Situation in the Republic of South Sudan  Mr. Chair, as I said in my speech, I was in Rwanda for the commemoration of the genocide. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, made a speech where he admitted that the UN had failed during the Rwanda genocide. He took responsibility for that factor and said t

Situation in the Republic of South Sudan  Mr. Chair, as I said, this is an African-led effort to bring peace over there. We are working with our allies. I do agree with the hon. member that the atrocities that have been committed are not acceptable to the international community. Therefore, what Canada has done is that w

Situation in the Republic of South Sudan  Mr. Chair, it is indeed a very important issue that has been brought forward for discussion today, the situation in South Sudan. Before I begin, let me just give a brief breakdown on the situation in South Sudan. I was born in that part of the region, in East Africa. I am well a

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, Canada is deeply concerned by the security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic and by reports that people are being targeted because of their religion. As a government, we have the responsibility and the duty to review our

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, Canada is the ninth largest contributor to the UN peacekeeping budget, and it supports the United Nations, France, and the African Union efforts in this crisis. Canada continues to pull its weight in providing over $16 million in assistance to help meet the widespre

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, let me repeat. Canada is deeply concerned about the security and humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic and about reports that people are being targeted because of their religion. To date, Canada has provided over $16 million in assistance to help m

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, of course, we are very much concerned about the situation in the Central African Republic, and are working with our allies in the United Nations to address the issue. What is more important is that the Liberal Party, as well as the NDP, would like to put Canadian so

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, we are aware of a permanent resident of Canada who is currently detained in Egypt. Although Canada cannot provide consular services in this case because the individual is not a Canadian citizen, our mission in Egypt has been in contact with his wife and with the loca

Conflict Minerals Act  Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise and speak to Bill C-486 put forward by my colleague from Ottawa Centre. I have been working with the member opposite since 2006 in various capacities, on the foreign affairs committee and everywhere. He is extremely passionate about t

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, this government and everybody in this caucus is very proud of the strong leadership shown by the Prime Minister during the Ukrainian crisis, as well as that in Sri Lanka. This very strong leadership has resounded all over the world. Let me say what I was told in Gen

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, as I have stated, Canada's voice is very strong on the international stage, led by the Prime Minister, both in Sri Lanka as well as Ukraine. Not only that, but very soon we will be hosting a national summit on maternal and child health coming out of the Muskoka G8 su

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for raising this question. It is very important that Canada work with its allies to ensure there is stability in the Middle East and in that region. We will continue to work with the government of Turkey and with other allies in that area to ensur

Documents Regarding Afghan Detainees  Mr. Speaker, I am retabling documents concerning the transfer of Afghan detainees, originally tabled on June 22, 2011. Following the House's unanimous consent, we originally tabled this important information in untranslated form in order to expedite its availability to the public

National Capital Act  Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak about the importance of protecting Gatineau Park and why Bill C-565 misses the mark on this important issue. We can all agree that Gatineau Park is one of the jewels of the national capital region. The park represents 7.5% of the total land are

Foreign Affairs  Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the 2012-13 progress report on Canada's action plan for the implementation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions o