform to become more effective, more accountable and more democratic. We have made this a priority in our engagement with the organization. These reform efforts are wide-ranging and comprehensive, to achieve an organization that is more responsive to the challenges of today.

We actively support institutional reform of key United Nations organizations, including the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and of course the Security Council. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs has stated, we must make the Security Council more effective, more accessible and more flexible, more adaptable to the challenges and opportunities of a broader international community.

This government is committed to ensuring that the structure of the United Nations meets the needs of the 21st century. We push for greater progress in the United Nations business practices and management practices to improve the accountability and efficiency of that institution, and we support the streamlining of working methods to make the United Nations more relevant in international discourse.

For Canada, the United Nations remains indispensable for addressing the many global challenges that confront us today. Canada's current priorities include progress on peace and security, economic development, human rights, climate change and terrorism.

From the very founding of the United Nations, Canada has contributed ideas, energy and resources to help the United Nations accomplish its mandate. Today, our government is contributing to peace and security and making significant sacrifices in United Nations-mandated operations, in areas ranging from Afghanistan to Sudan to Haiti. All told, more than 3,000 Canadian soldiers, police officers, diplomats, aid workers and experts in correctional services and justice are currently deployed in the United Nations-led or United Nations-mandated missions worldwide.

Mr. Speaker, could I ask my colleague to complete this speech due to the cough that I have?

[Foreign Affairs, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to advise my colleague that the Government of Canada is involved in that request. It first came through the Department of Justice and others.

We are working on this file, but due to some further concerns expressed by many sides I can assure him that this matter will continue to be addressed and looked after by this government.

I also want to assure him that the government will do everything and anything possible that will assist in a speedy and fair trial for Mr. Kulisek.

When the member meets with me in a couple of days, I will be able to advise him, in detail, on his question.

[Foreign Affairs, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the member's concern on this issue. He and I have been working on many conflict cases.

It is very important to note that this government's responsibility is to ensure that they are afforded due process when Canadians are arrested or imprisoned in foreign lands and that they are treated fairly under the local law.

The government takes its responsibility seriously and we have been working tirelessly on Mr. Kulisek's behalf since learning of his arrest in March, 2008. Since that time, over 20 consular visits have been made to Mr. Kulisek which is not a normal process, as the member knows. As he was on this side of the House, he knows that this is the Government of Canada process.

Not only that, but we have been engaged at the highest level in talking with the Mexican authorities for a quick, fair and transparent trial. In fact, the Minister of Foreign Affairs talked to his counterpart and the attorney general of Mexico on April 20 when he visited Mexico.

He has even asked theMinister of State of Foreign Affairs Americas, when he goes to meet with his Mexican counterpart, to raise this issue, as I do all the time. Not only that, but I have met with Mrs. Kulisek in Vancouver.

I would like to add another point to my hon. colleague's question about the health of Mr. Kulisek. Last week, my colleague from Vancouver North, who works tirelessly on this file with me, personally went to Mexico. He informed me and the government that he received full co-operation during his visit from the Mexican authorities as well as from the officials. He met personally with Mr. Kulisek for one hour in the prison to inquire about his health.

Understandably, Mr. Kulisek was distraught and unhappy about the situation, which is quite normal considering the fact that Mr. Kulisek is in prison. However, in talking to Mr. Kulisek, there were issues but not very serious issues from the health aspect.

I want to assure the hon. member that, yes, the Government of Canada will continue monitoring this case very seriously. The ambassador, when he meets with the Mexican authorities, raises this issue all the time. In fact, the ambassador told my colleague that every time he went to any function with the Mexican authorities they looked at the ambassador and knew he would raise the Kulisek question.

I assure the member and everyone here that this government takes its responsibility very seriously. We will continue doing it. As he is involved in this file, I have no problem in keeping the member abreast of the situation that is taking place.

[Foreign Affairs, September 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, last week our Minister of Foreign Affairs led Canada at the United Nations General Assembly and proudly spoke on important issues for Canadians.

The minister strongly asserted Canada's foreign policy priorities: economic recovery, UN reform, human rights, climate change and terrorism. Our focus was clear and our priorities continue to project our values, Canadian values of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

Leading by example, our government stands up for those unjustly detained in the world's most oppressive regimes. Leading by example, our government stands up for Canadians.

