Madam Chair, those children are in the custody of their parents. Parents have control with respect to their children.
House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 54% of the vote.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, those children are in the custody of their parents. Parents have control with respect to their children.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, no, but those children belong to parents.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, we are certainly aware of Canadian citizens being detained by Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria, and we are particularly concerned with cases of Canadian children in Syria. Canadian consular officials are actively engaged with Syrian Kurdish authorities to continuously seek information on other Canadians in their custody.
Let me be clear about something there. It is a Criminal Code offence to travel abroad to engage in terrorist activity, and our government takes with the utmost seriousness the threat posed by travelling extremists and returnees of Daesh.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, we have been pressing. The Prime Minister has spoken to his counterpart and I have spoken to my counterpart. I agree with my colleague's assessment of the dire situation in the Tigray region.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, I want to make this point very clear. The release of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig has been my number one priority, as I have said publicly. We cannot go into details on what we are doing to try to secure their release, but we are working extremely hard on this issue.
With respect to Mr. Celil, who is a Canadian citizen, we have been pressing the Chinese government to have consular access to him.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, my colleague raised an important matter. Canada is concerned when any country shows irresponsible and destabilizing behaviour, including interference in a country's democratic system. In December, the Minister of Public Safety publicly outlined the threats related to foreign interference and the critical work of the security and intelligence community in a letter addressed to all members of Parliament.
We work in close collaboration with allies and partners around the world to counter foreign interference. We know that more needs to be done between allies and partners to discourage these malicious acts. We welcome the work undertaken by the national security and intelligence committee. As colleagues know, Canada, in 2018, when it hosted the G7 in Charlevoix, announced the rapid response mechanism for the G7, which is aimed specifically at the issue of disinformation.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, Canada always makes judicious use of sanctions. I agree with my colleague that the situation in Hong Kong is extremely preoccupying. Canada has consistently voiced concerns about Beijing's imposition, first of all, of the national security law, alongside our international partners, and other assaults on Hong Kong, as its high degree of freedom was promised under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
We will continue to speak out against what is happening and, most recently, against the decision to prevent less than a quarter of citizens from running for the legislature and the decision that they must prove they are patriotic to China to be electable.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, as my colleague knows, we share the same objective of seeing a nuclear-free world. We also have to deal with what is possible. Canada acknowledges that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons responds to concerns about the pace of recent progress toward disarmament, but to make progress toward a nuclear-free world, united action is needed, including from states that possess nuclear capabilities. That is why Canada supports the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation and disarmament architecture.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, Canada unequivocally supports global nuclear disarmament. We are committed to take concrete steps toward a nuclear-free world. This includes the important work that Canada is doing on the development of a fissile material cut-off treaty that will help to halt the production of material for nuclear weapons. Canada has been and remains an important player in global nuclear disarmament. We remain entirely committed to that goal.
Business of Supply May 31st, 2021
Madam Chair, yes, Saudi Arabia is guilty of human rights violations within its own country. We have worked hard to improve the specific contract that he is talking about that was signed by the previous government to meet Canada's international human rights obligations and preserve, at the same time, jobs within Canada.
The cancellation of the current contract has important financial implications for Canada, but over and above that, we will not hesitate to take action if we feel there are any violations of human rights. That was part of our agreement when we ratified the Arms Trade Treaty.