VOLUME 133 NUMBER 100 1st SESSION 35th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Thursday, September 29, 1994 Speaker: The Honourable Gilbert Parent HOUSE OF COMMONS Thursday, September 29, 1994 The House met at 10 a.m. work in trying to foster those rapports, in trying to keep channels open and also being respectful of the different opinions, whether _______________ they be political, whether they be cultural or whether they be religious. In terms of the Holy See, I think Canada among the Prayers western countries had probably one of the better pipelines that _______________ remained open with the Holy See and others. That is the kind of internationalism that Canada has made a very proud tradition for herself. ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS It was a truly rewarding experience as a participant to see such a remarkable degree of consensus on sensitive and controversial [English] issues that strike at the very heart of the human condition. INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON POPULATION [Translation] Hon. Sergio Marchi (Minister of Citizenship and Im- There were over 180 delegations from far and wide represent- migration): Madam Speaker, I welcome this morning the ing various political systems, cultures and religions. They opportunity to report to my federal colleagues of this House on agreed on a comprehensive program of action. the international conference on population and development held in Cairo earlier this month, at which I had the privilege of [English] being the leader of the Canadian delegation. As an international blueprint for change the program of action As head of that delegation I would like to express the represents a springboard for advancement on both population government’s sincere thanks to the very able Canadian negotia- and development. It brings together the approaches of the past tors who piloted through the program of action on Canada’s which focused on demographics and development. In the seven- behalf, a group of dedicated public servants who served our ties in Bucharest the answer was development. It was seen as the country with distinction. panacea in terms of trying to deal with both population on the I should also mention the work done by a multiplicity of one hand and between the nations that do the consumption. Yet support staff that worked long and hard from morning to evening that did not work. in those discussions. Many times we forget that those are the In the eighties the whole question was the demographics, officials who worked for several years leading up to this somehow arbitrary numbers brought down from thin air and conference and sometimes at the conference it is the heads of the probably forced upon people and nations the globe over. That states or the leaders of the delegations who get the limelight or did not work either. the credit as well as the blame when perhaps things do not go per course. I think it is important for all of us to signal to them our In the 1990s as a result of Cairo we have seen the convergence appreciation for the kind of public service they have rendered on of both family planning and development, both for the individu- our behalf. al as well as for that country. It think it is through the conver- gence of those two forces that hopefully we will be able to Canada not only played a useful role as one of the many unlock a number of problematic doors that have faced the countries assembled in Cairo, but I would suggest Canada international community. played a tremendous facilitating role. Canada was very much a builder of bridges among different countries that perhaps had Cairo also recognized the vital role of women in achieving different views and yes, some very hard concerns about certain social and economic goals. We mentioned in our speech from the aspects of the draft action plan. platform, as Mahatma Gandhi once said, when you educate a (1005 ) man you educate an individual; when you educate a woman you educate an entire community and family. I think there is Canada did not try to seek the limelight and speak in the something to that. Some people get worried when we say public arena every day but there was a lot of behind the scenes empowerment of women. 6295 COMMONS DEBATES September 29, 1994 Routine Proceedings If we look at what that means the empowerment of women benefits of migration. We were also able to bring one of those is also the empowerment of family. It is the woman in many positive messages. families who is the centrepiece and the anchor. Therefore if we accentuate her role, her opportunities, her rights we clearly Despite the challenges and difficulties that still confront us, buoy up the entire family which many times she is responsible we were also prepared to admit that the force of migration for. helped to build a country called Canada. That was something the international representatives, both NGOs and governments, had Governments agreed not only to talk but to act, to take action not heard enough of in terms of simply talking about the on reducing mortality rates of mothers and infants, on ensuring problems rather than also about the advantages. equal education opportunities for girls, access to employment opportunities for women, and pay more attention to the repro- Delegates also stressed the need for increased international ductive health needs of adolescence and improving access and co–operation to deal with the challenges that current migration availability of basic health care. trends present to all of us. We talked about prevention, protec- tion and then integration of those migrants. At the end of the day when it came time to commit our fellow [Translation] world citizens came to a degree of consensus which was unprecedented at similar population conferences in the past. I The Cairo program of action in international migration is the know that before going to Cairo there was controversy on first to have been approved by this many nations. various elements of the draft action plan. Yet that seemed to dominate the discussion, certainly the media attention and we [English] forgot that as a complicated, complex diverse world this docu- ment enjoyed before the first gavel ever hit the desk 90 per cent It now provides a springboard for further progress on the agreement. international political level and on the daily operational level. Cairo has given Canada a relevant and practical tool for advanc- Why is 90 per cent agreement on a document such a bad thing? ing its international migration agenda. If I got 90 per cent at high school or university I would have been a rocket scientist. If one of our parties would have attained 90 We need more bilaterals, more of a regime between and per cent of the seats across the country we would have been among countries if we are to deal competently with that move- superstars in terms of our political organization. ment of humanity. One country cannot do it alone. Canada should not be expected to do it alone. No country has the (1010 ) answers to that kind of dilemma. If we put regimes together, if more countries keep their front Why is it that when a diverse world comes together and agrees doors open a little, it will make life not only easier and more on 90 per cent of the document somehow it has to be seen as a bearable for those individuals seeking a home, it will also make negative or a failure because we have the last ten yards to go and life easier and more bearable for those countries that have done those are the toughest? their share. There was more that united this world in its action plan than No one is responsible for the entire problem. Rather, we are divided it. One of the most important things to come out of that each responsible for our share of that situation. We as members conference was that delegates took a new approach to popula- of the global community met in Cairo with a daunting task tion issues. Instead of looking strictly at demographic targets, before us. There were many who predicted we would dissolve just the numbers, they widened their focus in an important way. into disagreement, discord and disarray. We proved them wrong They recognize that social and economic development is central and we proved there is consensus and commitment in the world to achieving a balance between the number of people on earth community to tackle global problems not only effectively but and their demands in terms of food, shelter and other basic together. necessities of life. The last message Canada brought on the closing days was that It was a real coming together of north and south, east and while the agreement provides us with that road map and that west, rich and poor. No one was dictating to anyone. Those days consensus, the agreement is only as good as its implementation. are clearly over. There was very much a question of consensus That too is a uniquely practical Canadian application of not rather than suggesting by force or implications. simply being happy about an agreement but really rolling up our shirt sleeves making sure that individual member states follow It was also heartening that the international migration issue up on the commitments we tied together in Cairo. Only then can was treated in a truly comprehensive and balanced way for the we say that truly Cairo was a success. It clearly started as that first time in a forum of this kind. Governments recognized not and we in this country in co–operation with the United Nations only the negatives in terms of the mass of humanity that is on the will ensure that the individuals for whom this plan is intended move, some 150 million people strong, but also the positive will certainly see the fruits of our labour.