Thank you, Mr. Martin. I really do appreciate this opportunity to clarify this point. I think it is important that the committee have a clear understanding of how this was processed.
When I received the request about whether there was a 2005-06 or a semi-annual or an annual report on human rights performance in countries around the world, this sounded to me like a request from someone who was very familiar with the kind of reporting that is done on human rights situations around the world. To me, it sounded like the requester was informed, that he was someone who knew about the kinds of human rights documents that exist out there, such as the ones produced by the United States and the United Kingdom. For that reason, in my response I indicated that Canada does not produce a report on the global situation of human rights around the world analogous to the kind of report that the U.K. or the U.S. produces.
My understanding that this was in fact what the requester was looking for I think you'll find is confirmed by his second request where he said that he assumed there was a document—
I am assuming that every year there is some kind of “state-of-the-world” summary or report prepared for the Minister...that describes progress and problems with human rights in various parts of the world....
—with chapters on different countries' situations.