Business of Supply  Those are comments one would hear about Mozambique or Venezuela, not a developed western country, a democracy like Canada. I would ask my colleague this: What are the ramifications of these types of comments and this lack of clarity and transparency? What impact has he heard in his constituency in Quebec?

Information & Ethics committee  The fact that we are able to have a system that, by and large, makes sure that we are protected from interests that would attempt to persuade unduly and disrupt the functioning of our institutions is absolutely fundamental to who we are as Canadians. I would encourage all members.... I'm a big fan of parliamentary democracy in general and the history of it. One of the things that makes our democratic institutions—and specifically Canada's Parliament—so powerful and unique is that the House of Commons is made up, at this point in time, of 338 independent constituencies that elect members.

National Defence committee  There are others who work with reinforcing police capacity as well, to be able to provide the security that the country needs. As well, we see that there's a need to support the unity, stability, diversity and democracy of Iraq and to provide a governance structure that allows all Iraqis to find their place in their society. Finally, we'd also point to a lack of respect for human rights, which was present in Iraq under Saddam Hussein and through....

Information & Ethics committee  I know that many facets of our parliamentary system are special and serve our country well. Truly, they are the envy of the world. Many countries don't have the type of democracy that we have. They don't have the checks and balances that we have. This committee is one of those checks and balances, with the commissioner. This gives us that opportunity. When members consider how they're going to vote on the motion, I implore them to give due consideration to the opportunity that's presented.

Business of Supply  Can we overcome the economic, social and political unrest the government has created by making promises to indigenous Canadians and giving an aboriginal woman a prominent seat at the cabinet table only to purge her from the Liberal Party for standing up for the rule of law in Canada? The fired former justice minister passed the democracy test with flying colours. The Prime Minister failed Canadians miserably with his treatment of a strong woman. Happy International Women's Day, Mr. Prime Minister. That is a powerful message the groper sent to women and aboriginals.

Canada-China Relations committee  I'm wondering if you still think, five years later, that we're in the endgame of communist rule in China. All of us here, presumably, would like to see freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law spread around the world, spread to China. Do you think political change in China is possible in the near or medium term? What policy approaches can we use here in Canada to promote the development of a free, multi-party democratic society, and in a way that minimizes any kind of conflagration in the process of transition?

Business of Supply  As a number of other members have indicated, it is really unfortunate that it has to be an opposition day motion to compel the government to bring forward information that it should be presenting to parliamentarians anyhow. This should be part and parcel of Canadian democracy. Regardless of whether we are talking about a majority government or a minority government, the issue of transparency and full disclosure should be always present. I am happy to see my Conservative colleagues have learned a lesson from the many years of the Harper government where there was no transparency and the Conservatives were not forthcoming on this kind of information.

Canada-China Relations committee  I very much believe in solidarity amongst like-minded democracies when approaching China in all issue areas. It's absolutely crucial to work together, side by side and not in parallel. I was very interested to read the annexes that Global Affairs Canada provided, in response to previous testimony, in which they claimed they had over a thousand communications with foreign governments in trying to get public support for the two Michaels case.

Business of Supply  In general, the NDP and the Bloc Québécois tend to be progressive, meaning that we are in favour of a social democracy, redistribution of wealth and support for the less fortunate. However, our views differ when it comes to respect for jurisdictions. We do not want Ottawa to take away Quebec's and the provinces' jurisdiction over health, for example.

Canada-China Relations committee  You also made the point in your opening remarks that we “should also look at ways to better support democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan.” Are there any specifics on that? How exactly could Canada do that?

Canada-China Relations committee  In fact, there is the rule of law in Taiwan, and we should look at ways to support the very clear result that came out of the elections in January and say that we support democracy and that no pressure should be put on Taiwan. In the case of Hong Kong, it's a very messy situation. China needs Hong Kong, because 70% of foreign investment going to China goes through Hong Kong.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you very much. I've left you only 30 seconds, Mr. Balloch, but on the point about promoting democracy as best we can in Taiwan and Hong Kong, do you have any thoughts?