Foreign Affairs Committee on March 24th, 2022

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

We will move on...

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Oh! Well, I think...

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

You don't know what to do with all your time.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

I'll give it to you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Ms. McPherson, with the second half of the allocation that Mr. Oliphant has transferred and the additional 30 seconds, you have five and a half minutes. Please go ahead.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I feel as though I'm welcomingly receiving charity from many of my colleagues today. I will take it.

Thank you very much for being with us again today.

I'll start with some alarming news that we have heard out of Afghanistan recently: that the Taliban is banning women from participating in education. This is devastating. It has been just over six months since Canada left Afghanistan. We have not met our obligations to the Afghan people in terms of refugees coming to Canada. While Ukraine is seizing all our attention right now, I don't want us to lose track of the fact that there are other humanitarian crises happening around the world.

Can you tell me what response Canada will have with regard to this, perhaps even touching upon how this intersects with our feminist foreign policy, since I know I didn't give the minister enough time to speak about that?

[Marta Morgan]

Canada's priorities with respect to Afghanistan are, first of all, safe passage for vulnerable Afghans and for Canadians; the timely delivery of humanitarian assistance; the Taliban's respect for its international obligations, notably the fundamental rights of all Afghans, including women and girls; and coordination with partners on counterterrorism.

Clearly, the decision we all learned about yesterday, the Taliban's decision to send girls over the age of grade six home from school and not to allow them to go from home to school, is something that we think is absolutely unacceptable. We're very concerned about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, and also about the Taliban's control of the rights of women and girls. This is but one indication.

On the humanitarian side, Canada has provided over $130 million in humanitarian aid, and we're working closely with UN humanitarian organizations to make sure it meets the needs of the most vulnerable Afghans.

In terms of what I would say on how this intersects with Canada's feminist foreign policy, there couldn't really be a better example of how Canada's feminist foreign policy makes a difference. We look at the assistance that we provide from the perspective of whether it will reach women and girls. We look at whether women in that humanitarian sector are actually able to be part of the workforce there. We look in terms of what more we would do to support other needs of the Afghan people in terms of the positions that Taliban is taking. Every chance we get, we advocate for the Taliban to respect the rights of women and girls.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you. That's such important work. It breaks my heart to see the losses that we've seen in the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan.

Another thing that's very difficult right now is the threat we are seeing around the world with regard to nuclear weapons being used in the conflict in Ukraine.

Your colleague Mr. Hamilton won't be surprised by the question I'm about to ask, but we know that this is a moment in time where we could be looking at disarmament more. Canada could play a bigger role in disarmament. We have the TPNW, which has now been announced. It will be in Vienna at the end of June.

Will this government consider, as Norway has and as Germany has, sending an observation mission? Knowing that there will be parliamentarians from the Parliament of Canada, from almost all political parties, will the Government of Canada send an observation mission?

[Marta Morgan]

Let me just say by way of introduction, before I turn it over to my colleague Kevin, who's at the table with me, that we are outraged by the threats that President Putin is making in this regard. We and our G7 and NATO allies have decried these threats at every opportunity. It is irresponsible and, in fact, reckless. I cannot believe, in 2022, that President Putin believes it is acceptable even to suggest this.

Let me turn to Kevin on your more specific question.

[Kevin Hamilton, Director General, International Security Policy Bureau, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

I agree wholeheartedly that arguably there's never been a time in our history when movement towards nuclear disarmament was more important. Unfortunately, because of COVID, the NPT review conference has had to be postponed several times. It is now set for August. Canada will be a full and constructive participant at that review conference.

On the TPNW specifically, we have some reservations about the structure of that treaty, in that there's no verification mechanism involved in it. However, we understand that it exists—that the TPNW has been formulated—because of large-scale frustration among the international community about the slow pace of disarmament. No decision has been taken at the moment as to whether Canada will send an observer to that conference, but it is under active consideration.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Thank you, Ms. McPherson. That's your time.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

You'll have a chance to come in again in a subsequent intervention.

Mr. Chong, go ahead, please, for five minutes.

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

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Madam Morgan, for coming to us today. I have a question first about the Arctic and then some questions about Canadian energy and the European Union.

