Iraq  Mr. Speaker, we all hope that there could be a diplomatic solution and we wonder why Canada was not involved in helping to get that diplomatic solution. But now the position is it has gone beyond that and we now need to know where the Prime Minister stands on military action and that he take some leadership.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister still has not given us an answer to the question. We have been asking it now for two weeks. We know the position of the President of the United States. We know the position of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. We know the position of Germany. We know all of these positions.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, throughout our history Canadians have shown that we are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves and the world from tyrants and terrorism. If Canadians were asked whether we trust Saddam Hussein or whether we trust the U.S. and the U.K., we will stand by our allies.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, I talked with President Clinton and earlier today I talked with the Prime Minister of Great Britain. The goal that we all have is to make sure that Saddam Hussein respects the resolutions of the UN and stops the production of armaments like biological weapons and so on that are extremely dangerous.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, we are possibly on the eve of a war. The leaders of the nations of the world are taking positions. It seems to me that it is time Canada's Prime Minister stood up to be counted and got off the fence. Will the Prime Minister go beyond vague comments and clearly tell Canadians whether he is convinced that military action to stop terrorism by Saddam Hussein is required?

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, like everybody else, I am hoping that there will be a diplomatic solution to the problem. As everybody knows, there are a lot of people who are trying to persuade Saddam Hussein to change his position. In order to have him change his position we have to show with determination that if he does not change his position we will be there to make sure that he stops the production of this absolutely unacceptable armament he is building at this time.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, we intend to have a debate, to have the views of the House of Commons expressed on this subject. The Leader of the Opposition has asked me to stand very firm on a position at this time. At the same time I said to the House that I want to have the views of the House of Commons before I make my views known publicly.

Iraq  The hon. Minister of National Defence.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, despite the confusion on the Russian position it would appear that the Iraq issue is becoming more confrontational and urgent by the hour. Yet this Parliament has not received any in depth briefing on this matter and Parliament has not even discussed the principles which should guide us in supporting or opposing actions by the U.S. and the United Kingdom or the UN.

Foreign Affairs  Speaker, a few hours ago Boris Yeltsin declared that the United States might provoke global warfare if it followed through with its threatened attack on Iraq. No one seems to know whether this was a calculated definition of the Russian position or one of those off the cuff comments the Russian president is inclined to make. Does the prime minister have a more accurate assessment of the Russian position?

Foreign Affairs  To properly make that decision Parliament needs an update on the state of readiness of the Canadian military for potential action in Iraq. Would the prime minister commit to having that information available to Parliament at the earliest possible date?

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, first of all there has been no request. If such a request was received, it would have to be given serious consideration. What would be sent if that became a reality would depend on the nature of the mission, the nature of the military action. The Canadian forces do have rapidly deployable units which are capable of moving on very short notice.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, the chief of defence staff said that Canada could send some help to the gulf region within nine hours of the order being given. I understand that our soldiers, sailors and airmen are not as confident. Will the Minister of National Defence tell the House what is the state of readiness of our forces and what will Canada be capable of sending within nine hours when requested by our closest allies?

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, I am sorry the hon. member keeps compounding his ignorance. The fact is that I and my colleagues voted for the resolution in 1991 and the record will show that. Before they start asking the questions, they should go back and do their research and their homework much better than they clearly are doing.

Iraq  Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is not much of a historian. He would know for example that in 1996 we fully supported the actions to ensure that Saddam Hussein would live up to the obligations. The same stands today. We want him to live up to the obligations and we are prepared to support those measures to make sure it happens.