Evidence of meeting #12 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was xinjiang.
A video is available from Parliament.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
11:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I do not know the number of officials on the list. We have been in touch, however, with the U.S. State Department on this. They have not been in a position to share that information with us.
11:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
As stated earlier, we have enacted sanctions before, in March 2021. This was an important step for us. It does not preclude further action.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Does it help when other countries do it? Do we examine what they're doing and the basis for their decisions and perhaps look at the possibility of adopting similar measures?
11:40 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Most certainly. If anything, coordination with our like-minded partners is a very important consideration for us as we're considering upcoming steps in order to maximize effectiveness.
11:40 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you.
Perhaps I could follow up on the question that was posed by Ms. McPherson.
As you know, the mandate letter issued to the Minister of Labour says that legislation is forthcoming. I was wondering if you could provide us with some estimates as to what the substantive provisions of that legislation will be.
11:45 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Mr. Chair, I'll go over to Mr. Patry.
11:45 a.m.
Director General, International and Intergovernmental Labour Affairs, Department of Employment and Social Development
I couldn't provide specific details around that. What I can say is what I indicated earlier around the key components of supply chain legislation that need to be developed from a policy perspective. That is some of the work that is under way right now.
We held consultations previously around this question and got input from a number of key stakeholders in the industry about their views of what should be included in this legislation. That is being factored into the development of this. As I noted earlier, there are some key policy pieces that need to be thought through, with recommendations provided to the government on what they should be introducing.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
Ali Ehsassi Liberal Willowdale, ON
Thank you.
My last question is about disturbing reports that children are being separated from their families. I was wondering if any of you may have any estimates as to how many children we're talking about.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sven Spengemann
Give a very quick answer, please, in the interest of time. We'll have a chance to follow up in the subsequent round.
11:45 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I've only read reports from NGOs indicating that they're talking about hundreds of thousands.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sven Spengemann
Thank you very much, Mr. Ehsassi.
Mr. Bergeron, you have the floor for two and a half minutes.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I thank Mr. Ehsassi for pointing out that Canada should align itself with our allies and countries with whom we share a number of values.
The Chinese government says internment camps are necessary to deradicalize potential terrorists. Ms. Chen referred to this in her opening remarks. Leaked government documents indicate, however, that some people have been sent to a detention facility simply because they were wearing a veil or had a long beard, were praying in their home, were keeping in touch with family members abroad or had more children than the government allows.
How do the Chinese authorities define terrorism?
11:45 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
As stated earlier, we do not accept China's definitions or rationale for the establishment of these mass detention centres under the rubric of counterterrorism. The testimonials we have heard and read have been deeply troubling about the mass incarceration. We've already spoken about sexual and gender-based violence, indoctrination, forced labour, human trafficking, family separation and the list goes on.
You have already touched on the lack of freedom of religion for those to practice the religion of their choice. We've also seen reports of the destruction of mosques and the examples that you cited about forceable shaving of beards and the removal of veils and religious artifacts. Again, we are very concerned about these reports.
11:45 a.m.
Bloc
Stéphane Bergeron Bloc Montarville, QC
A recent report by Adrian Zenz, a senior fellow in China studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, suggests that the Chinese government has been implementing measures to reduce the Uighur birth rate in Xinjiang since 2016. These measures include forced use of intrauterine devices, sterilization and forced separation of families.
How do the measures ostensibly applied to the Uighur in Xinjiang differ from the family planning strategies that the Chinese government imposes on all of its people?
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
11:45 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
As you know, China has a long history of population control measures. While they have, I believe, evolved over the last few decades, it is quite unfortunate that we see the return of these practices as they relate to Uighurs.
11:45 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sven Spengemann
Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.
We will now go to Ms. McPherson for two and a half minutes.
11:45 a.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Again, thank you to our witnesses today.
What we are seeing with regard to the genocide against the Uighur people is that it has spread outside of the borders of China, of course. There have been significant attacks on human rights activists and advocates within Canada.
I'm wondering if the government is able to or will be providing financing to help combat cyber-attacks directed at Uighur human rights activists here in Canada.
11:50 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. For clarification, you're seeking the impact upon Uighur activists in Canada. Is that correct?
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
It's whether there will be support to help the Uighur activists who are being threatened in Canada.
11:50 a.m.
Executive Director, Greater China Political and Coordination, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
What I can say about these incidents of harassment and intimidation that are happening on Canadian soil against Canadians is that it is something we take very seriously. There is a whole-of-government effort being led by Public Safety Canada in this regard. We would urge any victims of such acts of intimidation or harassment to contact local law enforcement as soon as possible.
11:50 a.m.
NDP
Heather McPherson NDP Edmonton Strathcona, AB
I wanted to follow up, as well, with one of the questions I asked in the last round with regard to advocating for the release of Uighur human rights defenders, who are Canadian citizens and who have been held for many years now.
Ms. Chen, you mentioned that the Canadian government is seized with this, that it is wanting to take action on this. What does that look like? How are you doing that?
We had a very happy conclusion to the hostage-taking of the two Michaels, in that they were able to come back to Canada. There was a lot of work done to make that happen, for which I am incredibly grateful. I don't see that same level of effort being done for Mr. Celil.