On the Arctic, in recent years, predating Russia's invasion of Ukraine, there was emerging co-operation between the United States, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland in the Arctic, in particular joint military exercises with fighter jets. Is Canada seeking to participate in that multilateral initiative?

Just by way of background, in recent years the U.S., as an Arctic nation with the state of Alaska, began to co-operate very closely with Nordic countries, some of them non-NATO members, to the point that they were conducting joint military exercises. U.S. fighter jets were being staged and based and were leaving from Nordic country air bases, participating in joint training exercises, not just in the Baltic Sea but also in the Arctic.

Canada, to my knowledge, has not participated in that initiative. I'm wondering if we are seeking to participate in that Arctic co-operation going forward.

[Marta Morgan]

I'll ask Kevin Hamilton to answer this question.

[Kevin Hamilton]

On those specific exercises, I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for you. I don't know what our plans might be. I'd have to defer to National Defence on that.

I know we take an active part in NATO exercises, including deployment for the exercise we've just done in Norway. Also, Finland and Sweden often take part, as NATO partners, in NATO exercises—

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

Are you talking about Cold Response 2022?

[Kevin Hamilton]

That's correct. Yes.

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

I appreciate that.

I have a couple of questions on energy security. We have this joint statement between the Prime Minister and the European Commission president that says a working group of officials is going to be established. They're apparently going to meet this week to talk about reducing European Union dependence on Russian natural gas.

What are officials going to be proposing at this meeting? What are Canadian officials going to be proposing at this meeting, seeing that the statement's now public and discussions are going to begin?

[Marta Morgan]

Mr. Chair, the issue around energy dependence brings up a broader issue around the knock-on effects of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the increase in the price of energy; including the commitment, in response, of the EU to reduce its dependency on Russian oil and gas; and including the increase in the price and the reduction of the availability of food and the potential for a broader humanitarian crisis. All of these are issues that we need to work on collectively with allies.

On the issue specifically of the working group, that question would be best directed to my colleagues at the Department of Natural Resources, who will be engaged in that group. The response to the issue, to the crisis in Ukraine, is really a multidepartmental one. We are all bringing all of our tools and all of our policies to bear in order to address the multiple and variable consequences of it.

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

Thank you, Deputy Minister, for that answer. I'm glad you raised the issue of food. The World Food Programme indicated last week that food prices could escalate as much as 22% in the next six months as a result of the lack of natural gas.

Most people who don't live in agricultural regions don't realize that almost half of our global food production is based on natural gas. The revolution of modern agriculture has allowed for the production of nitrogen fertilizer from natural gas through what I believe is called the Haber-Bosch process, which has allowed for massive increases in food production. I know in my area of Wellington County we're looking at potential problems with crop production this year because of the lack of natural gas, particularly due to the price of natural gas, the increase in nitrogen fertilizer costs and the lack of fertilizer available to feed the world.

I think this is something the Canadian government should be very seized with, seeing that we are the fifth-largest producer of natural gas in the world. We have some time to head this off if we start working on it right now.

I'll just finish with that. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Sven Spengemann]

Mr. Chong, thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Minister.

We will now go to Mr. Zuberi for five minutes, please.

The floor is yours.

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

I'd like to thank Global Affairs for being here with us and making their time available.

I'd like to start off with the war in Ukraine. We know that Vladimir Putin, who's the aggressor and perpetrator of this war, started it for many different reasons. We see that he is insistent on continuing this conflict. Also, many have speculated that there are imperial sorts of ideas. He has a large ego, etc.

With respect to allowing this conflict to wind down and for him to save face, are we as a country working with our partners and allies to create an off-ramp for Vladimir Putin that allows him to save face and brings an end to the conflict?

[Marta Morgan]

One of the questions on all of our minds right now is how this ends. At this point, our primary objective is to isolate Russia, working with our allies to impose significant costs on Russia so that President Putin understands the consequences of what he's done and is therefore encouraged to cease his aggression and to engage in diplomacy and resolution of this issue in a meaningful and trustworthy way.

I think you will have seen reports in the media that there are technical discussions happening between Ukraine and Russia, and that various world leaders have intervened with President Putin. Those world leaders have been encouraging him to cease and desist the aggression and to, in good faith, engage in discussions with Ukraine. That's really what has to happen here.