House of Commons Hansard #36 of the 40th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was regions.

Topics

(The House divided on the amendment which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #44

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

I declare the amendment lost.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Liberal

Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

I rise on a point of order. If I am not mistaken, Mr. Speaker, when the votes were being tallied up through the whips of the parties, I believe I heard some extraneous remarks from the hon. whip of the Bloc Québécois with respect to abstention.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Bloc

Gilles Duceppe Bloc Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC

Not us.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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NDP

Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC

It was Marlene.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Liberal

Derek Lee Liberal Scarborough—Rouge River, ON

In that case, I will stand down and withdraw that.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Bloc

Michel Guimond Bloc Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC

Mr. Speaker, on the same point of order, I would remind my hon. colleague that it was a member of his own party who made the comment, the hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine and Liberal Party deputy House leader.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Clearly, no one is arguing the point.

The next question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Some hon. members

Nay.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

In my opinion the yeas have it.

The hon. chief government whip is rising on a point of order.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Conservative

Gordon O'Connor Conservative Carleton—Mississippi Mills, ON

Mr. Speaker, if you were to seek it, I believe you would find agreement to apply the vote from the previous motion to this motion in reverse.

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Is there unanimous consent to proceed in this fashion?

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

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Some hon. members

Agreed.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #45

Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation ActGovernment Orders

7 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

I declare the motion carried.

Foreign Affairs and International DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

March 30th, 2009 / 7:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Peter Milliken

Pursuant to order made on Friday, March 27, 2009, the House will now proceed to the consideration of the motion to concur in the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Foreign Affairs and International DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7:05 p.m.

Liberal

Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON

Mr. Speaker, I move that the fourth report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development presented on Thursday, March 5, 2009 be concurred in.

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Mount Royal.

I would like to begin by thanking the members of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights for voting in support of my motion which we are debating in the House this evening.

Canada is a nation that places a high premium on human rights. We as Canadians have a profound and enduring obligation to be a voice in the international community whenever we are witness to human rights violations around the world. This is the case with the persistent and targeted oppression of the Baha’í community and other minority communities in Iran. Simply put, this oppression in Iran is intolerable and unacceptable.

The reality is that this so-called republic is a theocracy ruled by Shia clerics who have imposed their own brand of religious interpretation that is heavy-handed, fundamentalist and intolerable. On paper, Iran is a signatory to five major human rights treaties: the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Iran's failure to abide by these treaties violates international law. Each of these treaties enshrines basic rights for the citizens of the signatory country, but also an obligation by that country to modify domestic law to ensure compliance with international treaty obligations. The reality in Iran, as confirmed by human rights groups, is that there are serious violations of human rights in that country. Reports place a number of persons executed since the Islamic revolution in 1979 at over 100,000 people, including those who were juveniles at the time of their convictions.

Basic civil liberties such as freedom of speech, expression, assembly, religion and privacy, all of which citizens in democratic states take for granted, are severely restricted and in many cases punished through any number of draconian means which are sanctioned and encouraged by the Iranian government. There have been arbitrary arrests, extended disappearances and the extrajudicial detention of those who are, in reality, only political prisoners.

We in Canada were appalled and justifiably outraged when we witnessed the detention and murder of Iranian Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi. I have persistently spoken out over the years against human rights violations in Iran. The Iranian government has consistently demonstrated that it shares no commitment whatsoever to religious or political freedom, internationally as well as domestically. On more than one occasion, comments by Iran's supreme leader and also those by its president have called for the extermination of the Jewish people and the outright destruction of the state of Israel. They have repeatedly uttered the most disgraceful and hurtful denials of the Holocaust that have been heard from any government in living memory.

When taken together, the actions and the hate-mongering of the Iranian government makes the prospect of an Iran with nuclear capabilities all the more frightening. My hon. colleague, the member for Mount Royal illustrated this very well when in the last Parliament he stated:

The parading of a Shehab III missile in the streets of Tehran, draped in the emblem of “wipe Israel off the map”, underpinned by a virulent anti-Semitism that calls for a new Holocaust, as it denies the old one, and threatens to burn Muslims who evince any support for Israel, constitutes a standing assault on international peace and security, and a clear and present danger to us all.

Failing to address these threats not only leaves our friends vulnerable but calls into question our own values. In Iran, the disturbing international utterances are manifested in the daily conduct of the government there. Minority groups are essentially targets for untold human rights abuses. According to the United Nations, the Baha’i community, which numbers around 300,000, is the largest minority group out of Iran's 70 million people.

The Iranian government has reacted to the beliefs of the Baha’is by brutally cracking down on the leaders of the faith in Iran through persecution against its members and the spreading of blatant misinformation about the Baha’i faith to the population of Iran. In one prominent example, Muslims were encouraged to sign a poster outside a mosque before Friday prayers that accused the Baha’is of spreading lies against Islam and perpetrating cowardly attacks in hopes of “advancing the political, cultural and economic aims of global Zionism” and calling on Iran's attorney general to “confront all elements of this organization and dissolve its administration”.

