Stephen Harper

[Darfur, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to hear people who will passionately talk about the necessity of supporting our troops in the field, he needs only go to the field and talk to the troops themselves and hear that from any country in the world.

As I said before, the government stands ready and is in consultation with our friends in the international community to do whatever is necessary to advance the peace process in Darfur. If that involves sending troops, this will be an option that we consider.

However, I will say this. It is not an option of this government, or the NDP, or any party that wants to be responsible to change its mind on a military mission once the shooting starts.

[Darfur, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, this government is not the one that sent these troops to Afghanistan, but they have been there for a long while, with the support of the vast majority of the members in this House.

The NDP cannot say that it supports the troops while opposing their mission, as they face danger in the course of a military campaign. One has to support the mission to support the troops.

[National Defence, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I can only answer that the committees are capable of making their own decisions about their agendas. However, I would note that this government has already held a take note debate in the House on this subject.

What is more important is not debates and votes, but the support of this House for our troops who are engaged in a military campaign. I hope that the Bloc will state clearly that it will continue to support our troops in Afghanistan.

[National Defence, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc knows, as everyone knows, that during the federal election campaign we committed ourselves to holding votes on new commitments. We are already in Afghanistan.

Obviously, I prefer to have the support of all parties in this House for this important mission. I hope that the Bloc Québécois will support us and support our troops in the future as it has in the past.

[Official Languages, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I can quote from a letter that the Official Languages Commissioner wrote to me after the election:

During your campaign, and in your election platform, you set forth your commitment to protecting and promoting official languages and seeing that English and French have equal status in all the institutions of Parliament and in the government. Your party also supported Bill S-3 amending the Official Languages Act, and for that I would like to congratulate you.

That is the opinion of the Official Languages Commissioner. Yes, we support official languages as well as a formal and direct role for Quebec in UNESCO.

[Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Standing Committee, May 10th, 2006]

All I can say, Mr. Speaker, is obviously if the Leader of the Opposition believes someone with the views on judicial activism of the member for Saskatoon—Wanuskewin should not chair a parliamentary committee, surely he also believes they should not be senior critics in his own caucus.

[Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Standing Committee, May 10th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, every day the Leader of the Opposition has a different position on whether I should appoint chairs of committees or I should not appoint chairs of committees.

The fact of the matter is that the hon. member for Saskatoon—Wanuskewin has decided himself to step aside as chair of the committee. I have not actually read the resignation letter but I gather his view was that the committee and the opposition members on the committee should not be fighting over the chairmanship, that they should be working on aboriginal issues.

[Justice, May 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot resist answering a question about the vast right wing conspiracy. What I will say is that I will speak to the Minister of National Defence and see if there is any possibility in the budget of a black helicopter, so we can fly the hon. member around to investigate his concerns.

[National Defence, May 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, as I just said, Canada is ready to assist the international community. At the moment, it seems that western troops are not needed in Sudan. We are keeping an eye on the situation and are ready to respond.

Let me be very clear about this. We are operating in a UN sanctioned mission in Afghanistan, and the NDP cannot use its support for action in Darfur to excuse itself for not standing behind our troops in Afghanistan.

[National Defence, May 9th, 2006]

Mr. Speaker, we welcome the peace initiatives in Darfur and we are optimistic that they will lead to a lasting settlement. The Government of Canada has been in consultation with our allies on how we can assist the United Nations in this regard. We are expecting requests for assistance on governance and humanitarian assistance. At this moment it does not appear that there will be any request for military assistance, but we stand ready to work with our international allies to improve the situation in Darfur.