Foreign Affairs Committee on June 6th, 2018

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

I have one final question, Minister, about the issue of foreign interference in elections.

Again, I think the public record will show the answer that was given and the question that was asked.

With respect to Bill C-76, this is the bill the government has put forward that references the issue of foreign interference in elections. I know that this is something you're concerned about and that you've personally been a victim of to some extent.

The law allows a foreign entity to transfer money to a Canadian organization outside of the writ period, and the Canadian organization, as long as that foreign money is mingled with its own money, can then use that money in the process of the election because it has now become part of their organization. Theoretically, the Russian government could give a Canadian organization millions of dollars and, as long as it was mingled with Canadian money outside of an election, that could be used during an election. That's the present reality under Bill C-76.

Given the concerns you've raised, do you think Bill C-76 as presently written has sufficient tools to address the possibility of foreign interference in Canadian elections?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Let me say first of all I do think that as members of this committee, while we may disagree about issues like a woman's right to choose, we all do strongly agree on the importance of defending and standing up for Canadian democracy, and I would like to commend my colleague Karina Gould for the great work she has been doing in that space. I really believe this is important to get the legislation right. It's also absolutely important to have the right public conversation about this.

As I said in my earlier answer in referring to the conversation with the Estonian prime minister, a lot of this is about Canada having the right laws. A lot of this is about Canada having the tools to detect and fight back against cyber-interference, and that's an area that Minister Goodale is working at very effectively.

A big part of this, as well, is public consciousness and public awareness. This is an area where I think we, as members of Parliament, all have a shared responsibility to have a conversation with Canadians, to have a conversation with our constituents, and to be sure that we are all prepared to push back against that interference.

I want to say one last thing. I had the privilege of being with the Prime Minister at the bilateral meeting today with Emmanuel Macron. I think the French election was an example of a very enlightened public and a very enlightened and responsible media pushing back against foreign interference. I'd like to congratulate the people of France. We can learn a lot from them.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Thank you very much, Mr. Genuis and Minister.

The last question goes to Mr. Saini. That will complete the two rounds and our discussion with the minister.

Mr. Saini.

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Since our government came to power, we have adopted a feminist foreign policy. Can you explain to the committee why that is so important and how that feminist foreign policy manifests itself in your priorities?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Thank you for asking me another question in French.

I have already talked about feminism and about the importance of having a feminist international policy.

Our government's policy on the issue is based on a number of factors. One of them is Canada's feminist international assistance policy, that my colleague Ms. Bibeau is promoting. This major strategy has already changed the lives of women and girls around the world. Internationally, there is a lot of interest in that strategy. A number of countries are closely following what Canada is doing in this area and they are very interested.

We also have initiatives dealing with women, peace and security, such as the Elsie initiative on women in peace operations. Canada is actively working to ensure that there will be more women in United Nations peace operations. Canada is working with a number of international partners on that structural change, and I see the start of a change here.

The G7 summit will be another opportunity for Canada to raise questions about women and gender equality. The meeting of the gender equality advisory council will provide a very significant opportunity in this regard.

As I announced during the G7 Foreign and Security Ministers' meeting, Cecilia Malmström and I have decided to call a meeting in September to bring together all the women foreign affairs ministers in the world. The meeting is raising a lot of interest. In fact, during the G7 Foreign and Security Ministers' meeting, we had dinner with a small group of foreign affairs ministers who are women. I invited the other G7 foreign affairs ministers, including Federica Mogherini, a woman, of course, and she joined us.

Taro Kono, Japan's Foreign Affairs Minister, decided to join us. He found the meeting so interesting that, on Tuesday, he asked me if he could attend the meeting of women foreign affairs ministers. I said yes of course, and that I was going to invite all the women foreign affairs ministers in the world, plus the G7 ministers, whether they are women or not. This is a very important feature of our foreign policy.

Let me give you another example. Mr. Morrison was with me in Washington at the meeting of the Organization of American States, the OAS. One of the participants was Costa Rica's new Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is the country's first female Minister of Foreign Affairs. She explained to us that the government of Costa Rica had decided to have a cabinet based on gender equality. During the meeting, she told me that she had been inspired by our prime minister's 2015 decision to do the same thing.

So we need to understand that an example from Canada can have an effect on the entire world.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Thank you, Minister.

That wraps up our two rounds, and I think we've exhausted our time with the minister. I want to take this opportunity to thank the minister for answering our questions. I'm looking forward to seeing her again in the committee in the very near future.

Colleagues, we're going to suspend for five minutes. There are going to be bells in about 10 or 15 minutes. It will be a half-hour bell. We have a good 30 or 40 minutes for officials.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Don't make us miss the vote, Bob. We'll all be in trouble with our whips.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

We're watching it right here on live TV. We're all good.

