Canada-China Relations Committee on June 7th, 2021

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I would just say that the dilatory tactics by Mr. Oliphant are very frustrating. I won't deny that I sometimes cross the appropriate tone, but Mr. Chong never does. He's asking pointed questions of a witness. This is bizarre, frankly, and just tries to waste our time here. Let's get back to the line of questioning.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Go ahead, Mr. Williamson.

[John Williamson, Conservative, New Brunswick Southwest, NB]

It would seem to me that senior public officials should have a good sense about how the executive functions in relation to Parliament.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much.

Monsieur Dubourg, go ahead.

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

In support of my colleague Mr. Oliphant's comments, I would like to say that, last week, we heard from the Chair of the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, or NSICP. I think that was rather the time for these questions to be asked. So the questions being put to the officials in attendance are really inappropriate.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much, Mr. Dubourg.

Colleagues, this is a committee studying the Canada-China relationship. We are all aware of the motion that was passed by the committee regarding production of papers. We're aware that NSICOP has been brought into that, so I find the question to be relevant.

Mr. Chong, I ask you to continue, please.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The title of the secretariat's core responsibility was changed in the 2021-22 departmental plans from “assists the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians in fulfilling its...mandate” to “Parliamentary review of national security and intelligence activities”.

Whoever is responsible for this change needs to undo this change. The secretariat and NSICOP are not engaged in a parliamentary review. We on this committee and in the other standing committees of the House of Commons and in the joint committees of the Senate and the House and the committees of the Senate engage in parliamentary review. NSICOP is not a parliamentary committee. It's right in subsection 4(3) of the act. I would like the Government of Canada to ensure that the wording is changed as soon as possible in order to ensure that the information is accurate and consistent with the act.

I will move on to a quick question concerning the Winnipeg lab.

Global Affairs is involved with the granting of visas to those citizens who are arriving in Canada from countries that require visas. A scientist from the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Feihu Yan, worked for a period of time at the Public Health Agency of Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory. When and under what circumstances did GAC issue a visa to Feihu Yan?

[Marta Morgan]

Mr. Chair, issues related to the Winnipeg lab are being handled by the Public Health Agency of Canada, in collaboration with other federal partners, so questions would be best directed to the Public Health Agency of Canada, and in the case of visas, to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Okay.

President Biden recently announced that he has ordered the intelligence community in the United States to conduct a 90-day investigation of the two likely theories about the source of the coronavirus, one being that a human contracted it from an infected animal and the other being that it was an accidental leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Can you tell us what material support the Government of Canada is providing to U.S. investigators, seeing that the minister has indicated that the Government of Canada supports this investigation?

[Marta Morgan]

Mr. Chair, the Government of Canada is strongly committed to supporting the WHO and its scientific work to trace the origins of COVID-19. We believe that this is essential in order to detect and respond to future pandemics and biological threats. We support the work that the United States is doing to assess as well the origins of COVID-19, and should we be asked to provide assistance, we would be happy to.

We believe it is essential for the WHO to be provided with the transparency, the information that it needs, and we're committed to collaborating with our partners in any way that would be helpful.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Morgan.

Mr. Chair, I have no further questions. Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you, Mr. Chong.

Mr. Lightbound, you have the floor for five minutes.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Since I am taking the floor for the first time this evening, I just want to say to all the committee members and certainly the witnesses that my thoughts and prayers are with the London community, which was today the target of a hateful and completely unjustifiable crime in Canada. Our thoughts and prayers are with the London community and with every Muslim community in Canada, which should not have to suffer that kind of an attack in a country like ours.

My first question is about the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State–to–State Relations, launched by Canada in February. Mr. Oliphant and the minister discussed it a little bit. So far, unless I am mistaken, 63 countries have endorsed the declaration.

Ms. Morgan, could you give us an update on the progress made in that respect?

Are any steps currently being taken to obtain the support of more signatories for that declaration, which I deem very important?

[Marta Morgan]

Thank you for the question.