This government is finally giving Canada a strong principled voice on the international stage. This government will continue to be a leader in principled foreign policy as we prepare to host the G20 next year.

At home and abroad, Canadians know that they can count on this government.

[Foreign Affairs, September 17th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is protecting Canadians abroad. Recently the Minister of Foreign Affairs met with Iran's minister of foreign affairs to demand the immediate release of Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari. Yesterday, he also met with Secretary Clinton, who made clear their full support on this issue. The Minister of Foreign Affairs once again expressed the Government of Canada's previous call for immediate consular access, full legal rights and clarification of charges against Mr. Bahari.

Our government continues to take Iran to task on its continued and blatant disregard for basic human rights, unacceptable treatment, and the unjustified detention of Mr. Bahari.

The Government of Canada recognizes there is no such thing as a second-class Canadian. This government is standing up for Canadians both at home and abroad. And let me say it again: a Canadian is a Canadian, is a Canadian, is a Canadian.

[Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, September 15th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this morning Premier Dalton McGuinty told reporters that he has received the Liberal leader's backing for the harmonized sales tax.

According to the premier:

We have secured [the Leader of the Opposition]'s commitments to moving ahead with the single sales tax should he earn the privilege of serving Canadians in government.

The Leader of the Opposition's secret guarantee contradicts his public attack on harmonization. Just the other week, the Liberal leader told CTV News:

The HST...the thing that concerns us is that [this] government has, during a time of recession and economic difficulty, basically pushed sales tax harmonization across the country....

This is not a flip-flop. His action is calculated and opportunistic. The Liberal leader is deliberately saying one thing to Ontarians while cutting the opposite deal behind closed doors. It is more evidence that he is not in it for Canadians, he is in it for himself.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, September 15th, 2009]

Of course, Madam Speaker, it causes great concern to all of us when we see all these murders and deaths taking place, including the trade unionists. We are all aware that all these things are happening. We are engaging ourselves with the government of Colombia to work with the government, as the elected authority there, and to bring those who have committed all these crimes to justice. That should be the key element of the whole thing.

However, to put the free trade agreement in that context is not the right thing to do because we would then be penalizing all the people of Colombia, the poor and everyone else, who would have an open market to us.

Would the hon. member not want all the people of Colombia to have free access to Canadian markets so they can sell and have a better living standard there?

I want to repeat, in reference to all those killings, I agree that this is a matter of serious concern, and those who are committing those crimes should be brought to justice. The responsibility lies with the government of Colombia to do that, and we will bring that to the attention of the government of Colombia. However, we should not, at the same time, penalize the people of Colombia who would like to do business with Canada and have a better standard of living.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, September 15th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, yesterday there was a round table conference. There were recommendations. The government needs to take its due diligence and look at it. In all agreements, all rules are made. This party was the government and its members know how it works, but at the end of the day the government did respond. The government has tabled the response in the House of Commons as well, and I have just announced what the government will be doing.

We must also remember corporate social responsibility by Canadian companies, and I have given the example in Tanzania and Zambia, where they have an excellent record. It is not that we do not have a record. We have a very good record, so henceforth, we are just building to ensure that it will be even stronger, as the member and everybody else wants.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, September 15th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I speak to the issue of corporate social responsibility today as it relates to the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement.

I agree completely with the Liberal foreign affairs critic when he says that there are those of us who support this agreement. I also agree with his statement that NDP members are talking nonsense when they say that by supporting this agreement we are condoning murder or human rights abuses or the violence that is taking place in Colombia. That is totally misleading and is fearmongering by the NDP, done by the NDP to support the position they always take, which is against this free trade agreement.

Why do they not just say they oppose it because of their ideology? To say that this is directly related to violence is absolutely nonsense. I want to make it very clear that is not the position here.

Today I am standing up to talk about the corporate social responsibility that Canadian companies undergo when they go overseas to do business. The free trade agreement with Colombia would allow a lot of Canadian companies to go there, so social corporate responsibility becomes a key element in the operation of Canadian companies and what Canadians have come to accept.

