Jean Chrétien

[Iraq, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, President Fox wants peace, as I do, along with everyone else. That is what we will be discussing.

As to the best means of achieving that peace, it does not necessarily mean fancy speeches or making claims of one kind or another. It is a matter of working discreetly and effectively, as our ambassador to the United Nations is doing, and as I intend to do myself.

[Iraq, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, both of these proposals seek the same thing, but by two different means. They both want Saddam Hussein disarmed.

Some feel this will take longer than others. At this point, however, the final proposal has yet to be determined and work still needs to be done on it. I will have an opportunity to discuss this with President Fox tomorrow and the day after. I trust that, working together, we will all be able to find a solution that will preserve peace and not lead to war.

[Iraq, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we favour peaceful disarmament. I am sure that even the United States and Great Britain would like peaceful disarmament. No one wants war. Everyone wants peace. But for there to be peace, Saddam Hussein has to assume his responsibilities and assure the international community that he will comply with resolution 1441, which was unanimously adopted at the Security Council a few months ago.

[Iraq, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the goal of resolution 1441 is to achieve peace. It is to ensure that Saddam Hussein does what is necessary so that it is not necessary to force him to comply with resolution 1441.

A debate is under way at the United Nations. We will follow the situation. There will be many stakeholders and many suggestions. I imagine there will not be a vote before the second week of March. At this time, everyone is working very hard to try to find a solution geared towards peace, not war.

[Ethics, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the Registrar General is the officer who was managing these files. In February 1994 he said to me, in a letter, that the minister of finance of that day had complied with all the requirements of the guidelines that existed in the previous administration and were the same for my administration. He said that he was satisfied with the agreement, so I had no reason not to believe that the agreement was proper.

[Ethics, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I have said many times, and it is known, that two other ministers have the same agreement. It is known. We gave the names last week. It is within the guidelines and the rules that were established before we formed the government. These rules existed under the previous administration.

[Ethics, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I will just say it again. There are guidelines that all ministers are requested to follow. I am not privy to any other information.

There is one thing that is clear. When Canada Steamship Lines was mentioned, everybody who knew a bit about the member for LaSalle—Émard and the company knew that he was the owner, so it was public that it was his company. It was not a company unknown to the Canadian public.

[Ethics, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the arrangement is made between the minister or office holder with the Registrar General who administers these guidelines. It is a private matter between the two of them. We call it a blind arrangement because we do not want to make it public. If it were to be public it would not be blind.

[Ethics, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, under the guidelines, the Registrar General has some authority to inform the person of some incident and in the judgment of the Registrar General, as it says under section 6 of the agreement, “as may otherwise be allowed by the Assistant Deputy Registrar General”, who in that case felt that it was his duty to inform the minister.

[Ethics, February 24th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the rules were very clear. If there had been any danger of a so-called conflict of interest, the former minister of finance would have given the file to the secretary of state responsible in the Department of Finance and he would have advised me. On some occasions he even left the room so he would not be part of the discussions.