UN Secretary General Kofi Annan praised Canada on Tuesday as a "pillar" of the United Nations and called on the government to continue fighting poverty, protecting the environment and fostering good governance around the world. Annan, on a one-day visit to Ottawa, told Parliament that it's hard to imagine the UN without Canada. He said the world faces many challenges that Canada can help overcome. "Our first great task should be to restore the world's focus on development," he told MPs, senators and dignitaries.

"Here too, Canada, with its long tradition of bridge-building among different international constituencies, can play an important role."

Annan made a special plea for long-term assistance to Haiti, noting that poverty, instability and violence feed on each other.

"Only through a long-term commitment to help the country can stability and prosperity be assured. Half-hearted efforts of the past have been insufficient. We cannot afford to fail this time."

The secretary general also spoke of terrorism and its threat to international peace and security.

In reference to the war in Iraq, Annan said no one alone can determine the presence or absence of weapons of mass destruction in other states.

Prime Minister Paul Martin welcomed Annan to Canada, emphasizing the importance of the United Nations.

"These are not easy times," Martin said. "The threat of terrorism, the growing gap between the world's rich and the world's poor, the need to protect our global commons against the ravages of pollution and senseless exploitation, the responsibility to protect.

"These are the challenges we face and they all require nations to shoulder their global responsibility and to work together. And at the centre of it all, lies the United Nations. If it doesn't work, then more and more people will be left behind."

Martin highlighted Canada's contributions to the UN, including peacekeeping, fighting poverty and battling AIDS.