Foreign Affairs Committee on Feb. 28th, 2024

[Robert Sinclair]

Yes. Our embassy reports on these issues regularly. The visit of Ambassador Jacqueline O'Neill in March will also be an opportunity to further gather information and identify what further steps we can take to support those communities, because obviously it's a priority for Canada.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

The imbalance in economic status is great. Armenia doesn't have the money and economic status that Azerbaijan has, so there is an imbalance there and I think Armenia may need help.

I just want to ask a broader question. When we talk about humanitarian and foreign aid, we tend to look to Africa, Asia, India and what we call the “developing countries”. I have been to Europe often and met with NGOs that are on the ground, and I think we need to talk about them and countries like Armenia and Hungary as needing humanitarian aid, because there's a great deal of erosion of human rights in those countries.

I would like to get an answer on this, if you have time.

[Robert Sinclair]

I would agree with you—

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

We're over the six minutes, so if you can, respond in 20 seconds.

[Robert Sinclair]

I would point to Minister Joly's pragmatic diplomacy speech, if I could call it, from a few months ago, wherein she pointed to the need to reach out to not our usual, comfortable partners. That goes to your point of addressing those questions as well.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

Thank you very much, Dr. Fry.

Next we go to Mr. Bergeron.

You have six minutes.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for joining us today so they can shed some light on what is going on over there.

Speaking of shedding some light, I have to say this isn't the first time we've had officials from Global Affairs Canada come before us to try to give us a clearer picture. One of the earlier times, in my experience, was during the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020. At the time, the department's representatives said that it was difficult for them to give us any information, because they had no one on site to report back to them. Now, we've had an embassy on site for a number of months, and I was actually part of the delegation that participated in its inauguration.

The ambassador was in town yesterday. Did he leave again before he could appear in committee today?

[Robert Sinclair]

He is still in town, and there were discussions about availability. He was unavailable to meet on one of the possible dates because of a conflict. He was meeting with diaspora groups on one of the possible committee dates. In the end, the decision was taken for us to appear.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Please, don't get me wrong: I'm very happy that you are here, but I would have liked to see the ambassador appear as well, since he is in town. It is really too bad that the committee won't be able to hear his testimony.

[Robert Sinclair]

He is in town mostly on personal leave.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I know he took part in official activities yesterday, but it's too bad he isn't able to join us.

That said, Armenia has been asking for military aid from western countries for some time now. To date, Canada has refused to offer this military aid, on the grounds that Armenia was part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Since Armenia has withdrawn from this organization, and France is so far the only western country willing to supply arms to Armenia, what's stopping Canada from going ahead?

[Robert Sinclair]

Currently, we have no specific policies or restrictions regarding the export of controlled goods and technology to Armenia. Obtaining an export permit requires making an application, and each request is assessed on an individual basis.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you for your answer, which is different from the one given by the minister. In fact, the minister said pretty bluntly that, since Armenia is part of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, we couldn't really go ahead. I am therefore grateful for this new openness to the possibility of supplying arms to Armenia. Perhaps this would be a good thing, since we have once again agreed to sell arms to Turkey. We know that what enabled Azerbaijan to win a military victory in 2020 were the weapons we sold to Turkey, which ended up in Azerbaijan.

A few days ago, the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention raised the red flag on the possibility of renewed Azeri attacks against Armenia. Do you have any information suggesting something along the same lines?

[Robert Sinclair]

No, we don't have any such information.

I would like to clarify one thing.

We don't have a special policy for the export of controlled goods and technology under our export controls regime. That's what I was talking about. There's a broader question you referred to, and I'll defer to my minister on that broader question.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

My question is precisely about what you describe as a broader issue. Since the Collective Security Treaty Organization seemed to be an obstacle, from the moment Armenia froze its participation, do you think it stopped being an obstacle?

[Robert Sinclair]

I will have to get back to you on that confirmation. It's a suspension, not a total withdrawal.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

When it comes to supplying weapons to Armenia, what problems can Canada see that France doesn't?

[Robert Sinclair]

I will have to ask France that question.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Okay, we'll ask France that question.

Do you have any information indicating that the cultural and heritage assets of Nagorno-Karabakh are currently being plundered by the Azeris?

[Robert Sinclair]

Certainly the protection of cultural property is a concern. UNESCO is involved in that.

It's something we continue to watch closely. I will turn to Andreas to confirm whether he has seen any specific reporting on that from our mission.

[Andreas Weichert]

The short answer is that there have been some short reports saying there's no evidence of destruction of cultural property, but the ability to verify is still limited.

[The Chair, Liberal, Ali Ehsassi]

You have five seconds left, Mr. Bergeron.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

That's fine, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Weichert, when you talk to the people from UNESCO, what are you hearing about that?

[Andreas Weichert]

I'm sorry, I didn't understand the question.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

When you contact people from UNESCO, what information do you get about that?