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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 12

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2021 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 12 - Dec/7/21
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux
  • Dec/7/21 8:22:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am starting to wonder what relevance this line of questioning has to the estimates of supply. It seems to me that the member is going to back to 2015 and citing something that is not relevant to the budgetary measures being brought forward by the government.
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The Speaker
  • Dec/7/21 8:23:02 p.m.
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I would like to remind hon. members to keep it as relevant as possible, but I have seen stranger things where people seem to be going off on a tangent and manage to bring it back. I trust wholeheartedly that all members in this chamber will do this with dignity and respect. I will go back to the hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haut-Saint-Charles.
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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus
  • Dec/7/21 8:23:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was answering the minister's question about the fact that our election platform did not say anything about the number of refugees we were prepared to take in. That is where the discussion started. I will give my colleague the floor.
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The Speaker
  • Dec/7/21 8:23:40 p.m.
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The Minister of Foreign Affairs has 10 seconds to respond.
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:23:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we can be proud of the way Canadians responded to the Syrian crisis in 2015. We can be proud that Canadians opened their arms and their hearts and welcomed Syrian refugees. I know that we can count on that same generosity with the Afghan refugees.
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Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, CPC)
  • Dec/7/21 8:24:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be directing all my questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In 2018, Parliament unanimously passed a bill that I brought forward on Magnitsky sanctions, holding gross human rights violators who are foreign officials to account. Unfortunately, the government has not used it since 2018. Last week, the parliament the European Union actually did a report and scolded the Government of Canada for failing to hold corrupt foreign officials to account. When will the Minister of Foreign Affairs finally use the Magnitsky act to sanction those gross human rights violators?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:24:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague that we are very much aware that using sanctions against individuals in certain contexts to deter their actions, or to deter the actions they can have on the part of their states, is a very effective tool. That is why, even recently, we made sure to put sanctions on people in Nicaragua, to make sure that we were sending a clear message about what was going on in the country and its failed elections. That is why we have put sanctions on 440 people within the Russian regime, to make sure we could deter them from taking military actions against Ukraine.
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Mr. James Bezan
  • Dec/7/21 8:25:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Foreign Affairs was a member of Parliament back in 2018 when she voted in favour of the Magnitsky sanctions. It was good enough to pass then, but was she just virtue signalling to the diaspora communities here in Canada and in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and to the people who we are standing up for human rights and democracy around the world? Was she just virtue-signalling to them at that point in time? Why is the minister not using Magnitsky sanctions against all those people who are abusing human rights around the world?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:26:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, of course, there are different acts that provide sanctions the Government of Canada can use. I would like to mention that right now there are 1,446 listings under the Special Economic Measures Act. Of those 1,446 listings, Belarus has 77 individuals; Myanmar has 124; China has five; Iran has 202; Nicaragua has 24; Russia has 210; and I could go on.
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Mr. James Bezan
  • Dec/7/21 8:26:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after the Minister of Foreign Affairs was appointed, I sent a letter asking her to review all the correspondence and names that were submitted by my colleagues and me about human rights abusers, including those who harvest organs from Falun Gong practitioners in China, those responsible in Iran for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752, and those responsible for the human rights abuses we see from the regime in Tehran. We also want to make sure that we are holding to account those who have been violating the human rights of innocent protesters who have been arrested as political prisoners in Hong Kong, and of the journalists and political prisoners who are being held right now in detention in Belarus. Why would she not use the Sergei Magnitsky Law to send a signal, in concert with the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:27:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, obviously, we have many sanctions. I want to continue to list some of them. My colleague mentioned Magnitsky. There are 30 individuals who have been listed under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, which the member was referring to as the Magnitsky act, upon whom sanctions have been imposed. This system is being used by the government, and we have a rigorous process. Regarding the downing of flight PS752, we are looking at all the tools in our tool box to make sure the families of the victims are able to seek justice from the Iranian regime.
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Mr. James Bezan
  • Dec/7/21 8:28:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one request from the families of the Iranian and Ukrainian communities that lost loved ones in the downing of flight PS752 is that we list the Quds Force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organizations. Why has the minister not listed IRGC as a terrorist organization?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:29:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague well knows, the IRGC Quds Force is listed as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code. That being said, I must say that I have had many conversations regarding the downing of flight PS752, even recently, with my Ukrainian, Swedish and U.K. counterparts. We will act together to make sure we are able to seek justice from Iran on this very important issue.
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Mr. James Bezan
  • Dec/7/21 8:29:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all know that Russia is amassing about 175,000 troops on the borders of Ukraine. President Biden had calls and discussions yesterday with President Putin, France, Germany, Italy and Great Britain. Why did he not call Canada?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:29:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I had the chance to talk with Secretary Blinken about this very issue three times over the past three weeks. Obviously, for us Ukraine is a fundamental priority. We will make sure we work with like-minded countries to hold Russia to account and deter any military action on Ukraine.
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Mr. James Bezan
  • Dec/7/21 8:30:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that we have been able to extend Operation Unifier, which was started by our previous Conservative government. We have 200 troops on the ground there who have been in training missions. What else will the minister and the government do to ensure that Ukraine gets the support it needs to push back on a potential Russian invasion?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:30:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned many times, we will use all the tools in our tool box to deter Russia from acting. That being said, I want to also say to my colleague that the question of working with the U.S., the U.K., Ukraine, Germany and many other countries is fundamental because we must de-escalate the conflict. That is why we have been able to work with partners on this very issue. I have also mentioned it directly to my Russian counterpart.
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Mr. James Bezan
  • Dec/7/21 8:31:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was reported that the Government of Canada was considering putting in more troops and moving frigates into the Black Sea, as well as moving our CF-18 fighter jets from Romania into Ukraine. Will the minister put military equipment and troops into the situation in Ukraine? Will they provide Ukraine with lethal military weapons?
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Hon. Mélanie Joly
  • Dec/7/21 8:31:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all the brave women and men who are part of Operation Unifier. Indeed, my colleague is right. We have been in Ukraine for many years training thousands of military personnel for the Ukrainian military. We will continue to do that. Right now, we are working with many colleagues and looking at all options possible.
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The Speaker
  • Dec/7/21 8:32:13 p.m.
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Resuming debate. The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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