Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I would say our impression was that Haiti was on a much more positive course in the past couple of years before the earthquake. The earthquake has left huge challenges for the country, a country that was already very fragile. We thought it was starting to turn a corner, and now i

Foreign Affairs committee  In 10,000 words or less, exactly. On the positive side, we can look at the elections yesterday. I think there was a big sigh of relief internationally. The elections went pretty well. There were some security incidents. Mr. Aristide came back. He did not make pronouncements on t

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. I'm wearing a Haiti hat right now.

Foreign Affairs committee  It was a pretty good answer, though.

Foreign Affairs committee  We didn't get to the economy, which is something else, but I'll pass.

Foreign Affairs committee  There's no easy answer to that one. The land title system is not at all clear or transparent. It's not properly codified. No one is really certain who owns what, so in clearing the rubble, that's the first problem. The second problem is that despite what one might think, it's no

Foreign Affairs committee  I have no news about this. I must say that, since his arrival, and even yesterday, Mr. Aristide's comments have been fairly cautious. He has not asked his people to take to the streets, even though he complained that Lavalas had not been part of the campaign. I have no news about

Foreign Affairs committee  A second round in the hot seat, is that it?

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, again, it's a pleasure to be here with my colleague, Jean-Benoit Leblanc, who is director for regional trade policy in Foreign Affairs. I am going to make some comments in English and some in French, and I will be pleased to answer your questions in the official la

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for your question. We feel that, where Honduras is concerned, we need to recognize today's many challenges. We need to work with the government to improve the human rights situation, for example, but we should not deny the people of Honduras the opportunity to benefit

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I must say that I don't agree with everything expressed two weeks ago before this committee by our friends from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I visited the Canadian mines, and I respect that industry. The mines provide good jobs and good opportunities to Hon

Foreign Affairs committee  We are still putting pressure on the Honduras government. As part of the universal periodic review, Canada was very clear on this. We are, too. I spoke earlier about the dynamic surrounding Canadian mines. That's one of the issues. The other is the human rights situation, which i

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll just make a very quick comment first, sir, and then ask Jean-Benoit to speak. I think these are important agreements. We wish to pursue them in the Americas. I would point out that we have considerable trade with Asia-Pacific, but if you look at the web of free trade agreem

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not certain I can say what to expect in the report. But essentially what they're going to tell us is a good sense, as best they can, of what transpired before the coup; what took place at the time of the coup; who said what to whom, which led to President Zelaya being forced

Foreign Affairs committee  I think we can. On funding, I should mention that Canada has given about $400,000 to the official commission to help them out, including covering Mr. Kergin's costs. We're expecting a very solid, transparent document. Michael Kergin is well known to our department. If he is sitt