Foreign Affairs Committee on Nov. 5th, 2020

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Dear colleagues, welcome to the fourth meeting of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.

Pursuant to the order of reference of October 22, 2020, the committee is undertaking a briefing on the situation in Belarus.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the order of the House adopted on September23, 2020. Proceedings will be published on the House of Commons website.

For information purposes, the webcast will always show the person speaking rather than the entirety of the committee.

To ensure an orderly meeting, I would like to outline a few rules to follow.

Members and witnesses may speak in the official language of their choice. Interpretation services are available for this meeting. You have the choice at the bottom of your screen of “floor”, “English” or “French”.

Members attending in person must conduct themselves as they would normally if all committee members were meeting in person in a committee room and keep in mind that the Board of Internal Economy's guidelines for wearing masks, as well as health protocols.

Before speaking, please wait until I recognize you by name. If you're on video conference, please click on the microphone icon to unmute yourself. For those in the room, your microphone will be controlled as normal by the proceedings and verification officer. When you have 30 seconds remaining in your questioning time, I will signal you by holding up this yellow sheet of paper. When you're not speaking, your mike should be on mute.

I would now like to welcome our witnesses.

We have David Sproule, senior Arctic official and director general, Arctic, Eurasian and European affairs.

We also have Alison Grant, director of Eastern Europe and Eurasia.

Mr. Sproule, we will start by giving you the floor for seven minutes of opening remarks.

Please go ahead, sir.

[David Sproule, Senior Arctic Official and Director General, Arctic, Eurasian and European Affairs, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I will provide a short overview of the situation in Belarus, starting just before the August 2020 presidential elections and covering Canadian engagement in the current crisis. I will then be pleased to take your questions.

Canada's relations with Belarus before this have been quite modest, yet quite positive, following diplomatic re-engagement and the removal of Belarus from the area control list in 2016. That removal lifted all measures in place on Belarus since 2006 because of improvements in the conduct of the 2015 presidential elections, release of political prisoners and Belarus's facilitation of negotiations on Ukraine.

Prior to the presidential elections of August 9, large-scale opposition rallies had already begun to take place. Demonstrators protested election campaign restrictions that would prevent the holding of free and fair democratic elections. In the lead-up to the election, Canada engaged Belarus directly and multilaterally at the OSCE to register our concern with the deteriorating situation, and to urge the government to uphold its international human rights obligations.

Widespread electoral irregularities were immediately reported following the election. The opposition, non-government organizations and other governments, including those of Canada, the U.K, and the U.S., as well as the EU, announced that they would not accept the results and characterized the elections as fraudulent.

Despite the peaceful nature of the protests that erupted, security forces cracked down brutally, and arbitrarily arrested protestors in an attempt to stop peaceful assemblies. Reports emerged of torture and other forms of ill treatment of detainees, including sexual and gender-based violence. The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus has indicated that, to date, at least 20,000 individuals have been detained, with some still remaining in detention. Journalists have also been targeted, detained, beaten or had their accreditation revoked.

Authorities have also stepped up detentions and prosecutions of prominent members of the opposition coordination council, which has a seven-member leadership with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya as head. To date, all but one member of the leadership are in exile or detained in Belarus.

Alexander Lukashenko continues to attack the opposition, accuse the west of interference and reject calls for a rerun of the presidential elections. Workers from state-run factories, private businesses and students have begun to strike after Lukashenko ignored Ms. Tikhanovskaya's ultimatum deadline of October 25 for him to resign. On October 29, Lukashenko reshuffled personnel in top security posts, including the minister of interior, and designated others as presidential aides in regions with high levels of protest and opposition activities.

Canada has been strongly engaged in a response to events in Belarus since the beginning of the crisis. Canada is a long-standing advocate for human rights, and we have sent a firm message to the Government of Belarus that its actions are unacceptable. Our response has been in close coordination with like-minded partners, which include the EU, the U.K. and the U.S. Together we have declared that Lukashenko lacks the legitimacy to lead Belarus, and combined our efforts to support the democratic aspirations of the Belarusian people.

Canada has issued 10 statements to date, including through the Media Freedom Coalition's executive group, which is Canadian and U.K.-led, as well as participated in a Canada-led joint statement on Internet shutdowns in co-operation with 30 partner countries.

Canada continues to engage our partners in steps aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the political impasse in Belarus. Minister Champagne has coordinated with his counterparts and had calls with Ms. Tikhanovskaya. He has also spoken with Belarusian foreign minister Makei. Canada continues to advocate for mediation through the OSCE, to be led by current incoming chairs, Albania and Sweden.

Also at the OSCE, Canada pressed to invoke the Moscow mechanism with 16 other states, which established a fact-finding mission on human rights allegations in Belarus. The resulting report and recommendations are now public.

Minister Champagne's recent visit to Lithuania on October 16 reinforced common support with the Baltic foreign ministers for the people of Belarus. Together, the ministers committed to working with international partners to ensure that those responsible for the violence and undermining of democracy in Belarus are held accountable. Minister Champagne also met with Ms. Tikhanovskaya in person during the visit to Lithuania.

