Office of the Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces  Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) I have the honour to table, in both official languages, copies of the 2015-16 annual report of the Office of the Ombudsman for the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we announced a high-level national security and rule-of-law dialogue as part of comprehensive discussions with China. Dialogue is important. Dialogue is what helps us move consular cases forward. Dialogue allows us to actually bring up difficult subjects, like human rights, and move the yardstick forward.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as I have stated many times before, our government believes in a dialogue with China. It allows us to have those difficult conversations. That is exactly what we are doing: having a dialogue with China on the rule of law, on the important discussion on national security, and also on human rights.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I actually applaud and honour the great work that the previous generals have done, but I take advice from my Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jonathan Vance, who has exceptional operational experience. I can assure the member that our troops are very proud of their work and will do wonderful work in Africa and make a massive contribution like they have always done in every mission that we have sent them on.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we have learned from the mistakes of the past. We need to make sure that we have a robust mandate. That is one of the reasons I took retired General Roméo Dallaire with me to Africa, and Madame Louise Arbour as well, to make sure that I have the right perspective on this; to make sure that when we look at a mission we will have the appropriate United Nations mandate with robust rules of engagement, that has the protection of civilians; to make sure that our troops are properly trained and properly equipped so they can actually make the contribution that we send them there for.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, the previous government closed its eyes to the atrocities in Africa. It closed its eyes to the fight against disease, basically the root cause that causes the young folks to be radicalized and join those groups. We need to do our part. We will have a whole-of-government approach to peace operations.

Public Safety  Mr. Speaker, our government has been very clear. We need to start a dialogue, and we will be able to promote the objectives of the Canadian government. We believe in human rights. It is through dialogue that we can actually start a conversation and be able to have those difficult conversations with nations where there are issues with human rights.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, one thing for certain is that our government believes in dialogue, and through dialogue, we can have change. With this dialogue, we will be able to push human rights. When it comes to agreements like this, we will be pushing on the issue of the death penalty, because human rights are an integral part of our government's mandate.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we have been extremely transparent about my mandate letter on re-engagement in the peace operations of the United Nations. When it comes to our important part in the world, I made it quite transparent on the recent trip I took to Africa with retired general Roméo Dallaire and Madame Louise Arbour.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we announced our national security and rule of law dialogue during the Prime Minister's visit on September 12 as part of a comprehensive discussion on expanding our relationship with China. The U.S. and the U.K. had similar dialogues. Rule of law discussions included extradition and transfers of offenders, where we stressed that Canada is governed by very high standards.

Questions on the Order Paper  Mr. Speaker, in response to part (a), all costs associated with the defence policy review, including the activities of the ministerial advisory panel, will be paid for from the department's existing budget. All costs will be captured throughout the process and reported on at the conclusion of the review through normal channels.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we can be proud of our men and women who have served all over the world in previous missions, and even now. However, a lot of work needs to be done for peace operations. We are going to be going in with eyes wide open, making sure that we have all the necessary information to allow the military to do its work, as well as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of International Development.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, our government has been transparent right from the beginning. In my mandate letter, it is clearly stated we will be involved with peace operations. When I went on my fact-finding mission, I tried to make all my observations known. As we get more information, I look forward to having a healthy debate.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, Canadians, and the world, are proud of the great work that all our men and women in uniform have done on operations with the United Nations and NATO and on all of the missions that have been done all over the world. We can be very proud of the work we will do. However, we cannot put the cart before the horse.

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I am no stranger to conflict. One of the reasons I wanted to actually get on the ground was that I like to get into the countries and find out for myself. That was one of the reasons I took retired General Roméo Dallaire and Madam Justice Louise Arbour with me, to get a full perspective and to get the interpretation from their own minds while we were actually talking to the leadership of those countries, talking to the international organizations.