Statement made on 03 March 2011 by Senator Roméo Dallaire
Hon. Roméo Antonius Dallaire:
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate. Yesterday, questions were raised about the government's responsibility to protect and to respond quickly to the humanitarian crisis in Libya.
It was with energy and pride that the leader announced yesterday that the international community had congratulated Prime Minister Harper on taking significant measures to exert pressure on Colonel Gadhafi by freezing his assets.
Yesterday, we also learned that the International Criminal Court in The Hague had issued a formal demand in order to bring Colonel Gadhafi before the court. It is interesting because, yesterday, we learned that Canada, one of the signatories of the Rome Statute, which led to the creation of the International Criminal Court, will cut its funding for the court by 64 per cent at a time when it is believed that Colonel Gadhafi must be brought before the court.
Can the leader explain why, when the government wants to make further use of the International Criminal Court, it is preparing to cut its funding for the court by 64 per cent?
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