On September 23, Canada announced $600,000 in funding to support civil society in Belarus, with a focus on helping independent media and women. Our officials are in discussion with potential programming partners on how Canada's assistance can best support democratic governance and democratic actors.

Canada and the U.K., on September 29, were the first countries to sanction Alexander Lukashenko, following his holding of a secret inauguration for himself. Altogether, Canada has sanctioned 42 Belarusian officials under the Special Economic Measures Act for gross and systematic human rights violations. These actions have been taken in close coordination with the EU, the U.K. and the U.S.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

On a point of order, Mr. Chair, you might be aware, but the phone lines are not working for the staff.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Ms. Sahota, thanks very much for raising that. We'll pass that over to the clerk and IT team.

I'm not sure if there's a reason to suspend, or if we should simply continue and it will be fixed imminently.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

You could probably continue.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Okay.

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

It's just that ParlVu has a delay, so as soon as you can get that up and running, it would be great.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Ms. Sahota and Madam Clerk.

We go back to you, Mr. Sproule, please.

[David Sproule]

The imposition of sanctions demonstrates Canada's strong commitment to human rights and democracy in Belarus and to the dignity of its people. This coordinated action with our partners reinforces our assertion that violence and those acts which undermine democracy will not be tolerated by the international community. Belarus, in retaliation, has announced that it would impose sanctions against EU, U.K. and Canadian officials but has not to date revealed any details.

In conclusion, Canada will continue monitoring developments in Belarus and engaging constructively with its partners to find a peaceful resolution in the country. Canada stands in solidarity with the people of Belarus and will continue our diplomatic efforts to bring about positive change.

Thank you, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much, Mr. Sproule. It's good to have you back with us, and welcome.

Ms. Grant, welcome to you as well. My understanding is that you will make your points in response to members' questions. If you'd like to make a comment now, I'd be happy to give you the floor. Otherwise, at your discretion, just do it in response to the next round of questions.

[Alison Grant, Director, Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

Thank you. Yes, I will be able to take questions along with Mr. Sproule but I have no prepared statement.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you very much.

Our first questioner is Mr. Chong. The floor is yours for six minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you for your opening remarks.

My first question is about Ms. Tikhanovskaya. I understand that, as you mentioned in your remarks, and as was publicly reported, Foreign Affairs Minister Champagne met with her in Lithuania.

I want to know what the Government of Canada sees as her role going forward, and what status they are going to accord her.

[David Sproule]

Ms. Tikhanovskaya has been an active leader in terms of the civil society opposition to the government's holding of the elections in such a fraudulent way.

Her husband, as you may know, was detained before the elections, and she stood in his place. She works very closely with the coordination committee, a group of leaders from various sectors of society, to mount a concerted and coordinated opposition to the actions of the government surrounding the elections and the repression since the elections.

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

Do you accord her any formal status in the current situation, or simply recognize her as a candidate in the previous election?

[David Sproule]

We recognize that she has been accepted by the Belarusian civil society and many leading members of the opposition for her leadership role. She has been very effective in terms of reaching out to the diaspora in various countries. She has been a leader on the ground, and she has undertaken liaison with like-minded country leaders whom we work with carefully.

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

Thank you.

Mr. Sproule, you mentioned in your opening statement that the decision to re-engage diplomatically was producing positive results. Do you still hold that position in light of the events of the last two or three months?

[David Sproule]

During the 2015 elections, we saw a number of positive events that led to the lifting of the area control list sanctions. Indeed, there was a release of political prisoners. There was less repression in terms of the holding of elections. There was enhanced freedom of the press and reporters. In addition, Belarus hosted the Minsk process vis-à-vis Ukraine. Those positive developments led us to that lifting.

However, you're quite right. Since that time, we have seen a regression, particularly in the lead-up to and the holding of these elections, which has forced Canada to reimpose sanctions pursuant to our legislation.

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

Thank you for that answer.

When the government lifted sanctions in 2016, it mentioned in its statement that it did so in coordination with or following similar actions by the United States and our European allies. What actions did they take at the time that were commensurate to the lifting of sanctions?

[David Sproule]

They lifted some of their restrictions in terms of travel and in terms of designation of economic measures against particular individuals, not all in the case of the United States, where some were left on, but for the most part, our actions coincided very closely with those of like-minded partners.

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

Thank you.

To your knowledge, did the United States lift sanctions back in 2016, too, or was it simply a lifting of travel restrictions?

[David Sproule]

They lifted some, but as I indicated, some of their sanctions were not lifted. For example, my understanding is that Mr. Lukashenko remained on their list, as did his son and some officials.

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

Thank you.

What threats to Ms. Tikhanovskaya do you think there are with her being in Lithuania? What threats to her personal safety are there?

[David Sproule]

Indeed, she did flee to Lithuania as a result of feeling insecure and of the threats that were posed against her when she was in Belarus. There is concern about that, and I am aware that government officials there are assisting in terms of the providing of security. I know that care is being taken and her situation monitored carefully with that concern in mind.

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

Can I ask you one last quick question? Why did the government use sanctions under the Special Economic Measures Act, rather than the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, when it announced sanctions in the last couple of months?