Peter MacKay

[Afghanistan, June 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member was at the committee yesterday. I am surprised he is still confused about this. What I said is that since the new agreement has been put in place, there have in fact been four allegations. They came to our attention very recently during visits to a Kandahar and Kabul facility.

We followed the process that we put in place as pursuant to this new agreement. This provides greater access and greater interaction with the Afghan government, as well as bringing into the fold the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission and the Red Cross.

A report will be tabled back from that investigation. We will receive that information and act accordingly.

[Afghanistan, June 7th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is quite confused. She asked two different questions: one about detainees and one about allegations of abuse.

What we do know is that the previous agreement had shortcomings which we have now enhanced. We have an agreement in place that allows for unfettered private visits.

During one of those visits in Kandahar and another in Kabul, it came to our attention that there were in fact four allegations of abuse. We are following up on that with the process that is in place. That includes consultation with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, the Red Cross as well as the Afghan government.

[Afghanistan, June 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, once again, it is convenience with the truth by the member opposite; when he finds it convenient, he wraps his arms around the American example. Most times those members are insulting and pushing back against the Americans.

What we have done is followed the Canadian way, which is to work with the Afghanistan government to help it raise capacity to deal with an ongoing challenge in Afghanistan. We are doing that. We are building capacity every day in helping the Afghanistan people walk on their own and supporting their government and their democratic institutions.

[Afghanistan, June 6th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, again, as is so often the case with the hon. member, it is untrue. This government has not changed the practice with respect to the redaction of documents.

The report he has requested was made available. It followed the same standard procedures that were in place when he was in office. This has not changed.

We will continue to work, as we have, in a transparent and open fashion to deal with this issue of detainees by enhancing the agreement left in place by the previous government, which turned out to have shortcomings. We have fixed that. We are dealing straightforwardly with the Afghanistan government to improve the situation on the ground.

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 30th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), Canada is currently a member of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, and the government is fully supportive of its important function in the UN system and engaged in its work, in many instances in cooperation with our provincial and civil society partners. ECOSOC has a broad and complex mandate which has been substantially affected by increasing globalization. In the UN charter, ECOSOC is given responsibility for the UN’s economic, social and cultural work, and the complex of subsidiary bodies created by ECOSOC have became the fora for primary detailed discussion of these issues, as well as many issues related to the environment. It is the parent body of the UN’s functional commissions and a number of committees and expert bodies which, along with the specialized agencies, report to ECOSOC. Other questions which have no other clear institutional home in the system, such as financing for development, are dealt with first by ECOSOC. ECOSOC is also tasked with follow-up to the UN’s major summits and conferences. Last year ECOSOC adopted 49 resolutions and 74 decisions on a diverse range of issues, including economic development, rural development and hunger, the next financing for development conference, implementation of the decisions of the World Summit on the Information Society, humanitarian assistance, rule of law and criminal justice in Africa, several issues related to women and girls, drug control strategies for Afghanistan, assistance to the Palestinians. ECOSOC therefore plays a vital role, in particular as the sole UN body which brings together government representatives and civil society. ECOSOC is the focus for debate on a wide range of critical issues of concern to the international community, including Canadians. Canada has also been active in efforts to ensure ECOSOC’s continued relevance and authority through reform and modernization of its working methods and structure.

In response to (b), there is no change planned in the government’s policy toward ECOSOC.

[Points of Order, May 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to respond to a point of order that was raised in the House on May 18 in response to a question during question period by the hon. member for North Vancouver. He, subsequent to question period, raised a point of order in my absence, so this is the first opportunity that I have had to respond.

In my response, I apparently said something to which he took offence. I certainly would not do so and did not suggest any criticism of the hon. member; however, if my comments may have been taken that way I want to clarify for the record and respond of course that no insult was meant.

I certainly had no knowledge of a medical condition that he revealed during that point of order. I would never have made such a comment otherwise and I would like to withdraw the offending remarks which were: “it is nice to see the hon. member here”.

[Afghanistan, May 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong. This government is taking a lot of steps. Making such allegations of torture and war crimes does not help promote progress in Afghanistan.

We are working with the other organizations and with the Government of Afghanistan. The atmosphere is more productive, and we feel it is necessary to continue making progress in Afghanistan.

[Afghanistan, May 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, our government took many steps regarding this issue.

We immediately took steps to enhance the agreement that was put in place by the previous government. We have been working very closely with officials on the ground in Afghanistan. Our new ambassador there has assumed an important leadership role in coordinating not only with the government but also with the independent organizations that are also given increased powers to investigate with respect to allegations of abuse.

We continue to work very closely with all of those organizations to improve the atmosphere with respect to this issue.

[Afghanistan, May 28th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member should know, what this government has done is expand and enhance the previous agreement that was put in place by his government.

We have taken significant steps to include the independent monitoring of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. We have tasked our ambassador in Afghanistan to work very closely with Afghan officials so that they clearly know their responsibilities and Canada's expectations when it comes to detainees.

[Passports, May 18th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, it is nice to see the hon. member here. He would know that the government has taken enormous efforts, in particular the effort to address the 20,000 passports a day that come in. We have a 40% increase in capacity because of the hard work of the professional, dedicated public servants working at Passport Canada.

We have taken steps to keep offices open later. We have taken steps to increase the number of passports that we can produce. We are continuing to do so at every step of the way. Those numbers are coming down increasingly, satisfaction is going up and we are getting the job done.