John Baird

[Foreign Affairs, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed the United States has not ratified the treaty in the United States Senate. I look forward to the United States putting that treaty before the United States Senate where there is a democratic—

[Foreign Affairs, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am not aware of any Canadian arms that have gone to Boko Haram or any of the examples she has cited, so I am not sure how those problems would have been stopped.

What we do have is strong domestic legislation that controls Canadian arms from finding their way into the hands of the very organizations and governments that she just suggested.

She talks about the government of Nigeria. Obviously, we have some concerns in many respects of that government in terms of exporting arms, given its abysmal human rights record.

[Foreign Affairs, May 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has some of the strongest export controls in the world, including those through the Export and Import Permits Act and the automatic firearms country control list.

What we are deeply concerned about is the establishment of another long gun registry and the billions of dollars that could be wasted. I know that is a great disappointment to my friend opposite.

[Committees of the House, May 29th, 2014]

[Member spoke in Spanish as follows:]

Muchas gracias, señor Presidente.

No hablo mucho español. Aprendí español en la escuela.

[English]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have the chance to join this debate on the Organization of American States and the great work that the foreign affairs committee did in its report.

Obviously the OAS is the hemisphere's foremost institution, and Canada has made the OAS a significant priority.

I am so pleased to hear my colleague from Cape Breton, who is a good fellow, speak about his admiration and respect for the OAS. We remember that Mr. Trudeau and the Liberal Party did not want Canada to be part of the Organization of American States. In fact, Brian Mulroney and the Conservatives were in government in 1990 when Canada joined the Organization of American States. It is another example of the strong leadership of the Mulroney government, and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development served very capably and ably in that organization.

We are tremendously engaged in this organization. Our engagement is real and it is significant. I want to pay tribute to the member for Calgary—Nose Hill. As Minister of State for the Americas, she led Canada's engagement with the Organization of American States. We can be very proud of the work she did, whether in promoting freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, the issue of security, or combatting crime, which has been a priority.

We have established many partnerships with countries in the Organization of American States through which we have worked with a third country. For example, Canada worked with Chile on some security projects in Central America. We work right now with Brazil on security issues and policing in Haiti. The organization has been very good for Canada.

I will depart later today on a trip that will take me to the annual meeting of the Organization of American States, which will take place in Paraguay. We will be discussing the salient issues of the day. I will also visit Argentina, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Bolivia is a country in which we have done a lot development assistance to try to improve the standard of living for people there.

Obviously trade has been a priority for us, because we want to see economic growth, and not just in Canada. We want the same for all people in the Americas. We want prosperity so that people can provide for themselves and provide for their families.

We have some of the strongest and most capable ambassadors in the Americas. We have Gary Doer in Washington. He has done an outstanding job for Canada and is undoubtedly one of our very best. We have great ambassadors in Brazil, in Argentina, in Peru. A lot of women play strong roles for Canada as our ambassadors there.

I am so keen to strengthen our bilateral relations with the OAS and member countries that I want to get back to work to do that, so I move:

That the debate be now adjourned.

[Committees of the House, May 29th, 2014]

Just spend more, in the Kathleen Wynne Liberal—

[Committees of the House, May 29th, 2014]

Tell us about your vacation in Mexico.

[International Development, May 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is important, and the Prime Minister deserves a significant amount of praise for the leadership he has demonstrated. We have got many other countries off the bench and into the game, providing a substantial amount of funding to support these mothers and support their young babies. Canadians can be very proud of our leadership initiatives.

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that, far too often in this place, we sit around debating bills with which everyone agrees. We spend an inordinate amount of time supporting bills where there is agreement, almost a consensus.

The reluctance on the opposition's part to allow things to come a vote after a reasonable period of time is what is fueling these types of motion.

I, for one, would like less debate on some bills where there is broad agreement and perhaps more debate on substantial bills. However what we see far too often is that the opposition and the government only have themselves to blame.

In the Ontario Legislature when I was the opposition House leader, we had an agreement that we would debate certain bills longer than others and actually require that there be votes at the end of that. That is what they do in Manitoba, I hear. We did this in 2003-04, and it actually worked.

What we have now is that some opposition members want a full debate on absolutely everything, regardless of how contentious it is, regardless of how substantial it is, and then we do not have enough time for longer debate on those things that are consequential.

This requires a bit of co-operation, and regrettably we have not seen that.

[Extension of Sitting Hours, May 27th, 2014]

You're the best.

[Foreign Affairs, May 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, one of the most important priorities we have is to support Canadians abroad. I would be very pleased to work with the member opposite on this case and on any other case that might be important to her or to her constituents.