Maxime Bernier

[Foreign Affairs, November 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, we have all seen stories about the repression taking place in Burma. I was very pleased and proud this morning to make this announcement.

Yes, we will have the strongest economic sanctions against the military regime there. This is something we have done and the previous Liberal government did not do. As usual, the Liberals did not act on an important file for our country.

I am very proud. What I will do is be out there. I will be in Paris to speak with my counterparts. I will encourage our allies and our friends to do the same thing.

[Afghanistan, November 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are visiting and interviewing Taliban prisoners on a regular basis. Officials have conducted 32 interviews. As a NATO spokesman said yesterday, “We have no evidence of systematic torture of detainees”.

During a recent visit, Canada's officials did see a Taliban prisoner with conditions that concerned them. Our officials are following up on media reports that the Afghan government has announced an investigation. The allegation has come to light because we have a good agreement with the Afghan government.

[Afghanistan, November 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as a result of the agreement that was signed with this government, an agreement that is an improvement over the agreement with the previous Liberal government, the representatives of my department have conducted 32 interviews so far. A NATO spokesperson said:

“We have no evidence of systematic torture of detainees”. Yes, systematic torture.

We have the process in place and the process is going well. If we have evidence, the Afghan government will do an investigation.

[Afghanistan, November 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday to the hon. member from the Bloc Québécois, I am pleased that he is here in this House and that he decided to stay with the Bloc Québécois and not join the Parti Québécois, as his colleague from Saint-Lambert did.

That said, we have signed an agreement with the democratically elected government of Afghanistan. We are respecting our international commitments and we are doing our best to support the duly elected Afghan government to respect these international obligations. This agreement is proof that the process is working. If there are allegations of mistreatment of Taliban prisoners, investigations will be held in due course.

[Justice, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, here in Canada, the law is very clear. The death penalty does not exist in our country. We are taking the same approach in the international arena. We will vote in favour of a UN resolution that encourages other countries to have the same policies that we have here in Canada.

[Afghanistan, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, we are helping the properly elected government of Afghanistan to comply with its obligations. Among other things, we have funded a $1.5 million project at the Sarpoza prison in Kandahar to improve the infrastructure and provide training in human rights.

[Afghanistan, November 13th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that my colleague from the Bloc Québécois is able to put a question to me today and that he is not doing what his colleague from Saint-Lambert did: jump ship from the Bloc Québécois to sit in Quebec with his friends in the Parti Québécois. From this side of the House, we can see that the Bloc Québécois is futile. I think the people in the Bloc can see that too.

On the very specific question asked by my colleague, I will answer that we are there to help the properly elected Afghan government to comply with its international obligations.

[Foreign Affairs and International Development Standing Committee, November 2nd, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) of the House of Commons, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development entitled “Advancing Canada's Role In International Support For Democratic Development”.

In the Speech from the Throne delivered on October 16, the current government clearly expressed the fact that Canada's international relations are guided by our shared values of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law. In order to overcome the current obstacles to democracies, the current government will do more to support democracy.

It is therefore my pleasure to table this report.

[Afghanistan, October 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, again, my hon. colleague needs to know that the facts are misleading. The reality is that we are talking about a newspaper article that is quoting unnamed sources.

As soon as we have allegations, we take them very seriously. We have a process. This process is in the agreement we signed and it is a model international agreement. Not only are we saying so, but Amnesty International and the entire community are saying so.

[Afghanistan, October 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, we expect these types of allegations from the Taliban. In terms of international agreements with different countries, the agreement we have is exemplary. We know that it is a good agreement for us and for human rights, since Amnesty International said:

It certainly is an improvement. In many respects, I wish this had been the agreement that had been the starting point of the debate, the one the previous Liberal government signed. We had a better agreement than it.