Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, please allow me to clarify something about the Human Rights Council. As you know, the United Nations headquarters is in New York, but the council will be based in Geneva. My colleague Paul Meyer, Canada's Ambassador to the United Nations Office, will be in charge of the operations there.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, I think this is a fundamental concept for Canada and for all the other member countries of the United Nations, including those that are members of the new council. All these countries are prepared to review their human rights performance. Canada has always been very open.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, the first thing I'd say is that I'd like to commend the committee for focusing on the situation in Haiti. I think this is a situation of great concern to Canadians; it isn't partisan. Canada has contributed a great deal in Haiti in the past, and it is doing so again. The situation is in our backyard.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, just very briefly, I recall that since the elections, the UN has sent a mission to Haiti to try to assess the security situation to determine whether the mandate is sufficient. So I think they're working on it, and we'll certainly pursue it.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, I think the first question is really, with great respect, a political one, and is a question to put to the minister, if I might suggest. I would simply note that the government has made very clear the importance of our bilateral relations and our multilateral engagement.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think that's a very good point. It will be a very difficult act to follow for whoever becomes the new UN Secretary General. Kofi Annan has made a huge impact, especially in terms of highlighting human rights and the humanitarian dimension of the UN's work, but he is in the last months of his second term in office, and that isn't the time when any leader is best placed to push things forward.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'd say briefly that I think Canada launched an excellent idea, which is to let a little sunlight into this process, while respecting the fact that the procedure for selecting the Secretary General is set down in the UN charter and the nomination from the Security Council then goes to the General Assembly.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chair, on the first question, about the 0.7%, it's one we discussed a moment ago. I think the target is one thing. It's important that donor countries increase their efforts. That's absolutely for sure. Canada has done so in recent years in important ways, and that was confirmed in the budget recently.

Foreign Affairs committee  I have to repeat, as before, that the setting of ODA spending targets is a policy question for the government; it's one public servants implement, and I don't really think it's up to me to comment. On the NPT, I would agree very much that this was really a signal failure last time.

Foreign Affairs committee  My recollection is that the United Nations Secretary General pulled his people out of Iraq when their security couldn't be guaranteed and their key people were killed, for number one. We can't ask the United Nations personnel, who include a lot of Canadians, to take unreasonable risks.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Chairman, any question relating to our development aid objectives should be put to the government. It is not in my purview to comment on government policy objectives.

Foreign Affairs committee  Canada has an excellent reputation when it follows through. When Canada promises to contribute 1,10, or $100 million, it always makes good on its commitments. That is not always the case for other countries. Some countries set goals or make promises and—

Foreign Affairs committee  No. That is not what I am saying. However, I think we have a very good reputation, one that is based on fact, and because of that our development aid partners respect Canada's contribution. I have to admit, though, that we are not at the top of the OECD list.

Foreign Affairs committee  That one could take a while, Mr. Chair, but I'll give it a quick stab. Mr. Van Loan points out some “failures”. If we take Iraq and Yugoslavia, they're failures on the part of the UN Security Council to agree on a course of action, and that has had serious consequences, I think.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm sorry. Regarding overlap, I think the UN panel Robert Greenhill sits on is trying to look at ways to reduce agency duplication—streamline things, so you can get a better bang for the buck. Sorry, Mr. Chairman.