The Government of Canada undertook a very lengthy in-depth analysis of corporate social responsibility with stakeholders in Canada, with all those involved in corporate social responsibilities, including NGOs, government people, and industrial people. We came up with a voluntary code of conduct which the government has now provided to Parliament in response. This extensive corporate social responsibility analysis done by the Government of Canada and all Canadian stakeholders has laid the foundation for what is expected of Canadian companies when they are in other countries.

I was in Tanzania in April of this year as well as in Zambia where Canadian companies are working. I had the pleasure of talking to the companies to see what they were doing as part of their corporate social responsibility. I was very impressed at the amount of effort Canadian companies are putting toward corporate social responsibilities such as providing fresh water, schools, and little dispensaries which the local government cannot provide. These Canadian companies are providing these basic services on a voluntary basis and giving hope to many.

Canadians should be proud of many of these companies. The majority of companies that operate overseas do a fantastic job with respect to corporate social responsibility. That is why Canadian companies and Canadians in general have such a high reputation around the world.

This is something the NDP should go and see. Those members would never go to countries where progress has taken place. They will always choose countries that are mired in violence and come forward with their ideology to oppose the free trade agreement.

As a result of the in-depth consultation that took place, the Government of Canada will soon be creating a new consular office to help resolve any issue that could arise between Canadian companies and the communities in which they operate. An announcement will be made very shortly. This is one way of ensuring that everyone will voluntarily comply with what is expected, which has come out of the round table conference. The government has taken this strong, positive step to ensure that all stakeholders adhere to the recommendations regarding corporate social responsibility.

The Government of Canada is also going to support a new centre of excellence. This centre of excellence should be outside of the government to develop high quality tools for corporate social responsibility to see what our best practice is. This is a joint venture with the stakeholders. These are some of the positive steps that this government is taking arising out of the consultation process, which is the right way to do things when we talk about this.

This brings me to the question of looking at what the government's approach has been in talking to stakeholders. We have a Liberal member's private member's bill, Bill C-300, which is now before the committee and which has been hastily prepared without stakeholders' input into it. It was badly drafted and would penalize Canadian companies doing business overseas. The bill is one of those bills that has been emotionally created without input from company stakeholders. It just follows an emotional outburst.

This is not how a minority Parliament should work. I would be very much interested to hear the stance of the Liberal trade critic, whose speech I read, and the Liberal foreign affairs critic, who just spoke about how free trade agreements have a potential of helping in this country, on Bill C-300. This is contrary to what they have been talking about. I hope that common sense prevails on the other side and that when it comes before the committee they will kill this bill. This bill has the potential of damaging the great reputations of people doing business overseas.

The intention is good. We all want corporate social responsibility to take place, but the way it was brought forward, the way it was drafted and the way it has lacked consultations and been coached is just using the minority status to push through something that would have serious consequences for Canadian companies, NGOs and everybody else. There is a small minority of NGOs who are supporting this, but I think that overall, under this major exercise that the Government of Canada undertook last year on corporate social responsibility, that is the way the government should be working. That is how we should work on this thing.

I am very happy to state that the Government of Canada is taking corporate social responsibility very seriously. As I have just said, we will be making announcements about our new councillor as well as the centre for excellence. It must be recognized that the free trade agreement, with its side agreements on labour as well as the environment and other issues, will ensure that there is a rules-based system in our dealings with Colombia.

That is what every Canadian wants because that would ensure strong ties between Canada and Colombia. At the same time, we can engage with Colombia on issues of human rights and others.

[Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, September 15th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I of course listened with intent to my colleague on the other side, the critic for foreign affairs, on this issue of sending the bill to the committee.

The member is a member of the foreign affairs committee, of which I am also a member, and we discuss many issues.

However, the main question that his party has been talking about is sending it to the committee to see what impact it will have on the larger scale in Colombia regarding human rights and regarding labour standards and all those issues. Those are of course core Canadian values when we do business around the world.

To some degree, I agree with him in talking about the NDP and the Bloc. They will never agree to any free trade agreement in any event. That debate is a totally different issue.

The point is that we have free trade agreements with many countries around the world. There are examples of issues when we do that. So I would ask the hon. member's opinion. The free trade agreements ultimately do result in good labour practices and good human rights, and is that not what all of us want for Colombia?