Canada has really shown international leadership when it comes to ending that unacceptable practice of using arbitrary arrests and detentions to apply diplomatic pressure. The 63 countries that have endorsed the Declaration Against Arbitrary Detention in State–to–State Relations account for one-third of the countries in the world. So we are very proud of the work we have done at the department.

Recently, on May 5, we released the partnership action plan with full G7 support, to turn words into action and put an end to that practice worldwide. We continue to talk to other countries, and I hope we could come back before this committee at some point to tell you that more countries have shown their support for the declaration.

It's something that I raise regularly in my bilateral conversations with colleagues, as does Minister Garneau.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Thank you, Deputy Minister.

My second question is about the Uighur situation. Along with a number of its international allies, Canada has imposed—as you of course know—sanctions on Chinese officials involved in the persecution of the Uighur population. We have seen China retaliate against one of our parliamentarians and, thereby, against our democratic institutions.

Is that kind of retaliation seen abroad?

What impact does that have on supporting stronger and necessary criticism of the Chinese regime?

[Marta Morgan]

China's sanctions against Canadian parliamentarians and democratic institutions are unacceptable. This is something that we have made very clear. It is an attack on transparency and freedom of expression, and we will continue to take action when these rights are violated.

As you may be aware, at the same time, sanctions were announced against parliamentarians, experts and organizations in the United States, the U.K. and the European Union.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

I will continue along the same lines as Mr. Chong for my last little question, which is about the investigation the Biden administration has launched into the origins of COVID‑19.

According to your understanding of China and its current regime, what obstacles will such an investigation face in terms of cooperation, or lack thereof, from the Chinese regime to shed light on the origins of COVID‑19?

[Marta Morgan]

With regard to the final report on the origins mission to China, which was conducted by the WHO, we saw that as an important first step, but the experts who were engaged in that report did not receive full access to data. They did not receive full access to samples, and they indicated that the findings are inconclusive. We need to continue to press for transparency in global health security and commit—

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Bergeron, go ahead for two and a half minutes.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

As a signatory to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Canada has obligations under the convention. Article II of the convention reads as follows:

Article II In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Just one of those acts constitutes genocide. The convention goes on to state the following in articles III and IV:

Article III The following acts shall be punishable: (a) Genocide; (b) Conspiracy to commit genocide; (c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide; (e) Complicity in genocide. Article IV Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.

In his opening statement, the minister recognized that some of the acts listed in the convention are taking place. Why, then, does the Government of Canada still refuse to recognize that a genocide is under way in Xinjiang?

[Marta Morgan]

Canada is very concerned about the human rights violations being committed in China against Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, including forced labour and other violations mentioned by the member.

We have taken a number of actions. In particular, we are calling for an independent and unfettered investigation of the situation by the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Xinjiang into these issues. This is an issue on which we are working very closely with our allies, as noted before, to increase support and press for such an investigation.

[The Chair, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

We'll now go to Mr. Harris for two minutes and 30 seconds.

Go ahead, please.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Thank you, Chair.

Madam Morgan, last October on the 50th anniversary of Canada-China diplomatic relations, Minister Champagne, who was then foreign minister, spoke about a new framework for relations with China. Before this committee, he talked a little bit about that. Can you tell us whether or not this new framework appears in any document that is to be delivered and when it will be made public and made available to this committee for discussion and review?

[Marta Morgan]

Mr. Chair, Canada's approach to China is evolving to address the threats to our national security and our core democratic values in the rules-based international order. We are continuing to challenge the actions of the Chinese government that are inimical to Canada's interests and values. We're managing specific challenges such as the arbitrary detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig—

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

I'm sorry to interrupt, but I asked you specifically whether there was a new framework and whether it was going to appear in any document. To suggest that the relationship is evolving means either no, there isn't, or that the new framework is evolution. Could you be more specific about whether or not there is a new framework that will appear in a statement or a document that can represent what we expect in the future with respect to China?