These so-called dissolution efforts have manifested themselves through targeted discrimination and have led to the imprisonment of adherents of the Baha’i faith.

In 2005 the United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of religion uncovered a confidential letter from the command headquarters of the armed forces of Iran ordering the identification of all Baha'is and monitoring their activities.

This particular motion calls to attention the wrongful arrest and detention of seven members of the group, Friends of Iran, who are being held in the political prison section of Evin prison in Tehran. These individuals are being held without charges, evidence or access to legal counsel.

A lawyer and Nobel laureate, Shirin Ebadi, found herself subjected to death threats and subsequent closure of her office when she announced her intention to represent the Baha'is in court.

There is a concern within the Baha'i community for the safety of these detained members. Given the realities portrayed by international agencies and the poor reputation the Iranian government has for basic human rights, all of us should be concerned with this present injustice in specific terms and the overall deteriorating situation for minority communities in Iran.

As parliamentarians and as leaders in the international community with a long commitment to promoting fundamental human rights, we must condemn this situation without reservation at every available opportunity.

Canada's government must send a message that is unmistakable in its tone that we view the conduct of the Government of Iran as reprehensible and intolerable. If nothing is done, we can be assured that countries like Iran will continue to oppress minority groups with impunity.

I am calling on Parliament and the government first and foremost to condemn the ongoing violation of human rights taking place in Iran, especially as it pertains to the Baha'is. Moreover, I call on the Government of Canada to urge the Government of Iran in the strongest possible terms to release these captives, or at the very least, to conduct internationally recognized fair, open and legally legitimate trials for these members of the Friends of Iran.

We have an obligation to shine a light on these injustices. I thank those dedicated individuals who have brought them to our attention and who continue to work tirelessly to ensure that this issue is exposed and not forgotten.

I am reminded of the famous quote by Pastor Martin Niemöller who remarked, when referring to the Holocaust, “When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I was not a Jew. When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out”.

We as Canadians who are recognized the world over for our commitment to human rights must be a voice that is heard across the world for dignity, respect and freedom for all persons. We must speak loudly and clearly and never hesitate to shine a light on violations of human rights everywhere.

Foreign Affairs and International DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

Conservative

John Weston Conservative West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Mr. Speaker, I listened to that moving address with great interest. I wonder if the member opposite would care to comment on a distinction that needs to be made between his condemnation of the Government of Iran and the respect he may have for the people in Canada of Persian and Iranian background and the contributions they have made to Canada?

Foreign Affairs and International DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7:10 p.m.

Liberal

Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for a very good question. Iran is a vast country with an incredible history of a people and civilization that goes back thousands of years. I have a great admiration for the people. Iran has a young population. I think over 50% are young people with an incredible will and belief that they want to leave that repressive regime.

My condemnation, as the hon. member has mentioned, is of the intolerable regime in Iran that in fact is suffocating and repressing its own people. It is an intolerable, appalling condition and a lack of respect for human rights.

Many of the people of Iran care deeply about human rights. I have a great admiration for them. There are many people in diasporas as well who have fled that very oppressive regime. I have known many of those people over the years. They are intelligent, sophisticated individuals with an incredible culture. Many of them are academics, engineers, people with great professions who have done extremely well in Canada. Canada is very proud. We are very pleased to have so many of them in Canada who are doing an incredible job.

My professor, when I was at Oxford, is also of Iranian background and is Baha'i as well. I know of the incredible wealth of people all over the world who had to flee that repressive regime.

My condemnation is of the government and not of the people. My hope is with the young people of Iran, that they will rise up against the government and get rid of it. It is not a government that is serving anybody any good. It is certainly one of the most repressive regimes on earth.

Even though I am not allowed to do this, I want to recognize a group of Friends of Baha'i who are in the gallery.

Foreign Affairs and International DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7:15 p.m.

Conservative

Scott Reid Conservative Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington, ON

Mr. Speaker, this is more of a comment than a question. As the chair of the Subcommittee on International Human Rights, which is currently holding hearings on Iran's human rights policy, one thing that has struck me is the very inhumane regime that is presiding over a country which, in all of its multiplicity, is an extraordinarily civilized and humane society. That includes Baha'is, members of other minorities, and a wide variety of linguistic and ethnic minorities. It also includes some of the witnesses who are members of the Persian majority in the country. It includes individuals who have had the courage, because of their Muslim beliefs and as members of the majority and their participation in the culture to stand up for human rights on behalf of their fellow citizens.

I just wanted to make that comment as we proceed in the debate.

Foreign Affairs and International DevelopmentCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings

7:15 p.m.

Liberal

Mario Silva Liberal Davenport, ON

Mr. Speaker, first of all I want to thank my hon. colleague, the chair of the subcommittee, and the members of the committee who have supported the motion. I want to thank also the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. We are very much concerned about the situation and are monitoring what is happening in Iran. We thank them very much for their support.