This event is celebrated today in the prolific web of 49 countries and governments that share the use of French.
We know that La Francophonie is very much alive in Canada, but it is as well in Eastern and Western Europe, Africa the Middle East, Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the West Indies.
The Government of Canada has participated in La Francophonie since the outset, thereby saluting the importance of the French fact in Canada. For this reason, it makes the international francophone community an integral and essential part of its foreign policy. We wish to demonstrate in this way our desire to highlight the contribution of the various Canadian francophone cultures in our great country. Whether in Moncton, St. Boniface, Hawkesbury, in my riding, or Ste. Marie de Beauce, in Quebec, French is alive and well in Canada.
Canada is also a member of La Francophonie because it believes in the virtues of multilateral relations based on cooperation and exchanges. It is no accident that Canada belongs to a great many multilateral organizations; from the G7 to the Asia-Pacific Forum, from NATO to the Organization of American States, from La Francophonie to the Commonwealth, Canada's geography and linguistic make-up virtually invite such participation.
There are other reasons as well for Canada's very active role in La Francophonie; the participating government status enjoyed by the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick enables them to share fully in the activities of the francophone world and provides them with a way exhibiting their vitality and expertise.
In addition, next May 19 to 21, an important conference on information highways will bring together in Montreal all the ministers of La Francophonie responsible for the information high way. This conference, jointly organized by the Agence de la Francophonie, the Government of Quebec and the Government of Canada, bears witness to the desire to enable the developing countries to participate in the modern world by putting the means of communication at their service.
The Prime Minister of Canada, the Right Hon. Jean Chrétien, will go to Vietnam next November to participate in the Hanoi Summit and to help make La Francophonie an increasingly integrated community. It should not be forgotten that Canada hosted the 1987 Summit in Quebec City.
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Need I add, especially in your presence, Madam Speaker, that in Hanoi, we will once again put forward our candidacy to host the Eighth Summit in 1999, this time on Acadian soil in Moncton, New Brunswick, a part of the country you know well.
I would like to conclude by wishing the 8.5 million francophones and all the francophiles from one end of Canada to the other a happy Journée internationale de la Francophonie.
I must also ask to be excused-I apologize to my hon. colleagues across the way-because, as they know, as we speak, there is a reception under way for key figures of the Canadian and international francophone community, which I am hosting.
My hon. colleagues are invited of course, when their duties in the House of Commons permit, to join me there so that we can celebrate all together this great day, not only for the Canadian Francophonie, but for all of Canada and all Canadians.
Mr. Stéphane Bergeron (Verchères, BQ): Madam Speaker, I would like to assure the minister that I gladly excuse him, on behalf of the political formation I represent here in the House of Commons. I understand his obligations, and I certainly have no objections, since I know he will read our speeches carefully when he gets back to his office a bit later on.
First of all, I would like to thank all of my House colleagues for allowing us to have this exchange on the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. It would, I think, have been terribly unfortunate if we were to let the day go by without marking the Journée internationale de la Francophonie.
I am also extremely pleased to speak in this House today on the occasion of the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. To begin with, however, I would like to qualify what the minister has just said. Quebec was the one to initially show interest in the Francophonie, in the early 1960s, via its special relationship with France and its subsequent membership in 1971 in ACCT, the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique. Moreover, it managed to become a full-fledged member of ACCT as a participating government only after a great struggle with Ottawa.
The federal government then thought up ways to trivialize Quebec's presence within the institutions of the Francophonie, going so far as to fund New Brunswick's participation in order to show the international community that Canada's membership in the Francophonie was not solely related to the French character of Quebec.
Be that as it may, the Francophonie has undergone numerous major changes in recent years. The last was in 1996, when the ACCT finally became the Agence de la Francophonie. From that moment on, the Francophonie became a political body, with a Secretary General to be appointed at the Hanoi Summit later this year. In this connection, the name of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali is being circulated at the moment as the potential first secretary of the Agence de la Francophonie.
This political tack which the Francophonie has taken shows how it has matured politically into an internationally recognized forum whose membership discusses vital issues. This new vocation also requires of us a greater solidarity, cemented together by language and culture.
At the very moment we are celebrating the great francophone family, I find it hard to understand the government's guilty silence concerning the catastrophic situation that currently prevails in Zaire, where civilian populations are the primary victims of the raging conflict. How can we celebrate this day joyfully, when the values which we hold dear and defend, the respect of human rights, democracy and of the rule of law, are being trampled upon daily in a number of the member countries of the Francophonie?
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Next fall, the Sommet de la Francophonie will be held in Vietnam. Canada has always given precedence to multilateral approaches for advancing causes it holds dear. Will it take advantage of this important occasion to raise certain points, including human rights, child labour and excessive defence spending in developing countries?
Canada could also easily raise the case of Trân Triêu Quân, the Canadian citizen who has been unjustly imprisoned in that country for far too long already. Like the Commonwealth, the Francophonie is an important tool with which we can make the world a fairer and a safer place.
Mr. Lee Morrison (Swift Current-Maple Creek-Assiniboia, Ref.): Madam Speaker, it is an honour for me, as Canadian, to address this House on the Journée internationale de la Francophonie.
I would like to say a word on the importance of multilateral relations. The benefits of such relations are the reasons why Canada belongs to a number of international organizations. The G7, NATO and the Commonwealth are all important structures for the promotion of our foreign policy. The Francophonie includes 45 countries and a few other entities, including Quebec, for example, which have in common the use of the French language.
[English]
Membership in international organizations should be based on enlightened self-interest. It is to our benefit to help maintain international stability, but I have some fear that our financial contributions through CIDA to certain members of la Francophonie represent a disproportionate share of our foreign aid budget. Historically we have helped to prop up some very nasty and corrupt regimes for no apparent reason other than that the recipients speak French. We should perhaps be more careful with our national chequebook.
[Translation]
Since 1970, Canada has been a leader in the development of the Francophonie. It is also a founding member of the Agence de coopération culturelle et technique. Thursday, March 20, is the Journée internationale de la Francophonie. Happy Journée internationale de la Francophonie to all francophones and francophiles who have made Canada a better place.