John Baird

[Foreign Affairs, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister of International Development, has already offered Canada's support and that of all our agencies and departments for efforts to help these young girls. We are prepared to provide assistance and equipment that can best help to find these young girls.

[Foreign Affairs, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, obviously this causes us great concern. We have offered support to the Nigerian government. If Canada has surveillance equipment, and it is not in the region, that could provide assistance to help find these young girls, we would be pleased to provide it and the technical expertise to operate that equipment. The Nigerians have our full support. What we do have a concern with is that we will not hand over military equipment unless we can send the Canadians who can properly operate it.

[Foreign Affairs, May 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are prepared to do all we can to support Nigerian authorities in finding these young girls. There are a number of countries that have offered help, and the people at our mission in Abuja will do all they can to work with the relevant authorities.

I want to say, though, that these actions only strengthen our resolve to promote human rights and to stand up against terrorists who want to subjugate the rights of these young girls and women. The terrorists will not win.

[Foreign Affairs, May 6th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I think I speak for all members of the House who strongly stand up and condemn these actions by Boko Haram.

Quite simply, their actions are repugnant. Our hearts go out to these young girls and to their families. My colleague, the Minister of International Development, recently offered Canada's full assistance to Nigerian authorities as they work to secure the release of these young girls.

Boko Haram's actions are despicable, and they only serve to strengthen our collective desire to fight international terrorism.

[Foreign Affairs, April 8th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are aware of this abduction in Cameroon. We are exploring all possible avenues to get more information, and we are in contact with the Cameroon authorities. I am prepared to work with my colleague on this very important issue. Our hearts are with her family.

[Foreign Affairs, April 7th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians can be tremendously proud that the Government of Canada has taken perhaps one of the strongest reactions to what we see going on in Colombo than any government in the world.

We have fought hard for independent investigations into the number of people and the war crimes that took place in the dying days of the civil war. We fought hard on the issue of human rights and the growing authoritarian trend in the government in Colombo, and we fought hard for reconciliation so that the Tamil community can play a full part in the future building of Sri Lanka.

We are deeply concerned that Canadians would be identified and singled out for attention, as has the Government of Canada. However, we remain focused on doing all we can to help the Tamil minority to live in peace and security with their neighbours.

[Special Economic Measures Act, March 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to section 7 of the Special Economic Measures Act, I have the honour to table in the House, in both official languages, copies of the following regulations and orders made on March 17, March 19, and March 21, 2014.

[Foreign Affairs, March 28th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada warmly welcomes this very important agreement.

This agreement is a testament to the determination of both President Aquino and the Philippine people, who have for many years worked to bring peace to their country. They are putting conflict behind them and building a better country.

We congratulate them for that. Our government is very proud to have supported the crafting of the commission's recommendations on how to create a new civilian police force in Bangsamoro. Our government encourages both parties to the agreement and all Filipinos to continue to work together to bring a genuine and lasting peace and reconciliation to their country.

[Foreign Affairs, March 27th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to announce the completion of the sale of our high commission in Mayfair. We have sold it for $565 million. This is great news for hard-working taxpayers.

I want to congratulate our high commissioner, who has worked to help revitalize Canada House in Trafalgar Square, to buy the building beside it, and to have better headquarters, better visuals, and a better place for clients to come to get support from Canada's mission there.

This is good news for the Canadian taxpayer and great news for our diplomats in London.

[Questions on the Order Paper, March 24th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the government tabled the 2011-12 “Progress Report on Canada’s Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security” in Parliament on January 31, 2014. The government tabled the 2012-2012 report in Parliament on March 7, 2014.

The government is considering options for the mid-term review prescribed in the action plan. The review will be led by the Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force, START, in DFATD in consultation with action plan partner departments and agencies. The government has under consideration options for consultation with Canadian civil society as part of the mid-term review.

DFATD’s Stabilization and Reconstruction Task Force coordinates the government-wide response to the implementation of the Security Council resolutions on women, peace and security. The resources committed and disbursed to support implementation are being detailed through the annual reporting process, including the 2011-12 progress report tabled on January 31, 2014.