We'll suspend for five and then we'll go to the officials and ask some questions, as is the normal process.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Colleagues, this meeting is now back in session.

In front of us we have officials from Global Affairs. Maybe what we could do is have Heather start and introduce yourselves with your titles for the record.

Then, as it works here now, we'll go straight to questions.

Colleagues, let's try to keep our questions and our answers succinct, and we'll move along at a fairly good pace.

I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Genuis to start it off, but before that, we'll start with Heather.

[Heather Jeffrey, Assistant Deputy Minister, Consular, Emergency Management and Security, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

My name is Heather Jeffrey. I'm the assistant deputy minister for consular, security and emergency management.

[Mark Gwozdecky, Assistant Deputy Minister, International Security and Political Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

My name is Mark Gwozdecky. I'm the assistant deputy minister for international security and political affairs, and I also carry the title of political director.

[Martin Benjamin, Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Americas, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Good evening. My name is Martin Benjamin. I am the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Americas.

[Arun Thangaraj, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Deputy Minister, Corporate Planning, Finance and Information Technology, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

I am Arun Thangaraj, the assistant deputy minister and chief financial officer.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

Mr. Genuis.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you to the officials for being here. I have a few questions, some new and some in follow-up to what was discussed earlier.

I want to ask about this issue of Air Canada changing their designation from Taiwan to Taiwan, China. I'd like to know if Air Canada at any time sought the government's advice or support in its dealings with the Chinese government, and if so, what the response from the Government of Canada was.

[Martin Benjamin]

Mr. Chair, if you don't mind, we have our colleague here who covers Asia.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bob Nault]

That's fine. Ms. Taylor is going to answer the question.

[Sarah Taylor, Director General, North Asia and Oceania, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

I'm Sarah Taylor, director general for north Asia and Oceania.

To my knowledge, Air Canada did not seek our advice before making that decision.

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

Okay, thank you very much.

On the issue of the Rohingya, there was some discussion but I have to say I don't share the general good feeling about what we've been able to do on the Rohingya. I appreciate that there are members of multiple parties concerned about this and there has been a lot of discussion about it here, but we have an unfolding genocide that we haven't been able to stop or hold people accountable for. We have the application of similar techniques in the abuse of other minorities in Burma—the Chin, the Kachin, and others—and the Burmese military and government continue to act with relative impunity.

I would like to understand why only one person has been sanctioned. The House of Commons unanimously agreed to a motion calling for new sanctions against responsible actors. The minister mentioned one person being sanctioned, the person she perceived as most directly responsible, but the commander-in-chief of the armed forces hasn't even been sanctioned. I wonder if the officials can share with us why there has not been a stronger response in terms of sanctioning those responsible?

[Sarah Taylor]

As the minister mentioned, we have indeed put in place a number of measures to address the Rohingya crisis. That's an ongoing and evolving file which we're continuing to follow and address. We're continuing to advocate for perpetrators of gross human rights violations and abuses to be held to account. We're working closely with other countries and international organizations and civil society to find the right pathway to establish accountability for the atrocities committed, and we're also trying to work on ways to achieve justice and lasting peace in Myanmar.

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

I understand that, but at a basic level, isn't it fairly clear that the commander-in-chief of the armed forces is responsible for a genocide being perpetrated by the armed forces that he controls?

[Sarah Taylor]

Sorry, I couldn't hear the full question.

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

I'm trying to understand why we've been so absent when it comes to sanctions against the Burmese government or military with respect to the Rohingya crisis. I just asked if it isn't fairly easy to draw the conclusion that Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Burmese armed forces, who commands the army that is committing a genocide, is responsible to some degree.

[Sarah Taylor]

As I said, there are a number of other organizations involved in this, and so we are in ongoing discussions with international organizations and other countries about accountability and how best to address accountability. I would mention also that Canada actually does already have in place a sanctions regime against the Government of Myanmar. There are a number of existing sanctions that are in place that reflect some of our previous and ongoing concerns about democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar.

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

Yes, I think members are aware there are existing sanctions. There was a unanimous motion in the House of Commons calling for the imposition of tough new sanctions. I understand discussions are ongoing. It's just that if we're going to have an effective international regime to combat genocide and crimes against humanity, we have to be able to react in real time.

Just as an observation, I've only been a member of Parliament for two and half years, and we've dealt with two major instances of genocide, one in Burma and one in Daesh-controlled areas of Syria and Iraq, and the international community and Canada haven't even been able to clarify that genocide is happening in those cases. It's a source of ongoing frustration for me as an MP who is concerned about these issues.

Jumping around a bit, could we please hear about the situation in Nicaragua and what Canada's response has been to that?