Jean Chrétien

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would invite the hon. member to read resolution 1441, which makes it very clear that we must wait for the inspectors' report before passing judgment. We will pass judgment, as requested in resolution 1441, after the inspectors have tabled their report.

At this point, it is useless to answer purely hypothetical questions on such a serious issue.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we were the first, as far back as last summer, to clearly indicate that the United Nations procedures absolutely had to be followed. At this time, the UN process is clearly set out in resolution 1441. Before proceeding, we need to see the inspectors' report. We need to comply with exactly what was passed unanimously by the Security Council.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, resolution 1441 is very clear. It states that it must be clearly demonstrated that the government of Saddam Hussein is not complying with the obligations set out in the resolution. The inspectors are making their interim report today. We hope there will be others forthcoming in the weeks to come. We will make a statement once we have studied the opinion of Mr. Blix and his associates.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, perhaps we should wait until we receive a request for participation before we give an answer. That is the attitude of the other side of the House. If they were to receive a telephone call from the Americans, they would say “Yes, hello”.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, the performance of the Canadian military in Kosovo was firstclass. The Canadian presence in Afghanistan has been very good. The American general in charge reported publicly many times that he was very impressed by the quality of our soldiers, the discipline they have shown with the equipment they had. That is exactly the way we want to treat our soldiers. We on this side of the House respect the quality of the Canadian military.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think the Leader of the Opposition has followed the excellent work that the Deputy Prime Minister has done over the last year working with Governor Ridge of the United States.

We are collaborating with the United States and it is collaborating with us. The border between our two nations is functioning very well at this moment, which is the reason for our success. The reason the Canadian economy keeps performing very well is that we have taken care of that type of problem very diligently.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, it is in the interest of the world that Saddam Hussein comply completely with resolution 1441. We have been working on that since the beginning. We have sent messages over and over again asking Saddam Hussein to respect the UN resolution. In doing so, he will avoid a war that will be very devastating for the population of Iraq.

[Iraq, January 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, we were one of the first countries to ask the United States to go to the United Nations last summer. The position of this government was that there should be no action in Iraq without a resolution of the United Nations. Resolution 1441 was adopted unanimously and now we are in the process of following the instructions given to Iraq in resolution 1441 in November.

Once we have received the report from the inspectors who were sent there we will report the results to the public.

[Point of Order, December 11th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, today will be the last time that the leader of the New Democratic Party will be in the House because when we come back she will still be happily a member of Parliament, but she will not be in that seat.

I would like to thank her for the good work she has done over the years as the leader of the NDP. She has been a great addition to the House of Commons. She made very useful contributions and represented her riding and her party very well. I would like to wish her a merry Christmas and a happy new year, and I cannot decide for whom I will be voting.

[Point of Order, December 11th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform the Leader of the Opposition that we welcome Santa Claus and that all departments will ensure that he can have access to all Canadian families.

He has been very generous with Canada in recent years. He has helped us create 500,000 jobs. He has helped us achieve a level of unemployment the closest to that in the United States in 20 years. He has helped us achieve a sixth consecutive balanced budget, which is unprecedented in the history of this country. And the list goes on.

I think that he has been a very good chrétien and we welcome him. As he has his own way of travelling he will not be obliged to pay the security tax, and he will arrive in homes everywhere.